7 Surprising Things That Might Be Hitting Your Libido
It happens to many couples...
7 January 2019
For parents or couples, not being intimate can be disheartening...especially if you're trying to start a family.
While many women dream of becoming mothers and many men dream of becoming fathers, it's hard if the relationship is lacking the closeness it needs to bring a baby into the world.
And that's nothing to be ashamed of...it happens to many couples - especially in today's fast-paced life.
Stress has just been overwhelmingly voted the most significant reason for low libido, ahead of physical health and mental health issues.
Taking work stress home with you is a particularly common scenario – whether it be difficult bosses, working very late or just a bad day at the office.
Not to mention, if you're coming home to your kids who will require all your attention in a short span of time.
So here we take a look at some of the other causes you may not have thought to blame for a slow and static intimate life between you and your partner.
1. Alcohol
Most men and women have some trouble to get intimate after consuming alcohol - especially if alcohol consumption is a regular aspect of their lifestyles.
But the coital consequences of alcohol go beyond the heat of the moment.
Too much booze over an extended period can leave men at risk of impotence, and damage a woman’s fertility.
2. Your mobile phone
It is well known that the light from phone screens inhibits sleep, but the ability to take the entire internet to bed with you can interrupt the onset of sexual desire.
Employ a no-phones rule between the sheets, and you may see a marked improvement in all your bed-based activities.
3. Dehydration
Dehydration harms your sex drive the same way it harms everything else – by blessing you with headaches, fatigue and dizziness.
If that weren’t enough to put you off your game, it can also cause would-be lovers to suffer from dryness.
That’s not good, wherever it is afflicting.
4. Vitamins
Even among food groups, high-vitamin foods like fish and green vegetables don’t scream ‘sexy’.
But vitamin E – reportedly known as “the intimacy vitamin” – is known to help fire sexual desire, while deficiencies in vitamin A may affect the body’s levels of testosterone.
The effects are mild – eating spinach will not transform you overnight into a hybrid of Casanova and Popeye – but a vitamin-heavy meal is a perfect preparation for some after-dinner entertainment.
5. Snoring
Snoring is a symptom of sleep apnoea – a common breathing condition in which the body fails to properly regulate nighttime breathing.
First and foremost this can decrease your oxygen levels (go and see a doctor!), but it can also deplete your testosterone and with it your libido.
Further problems may stem from the fact that snoring is really, really annoying.
The snorer sleeps soundly while ruining their partner’s shuteye – one of many little ways in which life just isn’t fair.
6. Parenthood
If you’re a parent, you’ll know that a crying or probably-soon-to-be-crying infant is no aphrodisiac – and that’s just one of many aspects of having children that can affect a relationship.
There are the traumas of childbirth, broken nights and complex emotions for new parents to deal with, on top of the unrelenting exhaustion.
The key is honest communication, understanding – and a few months of realistic (ie. lowered) expectations.
7. Overthinking it
Even if you get all of this right – you’ve loaded up on lettuce, left your phone at work and locked your children in the cellar – you can still inadvertently sabotage your intimacy.
Large parts of the libido exist entirely in the mind - if you’re still feeling nervous, worried about your levels of desire, or just over-analysing, then it becomes impossible to live in the moment.
