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Sex Drive and Probiotics – Can They Increase Your Libido?
If you choose to watch Netflix over spending some naughty time with your partner, menopause might be the one to blame. Estrogen levels are lower, which leads to less blood flow to your vagina. As a result, arousal and stimulation are not so easy, and you may not enjoy sex as much as you did before. Menopause can affect your libido, but it seems that probiotics might be just the right thing to help you improve your sex drive.
Apart from this, your libido can suffer from mental health issues brought about by menopause, along with the stress of daily life, irritability, and mood swings. A study has found that women with the most severe symptoms of menopause have a lower sex drive than women with mild symptoms (1). As a result, your hot flashes, mood swings, anxiety, insomnia, and fatigue are not the best for your libido.
When you feel that low sex drive affects your self-esteem and quality of life, it is time to look at this symptom seriously. Some women are afraid to speak about their problems with their partner or doctor. But there is nothing shameful about low sex drive because of menopause – it is a normal stage of life. There are several tips you can follow to improve your sex drive with natural remedies and conventional treatments as well.
Some Tips for Improving Your Sex Drive
Often, you may have a lower sex drive because of other reasons like smoking, not being physically active, or having a chronic disease. Also, the body changes in menopause can make you uncomfortable in your own skin. Changes like weight gain or skin problems can make you feel discomfort and be insecure in front of your partner.
If you have symptoms of menopause that make you feel insecure, speak to your doctor about the options you have for increasing your sex drive. In other cases, you can make a few changes in your diet and style of life that would help your libido. Often, treating one symptom of menopause helps with the other symptoms as well.
Adjust Your Lifestyle
Sex drive depends on many things really, and the best way to support it is through healthy habits. Exercise every day for 30 or more minutes, whether you walk, run, dance, or swim. Also, eat a diet rich in whole foods like fruits and veggies to get vitamins and minerals your body needs. Give up smoking and drink less alcohol, maybe having a glass of red wine from time to time instead of drinking beer or liquor.
Speak with Your Partner
Be open and honest with your partner about your symptoms. He is not there to judge you; he will listen and help you through your problems. If you have pain during sex, you can use lubricant or spend more time on foreplay to ensure greater arousal. Also, you can do some relaxing things with your partner, like going for a walk, cooking, or making crafts for your home. And have some alone time once in a while to learn your body and what it likes.
Use Medications
If your low sex drive bothers you, or you have severe thinning and drying of the vagina, speak to your doctor. As we said before, you can find relief from several symptoms of menopause with the same treatment. Perhaps, you can use topical estrogen therapies for vaginal atrophy. They have fewer risks than HRT but seem to be helpful. Before choosing any treatment with estrogen, speak to your doctor.
Turn to Natural Remedies Like Probiotics
Some women are worried about the risks of HRT and estrogen therapies. If you are one of them, there are also natural remedies that can help improve your sex drive. Think foods with estrogen-like elements, such as soy, red clover, or black cohosh. Furthermore, probiotic studies have shown these good bacteria to be very helpful for improving sex drive and other symptoms of menopause.
Can Probiotics Help Your Sex Drive?
Studies talk about the decline of sex drive in menopause and sexual dysfunction resulting from vaginal dryness, chronic disorders, or stress. The decrease in sexual function with age can impact a woman’s body image and quality of life (2). As a result, treating symptoms of low libido and sexual dysfunction is vital for a woman’s overall health.
When a woman is unable to enjoy sex with her partner in menopause, low sex drive turns into a problem. Even though there are treatments for the symptom, they do not always work for everyone equally. Because of that, studies have looked into the connection between low sex drive and gut microflora (3). When gut microflora is out of balance, a woman’s sex drive decreases. In turn, improving the bacterial balance in your gut can help improve your sex drive and overall sexual health.
Where to Get Probiotics for Sex Drive
It is really not that hard to find probiotics. In fact, they are in many foods you can buy at a grocery store. Think fermented foods like sauerkraut or kimchi, soy products like miso and tempeh, pickles, or yogurt with live bacteria. All of these will help restore the healthy balance in your gut microflora for overall gut health so you can start feeling better. However, these are not the kind of foods you would eat every day, so a supplement will be a good idea.
(1) Nancy Woods, Ellen Mitchell, and Kathy Julio. “Sexual Desire During the Menopausal Transition and Early Postmenopause: Observations from the Seattle Midlife Women’s Health Study.”
(2) Kimberley Thornton, Judi Chervenak, and Genevieve Neal-Perry. “Menopause and Sexuality.”
(3) H. Tirandaz et al. “Microbiota potential for the treatment of sexual dysfunction.”
