These 7 Foods Could Be Killing Your Sex Drive

Not feeling “in the mood” lately? You may want to check your diet. Just like how certain foods can boost your sex drive, there are others that can put a damper on your libido.

If you’ve noticed a decrease in your sex drive, you may want to reevaluate your diet and try avoiding these foods.

Cheese

Cheese is delicious and a must-have for any romantic night involving wine and a charcuterie platter. But cheese may also be the secret culprit behind your lack of sex drive.

The kind of cheese that’s derived from cow’s milk — such as delicious brie — is full of synthetic hormones, which could mess with your body’s natural production of hormones like estrogen and testosterone. By messing with those hormones, cheese might ultimately reduce your sex drive.

Mint

Yes, mint — the same herb that can give you fresh, kissable breath — can also ruin your sex drive. The menthol found in mint can lower testosterone levels, reducing male libido.

Too Much Alcohol

A glass of wine or a nice cocktail might help get you in the mood, but too much alcohol will kill the mood. From beer to liquor, drinking too much can make you sleepy and even uninterested.

It may also result in erectile difficulties for men, and cause trouble achieving an orgasm for both men and women.

Soy

Soy isn’t completely terrible for sex drive — it has high levels of estrogen which is good for a woman’s sex drive. But for men it has the opposite effect; boosting a man’s estrogen levels will likely drive down his sex drive.

Microwave Popcorn

Next time you cozy up on the couch for a night of ‘Netflix and chill’ with your significant other, you may want to reconsider indulging in some microwave popcorn. The chemicals found on the lining of the bag, such as perfluorooctanoic acid, will not only ruin your libido, but also may cause long term prostate problems in men.

Licorice

Bad news for fans of licorice candy: licorice root can lower testosterone and put a damper on sex drive. It’s potent enough where eating just 25 grams can have a strong impact on testosterone.

Prepackaged Deli Meats

The ham or turkey sandwich you ate for lunch might be reducing your libido. Pre-packaged lunch meats are often wrapped in PVC (polyvinyl chloride), which can leak into fatty foods and cause hormonal shifts.

Danielle Tarasiuk

Danielle Tarasiuk is a multimedia journalist based in Los Angeles. Her work has been published on AllDay.com, Yahoo! Sports, KCET, and NPR-affiliate stations KPCC and KCRW. She’s a proud Sarah Lawrence College and USC Annenberg alumn.

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