What Foods and Diets Cause Low Libido in Men

In another article I mentioned "the big 3" factors on how to increase sexuality in men. I want to get a little bit more specific now on diet. In particular, what foods and ingredients would destroy libido.

Soy is the first culprit here. Avoid this ingredient altogether! Yes soy is a bad thing and can increase estrogen levels in both men and women. Soy is everywhere in processed food so beware! Next time you are out shopping look at the ingredient labels and you'll see what I mean! Some will argue to me and say "what about food like tempeh?" Now here's a little bit of the difference. Fermented and unfermented soy are two different things. Fermented soy is actually fine. I personally wouldn't have too much of it but understand, fermented soy is a big process in preparing food, getting rid of things like phytic acids and such and such. Too much in depth information to cover in a small article. Unfermented soy is the former in which I mentioned. Soy is cheap, easily used as a filler for food and definitely bad for you. Throw away that tofu!

Trans fat is the next thing here. Maybe people will argue with me and say, even yes it is bad, it won't exactly lower libido. I say it does since trans fat clogs your arteries and clogged arteries mean less blood flow to any part of your body. It won't affect libido directly (at first) but it can affect it indirectly. Trans fat is not usually found in the label so you have to look at the ingredients again for this. However, trans fat won't be said on the ingredient label since it's not really called trans fat. To find trans fat just remember the word "hydro" If you see anything with that word then put it back on the shelf. An example is "hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated vegetable oil" etc. Know the margarine on the shelf that stays there for 5+ years and ever wondered how that exactly worked? Trans fat, or that hydrogenated goodness is the reason.

Low fat diets actually cause testosterone to plummet. Our body needs fat and needs a lot of it from food. Saturated fat, polyunsaturated, monounsaturated fat, we need them! Trans fat is the only fat we should avoid. We also need cholesterol too since that is a steroid hormone in our body and our body, even if it produces 70% of its daily requirement still needs it from foods. Fat is what helps cell membranes function, helps hormones get regulated and is what keeps us alive.

I've got journal research articles on my site here listing what the consequences of low libido are, what the benefits of increased libido are and more how to's, stuff to avoid and a fast track to improving your love life. Pass my page or article to all you know. This isn't just about how to increase sexuality in men but it's about how to increase health in people world wide.

Functional Foods: The Lines Have Blurred

The line between food and medicine has blurred considerably in the last two decades. Today our grocery aisles are flooded with foods that promise health benefits beyond their basic nutritional value. These benefits range from memory lapses cured by herbs, to digestive disturbances cured by beneficial bacteria (probiotics), to heart attacks prevented by plant sterols. In between there are thousands of products that claim to promote health or prevent disease.

The market for these so-called "functional foods" has become one of the fastest growing industries in the US. Already a multi-billion dollar industry, experts predict annual growth rates of 7% or higher for the functional food market, but no one dares predict how far this new wave may carry us. The red wine "pill" has already been developed, and some researchers already foresee the day of edible vaccines.

While the trend is certainly good for the health of processed food manufacturers, environmentalists and health policy experts worry that as the clamor for functional additives provide a slippery slope for more genetically modified foods. Nutritionists and scientists also see hazards for the consumer that may outweigh the benefits. Chief among them is simple safety.

Regulatory authorities around the world tend to be years behind the companies introducing these products. Our own FDA requires nutrition facts only for those substances with FDA daily values, such as vitamin A or calcium. Amounts of ingredients such as omega-3 fatty acid and probiotics are not regulated, so consumers can't know how much they should be ingesting, but manufacturers are not required to disclose how much or little they are putting in their foods.

Another concern is the possibility of overdose, or hyper-vitaminosis. The combination of taking multivitamins and also consuming fortified nutrition bars, health drinks and cereals may be too much of a good thing. Vitamin A, for example, is required at low doses, but may be toxic at levels only 10 times those required to prevent deficiencies.

Studies have suggested that long-term intake of a diet high in vitamin A may promote the development of osteoporotic hip fractures in women.

(1) The Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) has also warned about consuming too much folic acid from food. The HSPH doesn't suggest we give up our daily multivitamin-multimineral supplement, but that we avoid heavily fortified foods that deliver a full day's dose--or sometimes more--of folic acid.

(2) The most basic concern, however, is that these new prescription foods might encourage consumers to switch from a diverse, healthy diet to a basically unhealthy one - with an increasing reliance on functional: additives or modifications. The front package claim, "Fortified with essential vitamins and minerals," on products like breakfast cereal and drinks can be a powerful distraction from the fact that these products often contain high amounts of sugar. While enriched or fortified foods can make significant contribution to nutrient intakes, they do not have the same nutritional benefits as the whole foods for which they substitute. The whole food will always be superior.