If you’re anything like us, you’ve Googled the likes of “foods to boost your libido” or “food aphrodisiacs” on at least one occasion.
However, in the search for the diet to double our desire, we often lose focus of nature’s anti-aphrodisiacs – common, everyday foods that lower our libidos.
So what should you look out for before you start chowing down?
Here are five foods that can lessen your mood before you get busy:
Hot Dogs
It’s no secret that hot dogs are high in saturated fat.
However, a little known fact is that foods high in saturated fat can clog penile and vaginal arteries, preventing proper blood flow. Try substituting your next frankfurter for a fish taco—a handheld treat rich in omega-3 fatty acids that will help improve cardiovascular flow.
French Fries
Literally and figuratively, your heart knows the answer to Do you want fries with that?
On the laundry list of negative health benefits of fried food lay some sexual side effects; for example, the trans-fat in fries can lower testosterone levels and decrease blood circulation. Additionally the excess salt you’ll take in can make it more difficult for men with high blood pressure to maintain strong erections.
Tofu
That vegetarian diet of yours certainly has its health advantages, but some studies show that shelving the tofu before a night of making love could help keep your estrogen levels balanced.
Soy products are known to up estrogen levels and added estrogen could be a sex drive stealer in both sexes. However fear not, vegetarians – the evidence doesn’t come close to justifying dropping tofu from your diet entirely.
Energy Drinks
If sexual energy could be bottled, we’d all know about it by now.
While the lightning bolt on that can might make that energy drinks seem like sexual a stamina saviors, its high caffeine and sugar content is quick to wear off, leaving you even lower than you were before you drank it. Furthermore, that increase in sugar can lead to lower testosterone.
Wine
Perhaps energy drinks aren’t your thing anyway. Besides, all you ever needed to get the blood flowing was a nice bottle of Chilean red.
While pop culture has made wine synonymous with romance, alcohol actually lowers our sensitivity to touch and weakens our organs, with various studies showing that sober men maintain erections better than their inebriated counterparts.
While diet alone can hardly improve someone’s sexual performance, it always helps to know which foods would be wise to sidestep on a first or second date, or in the case of hot dogs, french fries and energy drinks—every date of the year.