Great Sex, Naturally (8 page)

4.
Pumpkin seeds.
An amazing food, pumpkin seeds offer you a diversity of potential health and libido-supportive benefits through their high omega-3 fat content. They can also improve your immunity, decrease your cholesterol, and promote your bone strength. They may also have anti-inflammatory effects that could ease symptoms of arthritis; researchers have found pumpkin-seed oil to be as effective as a well-known anti-inflammatory drug. Pumpkin seeds contain L-tryptophan, a precursor to serotonin, an important neurotransmitter that can affect your sexual health. They also contain an abundance of alpha-linolenic acid, an essential fat that may have benefits for your breast tissue, including potentially helping to prevent breast cancer. Pumpkin seeds are a great addition to your salads, trail mixes, and cereals, and give you a delicious alternative to cow’s milk. You may be surprised to discover that the dark green seeds (one cup), blended with just water (five cups), yield a milky-white drink. (Strain, add a dash of vanilla extract, and a touch of stevia to taste.)

5.
Coconut oil.
You might not expect coconut oil to be nominated as a super-libido food. For years, it was mistakenly assumed to be an unsafe saturated fat, but now we know it’s a heart-healthy, “friendly” saturated fat with numerous health and immune benefits. The
Journal of Nutrition
has reported that it can help lower your risk of heart disease, and according to the research journal
Obesity
, it may help reduce upper-body fat, prevent obesity, and stimulate weight loss. Heart health supports good circulation, which in turn gives you better overall vitality, including sexual well-being. (Good circulation can be especially beneficial for men’s sexual health, and as you’ll see later in this book, can help prevent erectile dysfunction.)

6.
Pomegranates.
Modern research confirms that pomegranates, long revered by traditional cultures for their medicinal and sex-promoting properties, contain antioxidants and other compounds that have many health benefits. You’ve probably seen pomegranate juice promoted as an elixir for men’s health concerns, but it offers you plenty of potential benefits, too: supporting your cardiovascular system, improving blood flow to your heart, reducing your blood pressure, increasing your circulation, and potentially reversing heart disease by inhibiting plaque buildup in your arteries. All of these health gains can enhance female as well as male sexuality.

7.
Blueberry juice.
Among the most health-conducive of fruits, loaded with antioxidants, blueberries support the walls of your blood vessels and help protect your brain from oxidative stress. Their protective compounds include anthocyanins (which help protect you from free-radical damage), pterostilbene (an agent that lowers cholesterol and also has anticancer properties), and D-mannose, which can help prevent urinary tract infections. (As you’ll see, urinary tract infections have the potential to be a major libido-breaker.) Keep fresh blueberry juice on hand, and enhance your Great Sex Diet by adding a splash of “purple power” to your daily smoothies.

8.
Acai juice.
Another mouthwatering super-juice to jazz up your sex-supportive diet, acai juice can ultimately reinforce your sexuality by boosting your general health. Acai juice is made from berries that have been used for healing purposes by the tribes of the Amazon for centuries. In addition to high levels of anthocyanins that fight free radicals, acai berries contain the health-protective antioxidants vitamin E and vitamin C, plant sterols, and fatty acids, which can all have beneficial effects on your cholesterol levels. Studies have found that acai berries are rich in polyphenols—phytochemicals that also have antioxidant properties and anticancer benefits. Research suggests that acai berries may help decrease the risk of diabetes and degenerative diseases like arthritis as well, and that extracts of acai berries may be useful in regulating blood pressure and treating cardiovascular disease. Other potential effects include elevating immunity, lowering cholesterol, and slowing the aging process.

9.
Mangosteen juice.
Yet another succulent exotic beverage, mangosteen juice promotes sexual well-being for much the same reason that acai does; mangosteen is rife with health-boosting nutrients. Studies have found that mangosteen fruit contains polysaccharides—carbohydrates that can stimulate immune cells to destroy bacteria—and xanthones (a type of antioxidant) that may help fight cancer. Research also shows that mangosteen has anti-inflammatory effects, and may be useful for treating allergic conditions. Mangosteen juice has a distinct taste that can be described as a combination of pear and strawberry. (Despite its name, mangosteen isn’t a member of the mango family.) One caveat regarding its health benefits: most research has been done on the rind of the fruit, and juices may not contain all of the rind’s medicinal compounds.

10.
Cruciferous vegetables.
You can fortify your Great Sex Diet every day with the cruciferous family of vegetables, which includes broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, brussels sprouts, turnip greens, bok choy, radishes, watercress, mustard greens, and collard greens. There’s an enormous amount of research on their ability to help your body create friendly forms of estrogen—one of your libido-supportive hormones—and on the anticancer effects of compounds in cruciferous vegetables. Broccoli sprouts, an especially potent member of the cruciferous clan, may contain up to 50 times the concentration of cancer-fighting compounds found in mature broccoli plants.

11.
Green tea.
A much healthier alternative to coffee, green tea (preferably noncaffeinated) may enhance your overall health and support your sexuality by helping prevent cancer and treat human papillomavirus (HPV). The polyphenols in green tea have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer properties, and may help with weight loss as well. Studies have found that green-tea consumption is linked with reduced risk of ovarian cancer and that survival rates for this form of cancer are higher in women who drink at least one cup daily. Research also shows that green tea may help lower the risk of breast cancer and reduce the growth of a particularly aggressive type of breast-cancer cells. And green-tea extracts have been found to cause improvements in women with HPV-infected cervical lesions, a precursor to cervical cancer, and may also benefit women with vulvar warts.

