Photo: getty
Listen to your body. Your body is wise.
By Jordan Gray — Written on Apr 03, 2019
Your sex drive is a good overall indicator of how healthy you are. If you are a male and you aren’t waking up with regular erections (especially if you’re a male under 50 years old), then that can be an issue. The happier your body is the more sexual desire it will have.
I’ve been writing a lot more about health, wellness, and how to increase sex drive/testosterone levels, and this is one of the most frequently requested topics in regards to sex drive and general health. As always, with any supplementation, you want to make sure that you’re listening to your body.
Some people respond to certain supplements more than others, and the dose that you need on any given day/week will vary at different stages in your life.
While I give a general starting amount suggestion with each of the following six supplements, always ensure that you are listening to your body first and foremost. For example, some people might need to take 15-20 pine pollen tablets over the course of a week to feel any significant sexual charge, and some people might only need 2-3. It’s always a personal issue. So make sure you’re looking inwards for your answers as to how much of these supplements you should be taking.
While I do consider altering your testosterone levels with natural supplements a natural process, before I get into the specific supplements to help you learn how to increase libido, I believe that it’s imperative to go over a few key lifestyle factors first.
In many cases, simply doing the following five tips will balance your hormones to the degree that your sex drive will come back online/be boosted naturally and you won’t need to supplement at all.
But if you’ve been doing the following five things and not noticing much of an uptick, then I encourage you to incorporate the lifestyle factors and dabble with supplementation as well. Let’s get into it.
1. Sleep well.
Regular, quality sleep is essential to a happy body, mind, and libido. Prioritize your sleep by sleeping in a slightly cool room, at the same time each night, with as little light in the room as possible.
Wind down a few hours before bed, limit screen times, and buy blackout curtains for your room if need be. Getting 8 to 9 hours of sleep is of the utmost importance when it comes to boosting your sex drive because your testosterone only produces during the night.
2. Eat clean.
Eat a largely plant-based diet. Drink lots of water. Don’t eat too much refined sugar/white flour or overly processed foods.
For testosterone production, you especially want to ensure that you’re eating an ample amount of healthy fats (avocados, pecans, almonds, coconut oil), and foods rich in vitamins B and D (fish, eggs, cheese), vitamin C (oranges, peppers, kale, strawberries), and zinc (spinach, shrimp, flax seeds, kidney beans).
3. Reduce stress.
Our bodies are wise. When you’re stressed, one of the first things to take a hit is your sex drive. That’s right: high levels of stress are a major driver of low testosterone levels. It’s as if, evolutionarily, your body knows that you’re not in the fittest position to raise kids when you’re feeling overwhelmed by life.
To curb chronic stress, ensure that:
- You’re doing work that you love in the world.
- You are getting regular aerobic exercise.
- You are getting ample amounts of sleep.
- You aren’t slamming 3+ cups of coffee per day (your hormones don’t respond particularly well to being constantly slammed with stimulants).
- You’re making ample time for rest, relaxation, and play.
4. Give up drinking and drugs completely/almost entirely.
Again, anything that is generally considered as sound, healthy advice is also good for your sex drive. Avoid drinking (yes, alcohol) and drugs (including smoking, coffee/caffeine, high doses of refined sugar) in order to be at your best.
Even smoking a few cigars per week or drinking a couple of bottles of wine in a day can have a clear and noticeable negative impact on your sex drive. So it’s best to steer clear as much as you are able to.
5. Remove toxins from your home and self-care products.
The toxins in your self-care and cleaning products could very likely be negatively impacting your body’s natural hormonal balance set point. Only use natural cleaning products around the home and natural self-care products for your body.
Also, to benefit from cleaner, nature-y air in your home environment, I’d strongly recommend getting a salt lamp or two into your space to counteract whatever traffic exhaust fumes may be lingering around (especially if you live near any streets or highways).
Without further ado, these are the six best natural herbs and supplements that you can take to boost your libido. At the end of these six sections, I go into what I would recommend to start with and in what quantity.
1. Pine pollen
Ahhh, old faithful! Pine pollen was one of the first and most powerful libido boosters that I ever experimented with. The science is still out on this one, but I still have yet to find a more potent boost in my testosterone levels than when I use this supplement.
