Give Your Sex Life a Boost with Natural Remedies

Aging takes its toll, and one of its most distressing side effects is a flagging love life. “Many adults — particularly men — become concerned with the waning of their virility as they age,” neurosurgeon and wellness expert Dr. Russell Blaylock tells Newsmax Health.

Although many factors like stress affect sexual function, decreasing levels of testosterone may be to blame. Testosterone levels begin dropping after the age of 30 at about 1 percent each year.

In addition to changes in sexual function, low levels of testosterone also cause insomnia, reduced muscle strength and smaller muscles, depression, and an inability to concentrate. Testosterone medications might seem to be the answer, but they come with risks.

Prescription testosterone can contribute to sleep apnea, acne, reduced sperm production, an enlarged prostate, and to slowing production of the body’s own testosterone. It can also spur the spread of prostate cancer.

Erectile dysfunction (ED) also plagues aging men, although it can occur at any age. Common causes include heart disease, clogged blood vessels, diabetes, and obesity.

Fortunately, there are supplements that can boost the production of testosterone and help cope with some of the most common causes of ED to give your love life a boost. They include:

• DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone). This hormone, which is produced by the adrenal glands, is broken down by the body into a hormone called androstenedione, which is then changed into testosterone and estrogen.

“By age 60 a man possesses only one-third the level he had as a young man,” says Dr. Blaylock, author of The Blaylock Wellness Report. He recommends everyone over age 50 have DHEA levels tested, and if they are low, to take 10 milligrams daily.

Get retested in three weeks, and if levels are still low, add an additional 10 mg. Once levels are normal, discontinue.

• L-carnitine. “A study found that elderly men who regularly used this natural substance saw their erectile dysfunction significantly improve — without the complications common to testosterone use,” Dr. Blaylock said.

The study, published in the journal Urology, was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 150 older men who complained of decreased libido and impotence. All were diagnosed with very low levels of testosterone.

The group receiving L-carnitine supplements used two types of L-carnitine taken together (propionyl-L-carnitine and acetyl-L-carnitine). After six months, men taking L-carnitine showed improvements in testeosterone significantly better than those taking testosterone medication.

Dr. Blaylock recommends 1,000 mg of L-carnitine (acetyl-L-carnitine) plus 50 milligrams of R-lipoic acid twice a day.

• Vitamin D. Although it’s called a vitamin, vitamin D is actually a hormone. A majority of Americans are deficient, especially seniors. A three-year study of older men published in Hormone and Metabolic Research found that men who had higher levels of vitamin D also had higher levels of free testosterone. Another study found that men with low testosterone who were given a vitamin D supplement (3,332 IUs) every day for a year experienced a 20 percent rise in free testosterone.

• L-arginine. L-arginine is an amino acid that helps fight ED by making nitric oxide in the body. Nitric oxide relaxes smooth muscles around blood vessels and dilates vessels, letting more oxygen-rich blood flow to the penis, which allows for an erection.

One study published in the Journal of Sex Marital Therapy, found that when 1,700 milligrams of L-arginine was combined with 40 mg of pycnogenol (a form of pine bark that is also a nitric oxide booster), the success rate for helping erectile dysfunction was 80 percent.

• Horny goat weed. Horny goat weed contains an ingredient called icariin, which several studies have found increases testosterone levels. Similar to erectile dysfunction drugs, icariin inhibits the PDE5 enzyme to increase testosterone levels. It also allows the smooth muscles of the penis to relax and boost blood flow in the pelvic area by increasing the production of nitric oxide. Some experts suggest using a horny goat weed extract with 10 percent icariin.

• Gingko biloba. Ginkgo biloba has been used in Chinese herbal medicine almost 5,000 years, and is believed to fight ED by increasing blood flow. However, it seems to be most effective in improving sexual function in elderly men and women who take antidepressants.

Gingko was shown to be 76 percent effective in men and was even more effective — an astounding 91 percent — in women.