How to Boost Your Relationship and Sex Life with Healthy Eating

 

How to Boost Your Relationship and Sex Life with Healthy Eating

Much of the lore surrounding the desire- and performance-enhancing effects of certain foods is anecdotal. But a good diet can help boost your libido and ensure your body is working well. A poor diet can lead to a host of health issues, which may negatively effect your sex life. For example, erectile dysfunction is often linked to obesity and diabetes, which can be caused by a poor diet.

Food is an important part of your everyday life and overall health. So it may not surprise you that your diet can affect your sex life. Changing your eating habits and behaviors may not be a cure-all for sexual issues, but it’s a good place to start.

Diet and supplements

Eating a well-balanced diet and taking certain supplements may help improve your overall health and sex life. It’s also important to avoid drinking too much alcohol.

Healthy diet

Fueling your body with the right kinds of food can help boost your mood and energy levels to support a healthy relationship and sex life. For optimum health, eat a nutrient-rich diet that’s low in trans fats, saturated fats, added sugars, and sodium. Eat a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and lean proteins. To avoid gaining weight, don’t eat more calories than you burn in a day.

Arginine and L-citrulline

Arginine, also known as L-arginine, is an amino acid used by your body to make nitric oxide. This important chemical helps your blood vessels relax, which promotes good blood flow. If you’re a man, good blood flow to the erectile tissues in your penis is important for sustaining an erection.

When you take supplemental arginine, your intestines break most of it down before it reaches your bloodstream. It may be more helpful to take L-citrulline supplements. L-citrulline is another amino acid that’s converted to arginine in your body. A small study published in UrologyTrusted Source found that L-citrulline supplements were more effective than a placebo for treating mild erectile dysfunction.

Both amino acids are also found in foods. L-citrulline is found in foods such as watermelon. Arginine is found in many foods, including:

walnuts

almonds

fish

whey

fruits

leafy vegetables

Zinc

The link between zinc and sexual health isn’t completely understood, but zinc appears to affect your body’s production of testosterone. It’s also necessary for the development of sperm and semen in men. Adequate zinc levels may boost male fertility. Zinc and other nutrients, such as folate, may also impact female fertility.

Zinc is available in supplement form. It’s also found in some foods. Oysters are nature’s richest source of this essential element. Not surprisingly, they have traditionally been viewed as aphrodisiacs, capable of kindling sexual desire.

Alcohol

Drinking alcohol may lower your inhibitions and increase the likelihood that you’ll engage in sexual activity. However, it can also cause acute or chronic erectile dysfunction. It can lead to unsafe behavior too. When you mix sex with alcohol, you’re less likely to use proper precautions to prevent unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. Out of control drinking can also negatively affect your behavior and relationships with other people. Don’t rely on alcohol to improve your sex life.

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Food-related habits and conflicts

Sometimes, food can be a source of stress and conflict in relationships. On the other hand, you and your partner may bond over shared meals together.

Eating together

In some sense, your brain is the most important sex organ. Sex begins with affection, intimacy, and desire. Mealtime is a great time to unwind with your partner and build intimacy in a relaxed and pleasurable setting.

Food conflicts

Sometimes, different food preferences and habits can be a source of stress in a relationship. To help build intimacy and trust, talk to your partner about issues surrounding your relationship with food. Sources of potential conflicts include:

cultural differences

religious dietary restrictions

tension between a vegetarian and omnivore

tension between a picky and adventurous eater

If either of you have a history of eating disorders or chronic dieting, that can also influence your relationships with food and each other.

Support

Body weight is tied to self-esteem and body image for many people. If your partner is trying to lose weight, help them along the way. If you know they’re an emotional eater, offer them support when they seem upset. Criticizing their food choices or looking over their shoulder while they’re eating won’t foster good feelings. Be supportive, not destructive.

Diet-related conditions

Many diet-related health conditions can negatively impact your sex life, as well as your overall health and quality of life. Take steps to prevent and treat diet-related conditions, such as obesity, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.

Excess weight

Obesity has been linked to lower fertility. Being overweight or obese may also damage your self-esteem, which can affect your libido and desire to be intimate.

To lose excess weight, burn more calories than you consume. Eat healthy portion sizes and limit foods that are high in fat and added sugars. Getting regular exercise is also important.

High blood pressure

Eating too much sodium can increase your blood pressure and limit your blood flow. This can lead to erectile dysfunction in men and reduce blood flow to the vagina in women. Certain blood pressure medications can also cause undesired sexual side effects.

To help maintain healthy blood pressure, follow a well-balanced diet, don’t eat too much sodium, and include potassium-rich foods daily. If you think you’re experiencing negative side effects from blood pressure medication, talk to your doctor. An alternative medication may be available.

High cholesterol

A diet high in saturated or trans fats can increase your “bad” LDL cholesterol. Too much LDL cholesterol can lead to a buildup of plaque in your arteries, which can limit blood flow and contribute to atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is the underlying cause of most heart disease. It can also contribute to erectile dysfunction.

To help maintain healthy blood cholesterol levels, eat a well-balanced diet that’s rich in fiber and low in saturated and trans fats. Include foods that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids.

Tips for a healthy sex life

Try these

Try oysters. They’re a source of zinc, which boosts your testosterone, and they are traditionally thought of as an aphrodisiac.

Eat together to unwind and bond.

Cut down on alcohol.

Eat watermelon or take L-citrulline supplements to promote healthy blood flow and help sustain erections.

