Have you been feeling the need to spice things up in the bedroom? Your libido is affected by many different factors, from your age and hormone levels to your dietary and sleeping habits. Try these helpful tips to boost your libido naturally with some simple adjustments to your everyday routine.
Get active
If you lead a sedentary life, you may notice a drop in your libido. Both men and women can benefit from getting active, and I don’t just mean active between the sheets.
If you are new to the exercise game or have been on hiatus for some time, start small: walking for 30 minutes, yoga, low-impact exercises while watching television. Short bursts of fitness are better than no fitness.
Physical activity & libido for men
Focus on more weight lifting than cardiovascular activity. Resistance training has shown to support testosterone levels (1)
Physical activity & libido for women
If you engage in high-intensity workouts often and notice your libido has slipped by you, try slowing it down with a juicy yoga class one or two times per week, or skip a few HIIT classes and walk instead. In many cases, over-exercising can be just as problematic for our libido as under exercising.
Commit to quality sleep
Lack of sleep, changing sleep times and poor quality sleep can all lead to a lowered libido. This is because our body works around a circadian rhythm – a 24 hour clock where our cortisol levels (stress hormone as well as wake hormone) and melatonin will typically rise and fall around the light dark cycles of the day.
Our hormones all work together. This means if we disrupt our natural cortisol curve by going to bed late, waking early or waking in the night consistently, we can impact our sex drive – both our desire and performance.
In order to get a good night’s rest, it is important to start shutting down phones and computers by 10pm. Wear blue light blockers in the darker hours and start dimming lights. Even try a magnesium supplement like Enhanced Collagen Relax in an evening herbal tea to help induce fatigue and restfulness.
Manage stress
Similar to sleep, high stress typically leads to low libido for both men and women. Sleep, diet adjustments, getting outdoors and adequate exercise can all be excellent stress reducers.
Other stress-reducing practices to try:
- Add in adaptogens like ashwagandha, which have been shown to lower the body’s cortisol (2). You can combine an ashwagandha powder, like Organika’s Mood, in a smoothie or add it to your morning tea or coffee. Alternatively, capsules offer the same benefits and can be more convenient.
- Deep breathing exercises. Set a timer in your calendar to take three deep belly breaths. Ideally, try this before meals to prepare your body for better digestion.
- Get outside: similar to a deep breath, getting outside can revitalize us and help us de-stress.
Eat well
You can’t out-exercise or out-supplement a poor diet. A diet rich in antioxidants can increase blood flow, protect our cells, support stamina, provide energy... the list really does go on.
A good diet is also even more essential for those looking to conceive as antioxidants like Vitamin C are essential to reduce oxidative stress and protect sperm as well as support ovary health (3).
It can also be helpful to add in adaptogens, especially maca powder, which is easy to take as a capsule or in a powdered form to add to smoothies or your morning coffee.
How maca powder boosts libido
Maca is a root grown in the Andes of Peru, that has been used for centuries by both men and women to help support libido, fertility, hormone health and overall energy.
Similar to other adaptogens, you see the most libido and fertility benefits with consistent use. This means using maca daily for at least a few weeks to even a few months to reap the most libido-boosting benefits – and this will differ depending on your use.
Maca for men’s libido
If you are using maca for men’s libido, it may take four months to see the benefits of sperm production (4), while it can take two to three months to see an increase in sexual desire (5).
Maca for women’s libido
Maca for women’s libido is just as important. One small study using primarily women, has shown that using 3 g of maca per day can reduce the impact of SSRI’s (selective-serotonin reuptake inhibitor, typically used for anxiety and depression) on sexual dysfunction (6). As well, we’ve seen the impact of maca for women’s libido in post-menopause in use over a 6-week trial, where women’s feelings of anxiety and depression, as well as sexual dysfunction were decreased (7).
How maca powder boosts libido is truly multi-fold in both men and women, as it has been traditionally used to also lower blood pressure, reduce stress and anxiety, as well as help with anemia. All of these areas, when out of balance, can disturb our libido.
