“Dr. Bob welcomes your questions about sexuality and will strive to answer them with the most up to date available medical/scientific information. Wherever possible, the scientific source(s) of the information is provided for your information. Answers to your individual questions represent generally accepted current conventional psychological and health science theory and practice but they are not intended to propose diagnoses or specific treatments. In all cases consultation with a medical or other health services provider is highly recommended.”
Q. Can I improve my sex life through nutritional support? What if it’s ok already?
A. If you are reasonably healthy, and as good as your sex life may already be, it can usually be made better yet by the proper kind of nutrition.
There are two ways to do that: First, a nutrition plan that has the right balance of “greens and beans” as noted in my book, Great Food, Great Sex (Ballentine, 2006), does just that: The recipes in that book aim to supply adequate amounts of foods rich in L-arginine, as well as antioxidant foods. The foods rich in L-arginine fuel sexual vitality by supplying that all important nitric oxide (NO) needed in sexual arousal and performance vitality. We call these foods, “beans,” but it is really about proteins including meat proteins. However, we emphasize very moderate consumption of red meats due, in part, to the high levels of sodium they contain.
The foods called “greens” supply the antioxidants that protect your blood vessels from free radical damage. Free radicals work in at least two ways: First, they corrode the endothelium, the cell layer in your blood vessels that chemically extract NO from L-arginine. Second, free radicals in blood cause fat cells to become rancid and so macrophages (immune system cells) gobble them up while trying to rid them from your blood stream. In the process, they turn into the “puff-cells” that form the atherosclerotic plaque in blood vessel walls: Atherosclerosis also damages the endothelium and there you have it—double whammy!
Second, supplementing your diet with L-arginine can also increase sexual vitality: When you consume L-arginine about half the amount consumed becomes available to the endothelium. Dietary supplementation of L-arginine adds to that available from food-borne L-arginine.
Caveat: Most folks tolerate L-arginine quite well—either food-borne or as a dietary supplement—and they largely benefit from its consumption. L-arginine is, after all, one of the components that make up protein. It is found in varying quantity in many of our most common foods. But a high L-arginine diet is not for everyone: Individuals with active herpes, or those with certain forms of cancer (breast cancer in women) are cautioned to keep L-arginine consumption to a minimum. A list of contraindications can be found in my book, The Arginine Solution (Warner Books, 1999).
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