Increasing Male Sex Drive and Sexual Performance

Obesity inhibits testosterone production. The fatter you are, the more estrogen receptors you have, meaning that when you fail to control yourself at the dinner table or as you pass by vending machines, you only perpetuate an agonizing spiral into sexual failure. There's a reason the lean, muscular man is seen as more sexually potent: generally, he is (unless he's on steroids and they've shrunk his willy). That isn't to say that a man who is fairly lean and fairly muscular will not be able to perform well sexually, but there is definitely an inverse relationship between body fat levels and sexual performance (male sexual endurance).

Your diet plays a tremendous role. Diabetes, colon problems, obesity, clogged arteries... you intuitively know that illness is not conducive to good sex. So why does it come as such a big surprise to so many people that your diet has a huge effect on your sex drive? Diets that result in clogged arteries, blood sugar problems, and excessive fat retention are recipes for poor sex. On that same note: research conclusively shows that smokers have more erectile dysfunction problems than do nonsmokers.

You know that exercise is good for improving sexual performance, but what kind of exercise is good? "Cardio" is a typical response, and it is an accurate one, but there is more to the story. Scientists recently have found that exercise does not increase your testosterone but, rather, decreases the rate at which your body loses testosterone. It may sound like the same thing, but the two are somewhat different. Also, endurance athletes such as marathon runners have been found to have lower-than-normal testosterone levels. So do your cardio: run, sprint, jog, but know when enough is enough, and you are going to have to start choosing between an athletic pursuit and bedroom pursuits. The key here is some degree of moderation: be competitive, be athletic, train hard, but don't train for marathons or similar ultra-endurance events. Short or medium-distance sprints may be beneficial for testosterone levels, as may be weight lifting. There is some evidence to support the idea that three sets are optimal for testosterone levels.

There is even a specific exercise that one can perform in order to increase the hardness and longevity of one's erections: the kegel. That's pronounced "kay-gul". The kegel was named after Dr. Alfred Kegel, who developed them to help women during childbirth. The kegel is simple, but it is perhaps the most specific sexual exercise there is that can be practiced anywhere and at any time. Between your groin and your anus is an area called the perenium, and in that area is a muscle called the pubococcygeal. The pubococcygeal muscle is the muscle that contracts when you ejaculate, the muscle that is responsible for your erections going up, and the muscle that is responsible for your ability to stop and re-start the flow of urine. The next time you're in the restroom, stop urinating for a moment, and notice the muscle you used to control the flow of urine. This is that muscle. In order to perform a kegel, you simply "flick" that muscle. Perform fifty to one-hundred quick "flicks", or twenty to thirty slower clenches of the muscle for as long as you can. As you build up the number of flicks you can perform and the duration of the clenches that you perform, you increase the strength and tone of the pubococcygeal muscle, and that means that your erections become stronger and better.

Beyond the basics of diet and exercise, what else can help strengthen the sex drive?

L-arginine is a chemical found in a lot of energy drinks. L-arginine is good for sex drive, but the other things that it is found alongside in energy drinks are not; many of them are, in fact, detrimental to sex drive. L-arginine is a precursor to nitrous oxide, and nitrous oxide is responsible for relaxing blood vessels and allowing more blood flow--especially blood flow to the penis. Since you're ill-advised to get your l-arginine from energy drinks, where can you get it? It's present in dark green vegetables like spinach, romaine lettuce, broccoli, artichokes, and more. It's also present in beans, as well as many meats.

Zinc is good for sex drive. It is largely responsible for testosterone production. Zinc can be found in various nuts and seeds, as well as some beans, and red meats, and oysters. Oysters have long been toted as an aphrodisiac; the finding that they contain a lot of zinc and that zinc is good for testosterone production may have something to do with this. Get plenty of zinc in your diet. In addition, there is a supplement that you may want to purchase to be sure you're getting enough zinc; it's called ZMA, or zinc magnesium aspartate, and research is showing that it is conducive to a good night's sleep, and that is dramatically increases sex drive and the strength and duration of erections, as well as testosterone in a double-whammy effect; remember that good, deep sleep is vital for testosterone production.

There is some research to suggest that eating oatmeal may increase testosterone production. Makes you wonder why the guy on the Quaker Oats can is always smiling, doesn't it? Be sure to buy old-fashioned oats, or even Irish steel-cut oats, which would be preferable. Do not buy the flavored oatmeal packets; their levels of sugar and the presence of other things that are undesirable to the sex drive makes them a bad choice. The sugar present therein will make your blood insulin skyrocket, which is bad for sex drive. If you buy old-fashioned oats, do not load them down with sugar and raisins and fruits yourself, either. Make a moderate bowl of oatmeal, perhaps with some walnuts (as walnuts contain l-arginine, sex drive booster) and some cinnamon (as cinnamon has been shown to buffer blood sugar levels from increasing too quickly).