I take three tablets a day for 2-3 days and I feel the effects immediately. I can go from wanting an orgasm per week to needing to orgasm daily just to get by, so I know (for me, personally) that this stuff works.
This is the brand of pine pollen that I use. When people come to me looking for a quick boost in their libido, this is the first product that I send them to.
2. Maca root powder
Pine pollen and maca root are the two supplements that I send to the most of my readers/clients on a weekly basis. These two in combination with each other pack a powerful punch.
If I’m every feeling creatively/energetically/sexually uninspired, I’ll take three pine pollen tablets and drink a green smoothie with two tablespoons of maca root powder in it. Within an hour I’ll feel a huge creative and sexual energy rush and will need to either write an article and/or masturbate/have sex in order to be a functioning human being in society. Simply put, this stuff makes me into a beast.
Side note: make sure that you go with an organic brand like this one, so as to not be dumping a bunch of chemicals, fake additives, preservatives, or binding agents into your body.
3. Korean ginseng and Indian ginseng
Korean ginseng encourages a rush of blood flow (when taken 10-30 minutes before sex) and it also promotes healthier testosterone levels in the long-term when taken regularly. This is the Korean ginseng that I have found the most impact from.
Indian ginseng (also known as ashwagandha) is a commonly used aphrodisiac and has been proven to reduce inflammation and stress, calm the nervous system, and balance the immune system. It was also proven, in a recent study, to be advantageous in increasing semen quality in men and reproductive health/fertility in women.
This is my favorite Indian ginseng/ashwagandha/winter cherry (different names for the same thing) product on the market today.
4. Vitamins A, E, and minerals zinc and selenium
Certain vitamins and minerals are absolutely critical in the processes of androgen and testosterone production. Make sure you’re getting ample amounts of vitamin A, vitamin E, zinc and selenium in your diet. Eat foods like carrots, kale, spinach, shellfish/shrimp, wild salmon, kidney beans, flax seeds, almonds, cashews, and sunflower seeds to get these nutrients into your diet.
And if you want to supplement to ensure that you’re getting optimal levels of these vitamins and minerals in your diet, I would recommend the following products:
5. Horny goat weed
Horny goat weed is an ancient natural remedy that has been used in China for centuries. It is commonly used to combat low sexual desire, erectile dysfunction, and chronic fatigue. A study done in 2008 found that a specific compound in the herb blocks the effects of an enzyme that blocks blood flow to the penis, which would then improve erectile ease, strength, and duration.
While I haven’t used this product personally, one of my longest-term clients that I’ve worked with for a few years swears by this particular product and he says that it saved his sex life (and marriage).
6. L-Arginine
L-arginine is an amino acid that is necessary for the body to make proteins. Once in the body, it is converted into nitric oxide, which widens/relaxes the blood vessels for improved blood flow. While people commonly use L-arginine for chest pain, high blood pressure, improved kidney function, and preventing the common cold, it is frequently used for erectile dysfunction and male infertility.
If you’re looking to throw the book at your E.D. and want another tool in your arsenal, I’d add this product to your supplement toolkit.
That was a lot of information, all at once. Here’s the cheat sheet. If you’re looking to boost your libido, regardless of your age or gender, I’d recommend that you start out by:
- Taking three pine pollen tablets per day for three days
- Taking two tablespoons of maca root powder in your smoothie
- Making sure you’re getting ample amounts of vitamins A, E, and minerals zinc and selenium in your diet, or supplementing them
Follow this protocol, and see how you feel on day three. If you’re feeling too much sexual energy, ease back the dose of the pine pollen and maca powder (one tablet of pine pollen per day, and one tablespoon of maca every other day). If you’re looking for more sexual energy still, then I’d recommend you maintain those dosages, while you add in one capsule of horny goat weed, L-arginine, and Korean ginseng each day until you feel the full effects.
And remember: listen to your body. Your body is wise.
Don’t just start by taking all six supplements from day one. You want to give your body a little bit of time to acclimatize. Start with pine pollen and maca powder, and then go from there after having felt how your sexual energy responds to that dosage.
More for You:
Sex and relationship coach Jordan Gray helps people remove their emotional blocks and maintain thriving intimate relationships. You can see more of his writing at JordanGrayConsulting.com.
YourTango may earn an affiliate commission if you buy something through links featured in this article.
This article was originally published at Jordan Gray Consulting. Reprinted with permission from the author.