How women can take steps to improve low sex drive
Nutritional therapist explores a quiet epidemic: female loss of libido
Alongside headaches, insomnia and anxiety, loss of libido was just another symptom I invited clients to tick, or not, on the health questionnaire I use as a nutritional therapist and hypnotherapist. It’s important that I get as full a picture as possible of someone’s health before I decide how to help them, so I always get them to provide this information.
But I had no idea of the impact those three words — loss of libido — would have. Almost without exception, every woman in the 40- to 55-year age bracket who comes to see me now ticks, underlines or circles them. These women might have booked an appointment to discuss weight loss, hypothyroid or menopausal symptoms, but underneath all of this is a lack of interest in sex.
In the U.S., experts have quoted statistics suggesting 43 per cent of women suffer reduced libido. This seems unfeasibly high and there is some suggestion these inflated stats could be being driven by a desire to classify low libido in women as a condition that needs to be treated — thus creating a market for female Viagra.
But while low libido has been given a medical name — hypoactive sexual desire disorder — it’s clear among my clients that many women are confused by it and don’t know what to do about it.
We look at some of the most important factors that can reduce libido and what to do about them:
BODY ANXIETY
Body-image insecurity is something I see in my clinic every day, especially among those who report low libido. For women in their 30s, it may be a case of post-childbirth “mommy tummies.” For older women, menopause can accelerate the effects of gravity and also cause weight gain, especially around the midsection.
As sex therapist Clare Prendergast explains, “We’re in our mid40s, we’ve put on weight. We find ourselves looking at our bodies and feeling yuck! We don’t feel like a lover.” Body anxiety is internally, not externally, driven. It’s how you feel about yourself that matters. What you can do: Switch off the negative self-talk. Find five things you like about your body and repeat them to yourself daily. Exercise. This increases blood flow, lifts mood, can build self-esteem and reconnects you with physical sensation, important for sexual response. “Some women have never been connected to their body. They’ve had high-powered jobs and lived in their heads,” Prendergast says.
HORMONES
As a woman nears menopause, she experiences drops in three key hormones: testosterone, estrogen and progesterone. The latter two are most often given together as hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to reduce common menopause symptoms such as hot flashes and night sweats. However, what is less known is that testosterone, which is often thought of as a “male” hormone, may also be important to women in maintaining sex drive.
Testosterone treatment for women is controversial and while it has some high-profile fans, the jury is still out on whether it is effective in lifting libido. What you can do: Get your hormones checked, not just the sex hormones. Low thyroid can cause depression, which may affect sex drive. Elevated cortisol is a stress hormone and can also interrupt sex hormone production and action, and insulin is inflammatory. High levels (a fasting level of over 25) of insulin can disrupt other hormones, including the sex ones, again lowering sex drive. If HRT isn’t effective, or you would like to avoid taking estrogen and progesterone, testosterone can be used independently as a possible libido booster.
ARE YOU DEPRESSED?
As estrogen levels drop at menopause, so do those of the neurotransmitter serotonin. Low levels of serotonin can be associated with reduced sex drive. What you can do: Do a depression self-assessment test and discuss possible treatment (cognitive behavioural therapy or medication) with your doctor. Take a daily walk to boost your vitamin D from sunlight. Vitamin D is an antidepressant. “I am a big believer in getting outside,” says
As Dr. Sohere Roked, a specialist in bio-identical (synthetic) HRT, points out, “Lifestyle plays a huge part in libido — what you eat, how you sleep, how you move your body. If you can get these sorted out, libido often improves.”
Eating well, exercising and reducing alcohol and smoking can all benefit your health and improve sex drive. And think about your sleep patterns. Tiredness is a passion killer, and depression and anxiety can often disrupt sleeping patterns.
DIET
Sadly, there is no one magic food for libido boosting. I advise a healthy, balanced diet, which usually means reducing sugar, caffeine and alcohol, but not fat. We need healthy omega-3 fats for our brains to function properly. What you can do: Eat foods to promote healthy blood circulation. Garlic, onions, chili and ginger are sources of a natural compound called allicin, which dilates blood vessels. Eat foods that improve brain function. Omega-3 fatty acids from oily fish, such as salmon, trout and sardines improve brain signalling, thus helping increase sexual response. A high intake of caffeine and sugar both raise the level of the stress hormone cortisol, but you can reverse this process by reducing tea, coffee and sugar and instead drinking water and eating wholegrain lean protein, vegetables and complex carbohydrates. Eat foods that help you sleep. Sleep hormone melatonin is made from the amino acid tryptophan, but as this is a small molecule it needs the release of insulin, which is stimulated by sugar, to get across the blood/brain barrier. So include a healthy, slow-release carb food (which will break down into sugar in the body) with dinner such as brown rice, bread or pasta to promote healthy sleep. Reduce alcohol. You may think you need it, but realistically it reduces the quality of your sleep.