How to improve your sex life with healthy food and exercise

So if you eat more healthily and get a bit fitter will it really do much for your desirability, performance and enjoyment? Does a fish swim? Of course it will! And here’s why:

Body confidence and sexual function

If you feel comfortable with your body you tend to be happier about being undressed in front of your partner, and obviously that’s reasonably fundamental, though not essential! This isn’t to say that being overweight ruins the enjoyment of sex because of course it’s in no way all about looks, it’s about emotions and love, but whether we like it or not we’ve evolved to find healthy-looking bodies a turn-on, it’s to do with procreation and choosing a sexual partner who looks as if they’d produce strong healthy babies. In the animal world it’s why they put on certain displays of colour and size when looking for a partner. Just with us it’s more subconscious.

And the physiological part: obesity can cause erectile dysfunction and can lead to type 2 diabetes, which further reduces the ability to get and maintain an erection. It can also diminish sexual desire because it puts hormones out of sync, plus it can be physically harder to have sex.

Energy and stamina

Everyone prizes having sex for longer, mostly, don’t they? So being fit and healthy can only be good as you’ll be able to make love for longer, more energetically. And then do it again 🙂 If you have a sugary diet you’ll have lots of energy for a few minutes then crash and burn really fast, whereas if your partner has a healthy slow-release diet they’ll be the opposite, someone will end up a little bit disappointed. Less fit people might feel tired and too worn out to have sex very often, whereas the fitter you are the more natural energy you tend to have. Plus when you’ve just worked-out your endorphins will be circulating making you feel more alive.

Alcohol can make you a bit tired and sluggish after its initial euphoric phase, not really what a partner wants. It tends to dull your thought processes, so your imagination will suffer badly. Not only that but it can weaken a man’s erection or even make him impotent as well as reducing lubrication in the woman and making orgasms less intense. Plus you’ll smell like a bar, which is not the most enticing attribute. In the morning you may even be sick and have a headache, less chance of morning sex. Yep so alcohol is a bit of a rubbish idea when it comes to having great sex.

Flexibility

What can I say. Definitely sex-enhancing. You’ll be able to comfortably enjoy varied positions. If you’re inflexible it limits your options or you end up injured and off-games. Not good.

Mood

Ah this is a big one. What you eat absolutely affects your mood. So a roller-coaster diet of sugary and refined foods will see your moods go up and down in huge peaks and troughs.

Moodiness tends to cause more arguments and arguments chip away at healthy sex lives, unless you like making up a lot! Waking up wanting your Coco Pops more than your partner tends to be a sign that you may be somewhat sugar-dependent. Whereas building up a healthy appetite for post-sex scrambled eggs on sourdough toast makes the whole thing a healthier experience.

Hormones

Eep! OK so a woman’s libido and lubrication can be altered by her levels of oestrogen. If she has low oestrogen her lubrication will be less, making sex tricky and uncomfortable. There are certain foods that provide natural oestrogens – phytoestrogens – that can help with female sexual function, although it’s best not to overdo them but just eat them as part of a natural healthy diet. Natural phytoestrogens are found in flaxseed, lentils, chickpeas, tofu, soya beans (edamame), whole grains, onions and peppers. Just the things that should be part of a healthy diet

Exercise gives a temporary testosterone boost in both sexes, particularly strength training, so just after a workout it’s more likely that both males and females will feel more like having sex. Activities such as running in the fresh air can lift your mood incredibly so you come back happy and may just want to pull your partner into bed (not to sleep!). Beware though, too much exercise can have the opposite effect! Everything in moderation.

Blood flow

Good sex obviously needs good blood flow to the sexual organs, particularly so for men if they want to get an erection. Exercise improves blood flow, it makes the heart bigger and stronger so it’s better at pushing blood out and it keeps blood vessels healthy so blood can get to where it’s needed, fast. Being overweight and unfit will mean blood flow is hampered and you may not be quite as responsive and men may not be able to maintain an erection.

Are there any single foods that improve your sex life?

Nope. Not unless there’s something you particularly love that puts you in an amazing mood when you eat it. In my case it would create a lot of pesky crisp crumbs in the bed 😉

So there you have it. How to improve your sex life with healthy eating and exercise. There’s no doubt sex can be improved by being fitter and healthier but of course the fundamental elements are love and attraction, that can never be denied, and neither can be bought or made.

“I blame my mother for my poor sex life. All she told me was ‘the man goes on top and the woman underneath.’ For three years my husband and I slept in bunk beds.”

Joan Rivers