12.
Shiitake mushrooms.
Long used medicinally in China, shiitake mushrooms make a wonderful, earthy addition to your Great Sex Diet. They provide you with powerful immunity-building glyconutrients—compounds found to improve the ability of immune cells to fight off infections. Shiitake mushrooms not only enhance your resistance to colds and flus, but studies suggest they can also decrease the duration of illnesses. Because of their unique effects on your immunity, shiitakes can play a role in enabling you to manifest peak health and sexual well-being. In addition, research has shown that shiitakes can lower high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high triglycerides, so you may benefit from consuming them if you have cardiovascular disease (which can hinder healthy sexual functioning).

Sex-Enhancing Exercise

Like your diet, exercise is a part of your life that’s completely within your control and can profoundly change your health. We call exercise “sex-enhancing” because it’s one of the most important ways you can boost your sexuality with your lifestyle. Let’s take a closer look at the sex-enhancing potential of exercise:

—
Exercise is therapy that transforms your entire body.
Your body was made to move; the effects of insufficient exercise, which may include heart disease, arthritis, obesity, and depression, can directly interfere with sexual health. Physical activity can enhance your sexuality by increasing your oxygen intake, strengthening your heart, moving your lymphatic fluids through your body, helping eliminate toxins from your tissues, elevating your vitality, helping you lose weight, and making you look better. By improving the function of every cell in your body, exercise also promotes the healthy functioning of your sexual organs. Ultimately, all exercise is “sexercise.”

—
You can specifically enhance your libido with exercise.
Research suggests that women who exercise regularly have increased blood flow to all parts of their bodies, including their pelvic regions, which can improve sexual responsiveness and performance. Exercise can also enhance your libido by decreasing your stress-hormone levels; as you know, stress is a libido-buster.

—
Exercise can increase your energy, which includes your sexual energy.
You can dispel the old notion that exercise always “uses up” your energy or tires you out. To the contrary, by increasing your total number of mitochondria—the energy-producing “engines” in your muscle cells—exercise can boost the amount of energy you have in your body. And improving your overall energy means improving your sexual energy.

—
You can bring more joy into your life, including your sex life, with exercise.
By affecting your neurotransmitters—brain chemicals such as serotonin—exercise can stimulate your brain circuitry into “feel-good” states and alter your moods. Research shows, for example, that women who work out regularly have more confidence in their bodies. A high happiness quotient helps keep you receptive to all the joys of life, including the joys of sex.

Sex Can Make You Skinnier

Like any physical activity, sex can help you lose weight and may even help lower your cholesterol level. You probably burn about 200 calories in 30 minutes of lovemaking, although estimates vary depending on what kinds of sexual activities you engage in. While sex burns some calories, the real reason it can help you lose weight may be that it releases brain chemicals that make you happier, which in turn means you’re apt to make healthier choices that tap into your potential to manifest your ideal body size.

Exercise, Motivation, Self-Esteem, and Sex: Rediscovering the Connections

Although your body naturally needs and craves the medicine of exercise, your mind may make excuses—your job, children, other responsibilities, or even your personality or body type—to avoid it. For some women, the mind has a way of coming up with reasons to let the body stay sedentary, even at the risk of poor health, reduced sexual energy, or loss of bodily functions. But knowing all the benefits that exercise has for your health and sexuality can help put your body in motion. Let’s look at how you can get your mind more in touch with your natural motivation for motion, and move yourself to move.

When you exercise, you’re doing more than simply getting your body in shape and moving your limbs; you’re also shaping your mind and moving your emotions. You can think of exercise as
meaningful
movement. In a sense, all exercise is dance: it allows you to celebrate your physical nature in ways that can give you great joy, and you can experience powerful surges of self-confidence when you feel what it’s like to manifest potential you might not have known you had. If you’ve ever learned a dance routine, you may not remember how hesitant you felt when you took your first steps, but you’ll probably never forget how confident you felt when you mastered the moves—and still feel whenever you perform them.

No matter how physically inactive you were in the past, or whether you’re naturally athletic, discovering new ways of moving can transform your sense of self. Experiencing your body in novel ways can help create new neural tracks in your brain, actually changing how your mental functions work on a daily basis. And the boost in self-esteem you experience from new forms of exercise can enhance your capacity for great sex. When you feel more confident on the dance floor, on the soccer field, or in whatever exercise you choose, your confidence carries over into every other physical activity you engage in—and sex, of course, is no exception.

There’s also a lot to be said for the pleasure you can experience by reaching measurable goals and outperforming your personal best. If you swim more laps, walk more miles, or lift more weight than you once thought yourself capable of, it also lifts your spirit and changes your sense of yourself. And while exercise is changing your mind, it’s changing your body as well, giving you the added satisfaction of seeing it become fitter.

If you’ve been physically inactive, and you find the idea of exercise unappealing, it’s time to find a form of movement that lets you rediscover the joys of experiencing your body in new ways. Meaningful movement is one of your direct routes to becoming a healthier, happier person, more connected with your body, and more in tune with your sexual energy. And once you’re on the move, it’s that much easier to keep up your momentum. The more you exercise, the more likely you are to continue to do so. Make it your way of life, and it becomes
you
. The benefits for your health and your sexuality will multiply manyfold; it’s the “gift that keeps moving.”