Nutrient Deficiency, Aging and Sexual Health

It is Sexual Health Awareness Week occurs in February and we should all be aware of the effects that poor health, nutrient deficiencies and the aging process all have on our sexual health.

Your reproductive system is pretty amazing. Besides the obvious ability to produce children and carry on your genes, your reproductive system can also help indicate early signs of potential health problems like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hormone imbalance and even cancer.

As we age, our bodies produce less sexual hormones like testosterone and estrogen. This results in a hormone imbalance which can have serious consequences in your health.

In aging men, testosterone gets converted into estrogen. The effects of this can be seen through symptoms like muscle deterioration, weight gain and lack of libido.

In aging women, menopause signals the end of fertility and a cessation of ovarian hormone production. Like aging men, menopausal women also experience various symptoms. In fact, 75% of menopausal women suffer from hot flashes, sleep disturbances, vaginal dryness and mood swings. In addition to this, more than 50% of woman may develop sexual dissatisfaction and a loss of libido at some point in their lives.

Many people believe that sexual health awareness is something that only affects middle-age people or those over the age of 50. However, sexual health is a term that describes matters regarding optimal health of the reproductive system...regardless if you're in your 20s or 50s.

In women, PMS, bladder infections and even trying to fall pregnant are issues that shouldn't be ignored and should be addressed as naturally as possible.

For men, sexual health issues like premature ejaculation, impotence and maintaining a healthy sperm count should also be addressed as naturally and as soon as possible.

Sometimes, sexual health (especially when it comes to sexual performance and libido) can simply be more of a mental/emotional issue instead of a physical one. Stress, lack of sleep or even nutritional deficiencies can cause the wrong kind of tension between the sheets.

In order to address sexual health concerns, many people unfortunately rush out and either get the wrong advice or buy overpriced (and potentially deadly) hormone drugs.

These drugs usually contain synthetic forms of the hormone they are intended to supplement. In men, synthetic forms of testosterone have been around for some time and are still a banned substance in almost all sports events. These steroids should be avoided at all costs and you should seriously think twice before adding anything that's not natural into your body.

It's therefore extremely important to provide your body with natural extracts and nutrients specifically suited to help boost testosterone levels for optimal men's health.

In women, HRT was at one time considered the 'be all and end all' solution to hormone imbalances brought on by menopause. Well, quite frankly this is wrong! There are far better alternatives to HRT...especially when you consider that researchers have found that HRT increases the risk of ovarian cancer by 20%. Earlier studies have even found that HRT has been directly responsible for the deaths of 30,000 women in the UK, and around 200,000 in the USA, since the early 1990s.

The estrogen used in HRT is derived from urine from pregnant horses. The estrogen molecule in horses is quite different to that of humans and has no place in the body.

One option for both men and women looking to improve their hormonal systems and optimize their sexual health would be to use bio-identical hormones which have been safely prescribed by an expert in this field...but this should still be approached with caution, particularly for men as you don't want to risk making your own hormone production system become 'lazy'.

It is much more appropriate for men to reduce the conversion of testosterone to estrogen. It is for this reason why we use Chrysin in our Total Balance Men's Formula. 

For more information about this topic, please refer to our Healthy Living Page.