Last medically reviewed on May 11, 2016

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How Long Does It Take for STD Symptoms to Appear or Be Detected on a Test?

Medically reviewed by Valinda Riggins Nwadike, MD, MPH — Written by Eleesha Lockett, MS on November 27, 2019

STD incubation periods

How soon can you test?

STD testing chart

Dormant STDs

Early detection benefits

Takeaway

If you’re sexually active, being knowledgeable about STDs is an important part of your sexual health.

If you’ve recently been exposed to an STD after having sex without a condom or other barrier method, you may have questions such as, how long does it take for an STD to show up on a test? Or, how long after exposure will STD symptoms begin to appear?

In this article, we’ll review the incubation periods for common STDs, the importance of early diagnosis and treatment, and recommendations for testing and retesting.

STD incubation periods

When you first contract an STD, your body needs time to recognize and produce antibodies to the disease. During this time period, known as the incubation period, you may not experience any symptoms.

If you test for an STD too early and the incubation period is not over yet, you may test negative for the disease even if you do have it.

In addition, even after the incubation period has passed, there are some STDs that can take months or years to produce symptoms.

Since most STD tests use antibodies (not symptoms) as a marker of disease status, having symptoms is not necessarily a reliable marker of infection. That’s why it’s important to test for any STDs you think you may have encountered — even if you don’t have symptoms.

How soon can you be tested?

Every STD has its own incubation period. For some STDs, the body begins to produce antibodies and symptoms in as little as a few days. For others, it can take weeks or months for symptoms to appear. Here are the ranges of incubation periods for some of the most common STDs.

STD Incubation period

chlamydia 7–21 days

genital herpesTrusted Source 2–12 days

gonorrhea 1–14 days

hepatitis ATrusted Source 15–50 days

hepatitis B 8–22 weeks

hepatitis C 2–26 weeks

HIV 2–4 weeks

HPV 1 month–10 years (depending on type)

oral herpes 2–12 days

syphilis 3 weeks–20 years (depending on type)

trichomoniasisTrusted Source 5–28 days

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STD testing chart

The expanded STD incubation and testing chart below includes test type and retesting recommendations. After the incubation period has passed, most STDs can be diagnosed via antibody-specific blood tests. Some STDs are also accompanied by lesions and can be diagnosed via swab, culture, or urine tests as well.

STD Type Incubation period Test type Retesting after treatment

chlamydia bacterial 7–21 days blood, swab, or urine tests 3 months

genital herpes viral 2–12 days ulcer, culture, or blood tests none (lifelong virus)

gonorrhea bacterial 1–14 days blood, swab, or urine tests 3 months

hepatitis A viral 15–50 days specific antibody blood test none (lifelong virus)

hepatitis B viral 8–22 weeks specific antibody blood test none (lifelong virus)

hepatitis C viral 2–26 weeks specific antibody blood test none (lifelong virus)

HIV viral 2–4 weeks specific antigen/antibody blood test none (lifelong virus)

HPV viral 1 month–10 years (depending on type) pap smear none (lifelong virus)

oral herpes viral 2–12 days ulcer, culture, or blood tests none (lifelong virus)

syphilis bacterial 3 weeks–20 years (depending on type) blood tests 4 weeksTrusted Source

trichomoniasis parasitic 5–28 days NAAT blood test 2 weeksTrusted Source

While retesting is recommended for bacterial STDs, some STDs are lifelong viral infections. In the case of a lifelong viral infection, a blood test will always detect the STD, even after treatment has been successful. Therefore, retesting would only be necessary if you wanted to reconfirm an original diagnosis.

Can certain STDs lie dormant and not be detected?

In some cases, an STD may be asymptomatic (not show symptoms) because it’s latent, or lying dormant in your body. Latent STDs can cause someone to remain undiagnosed until symptoms begin to appear. This may put them at risk for long-term complications.

Chlamydia, hepatitis C, HIV, HSV (herpes simplex virus), and syphilis can all have periods of latency.

The best way to ensure that dormant STDs receive the proper diagnosis and treatment is regular STD screening. The CDCTrusted Source recommends that all sexually active adults with new or multiple sexual partners receive at least yearly testing for most STDs, especially chlamydia and gonorrhea.

It’s also recommended that people who have sex without a condom or other barrier method receive STD testing more frequently.

Benefits of early detection and treatment

If you think you may have an STD, it’s important to stop engaging in sexual activity and seek treatment. Early detection and treatment of STDs plays an important role in stopping the transmission of STDs between yourself, your sexual partners, and their sexual partners. In some cases, it can even save your life.

Some of the potential risks of untreated STDs include:

pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility in women, from untreatedTrusted Source chlamydia and gonorrhea

cervical cancer in women, from untreated HPV

pregnancy and birth-related risks, from untreated bacterial STDs, HIV, and hepatitis B

organ damage, dementia, paralysis, or death, from untreated syphilis

Taking care of your sexual health is important. Not everyone will voluntarily disclose their STD status to you. You can take control of your sexual health by asking questions, screening new sexual partners, and having open and honest discussions about sexually transmitted diseases.

Key takeaways

Early diagnosis and treatment of STDs is important for taking care of your sexual health. While it’s important not to test too early for STDs, knowing the incubation period of the most common infections can help you determine when to seek medical help.

If you test positive for an STD, whether bacterial, viral, or parasitic, receiving treatment can help to reduce the risk of long-term health complications.