For the Love of Libido: Common Causes of Low Libido and How to Improve It

The Hallmark Holiday to crown all Hallmark Holidays is upon us, and we can’t help but succumb to the conversation hearts and pink explosions. Love is in the air, people! Can you feel it? Setting aside your appropriately placed eye roll, at R+R we’ve got love on the brain and want to help you set the mood. Speaking of the mood (wink, wink), attaining this elusive feeling can be harder for some than for others.

What’s up with that?

Our libidos can fluctuate (read: plummet) for a litany of reasons, and it doesn’t just happen for those more senior in their years on earth. In keeping with our Functional Medicine pillar of root-cause therapy, our goal is to help you figure out why your libido is a low-bido.

What can cause low libido?

• hormone imbalance
• nutrient deficienies
• medication side effects
• hormonal birth control
• chronic stress
• poor diet
• environmental toxins

Yes you read that right, the pill can cause a dip in sex drive as can many other prescription medications including various heart medications, synthetic hormones as well as anti-depressants. With hormonal birth control, the issue is in the liver. According to hormonal guru Jolene Brighton, “Research has shown hormonal birth control alters the genetics of your liver and may permanently result in a lifelong missing libido.” Don’t despair! There are many avenues to restoring your sex drive, some of which are listed below, and our Functional Medicine practitioner would love to help you get to the bottom of it as well.

Nutrient deficiencies sneak up on us and can often wear a mask much darker than what you might suspect. Depression, anxiety, low libido (hi, hello), moodiness, sleeplessness, (the list goes on!) can all be yucky side effects of mineral deficiencies. If you’re not quite ready to pony-up for a Functional Medicine appointment just yet, we recommend a ZYTO Scan for a dependable read on where your body is out of balance and which minerals and vitamins will supplement your unique body appropriately.

Hormone imbalance can also lead to a limp in your libido. Many factors contribute to hormonal imbalance (another blog post for another day), but chronic stress stands as a leading contributor to out-of-whack hormone levels. When your body is in overdrive physically and mentally, you’re running on fumes, amiright? When this happens, the hormone progesterone plummets and cortisol - the stress hormone - sky-rockets, thus creating a deficiency in progesterone and an over-abundance of cortisol. When you start messing with your adrenals and your hormone levels, the results build upon each other and can appear in the form of anxiety, acne, belly fat, depression, and you guessed it - reduced sex drive, among other zero-fun symptoms.

So that’s the bad news. The good news is there are lifestyle changes you can make today to improve your libido and your overall health!

• Ditch the processed junk. Yeah yeah, we know it’s not sexy, but it’s true. Get back to basics: organic fruits and veggies, heart healthy fats (nuts, seeds, olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil, ghee), organic and grass-fed meat and wild-caught fatty fish. Skip the processed sugars and keep alcohol consumption in check. For the sugar addicts out there, try a piece of 80% or higher dark chocolate for libido boosting bonus points without the added sugar.
• Find ways to reduce stress in your life. Where can you delegate? Where can you loosen the reigns on perfectionism? Where can you say no? What fills your cup? Where can you make room for self-care and stop beating yourself up for it? Wake up 10 minutes before the kiddos wake up. No kiddos? Wake up 10 minutes earlier than normal. Take the time to breathe, pray and relax your body into the day.
• Kick environmental toxins to the curb. Cleaning supplies, dryer sheets, perfumes, lotions, make-up, body washes, hair care… all these babies can be loaded with fragrances and chemicals that single-handedly might not cause you any harm, but the compound effects can be detrimental to your endocrine system, reproductive health, hormones, mental state… the list goes on!
• Book a Hanky Panky IV Drip! This baby is full of the nutrients to get your libido cooking like Arginine, B-Complex, Vitamin C, Zinc, Carnitine, MIC/B12 and B6. Better yet, book with your bae and receive 15% off each service now through February 14th!
• Come shop! Treat yo’self to our WOO Organic Personal Lubricant for all the fun without the nasty additives and synthetic chemicals. The carefully curated ingredient list touts vanilla essence, a natural aphrodisiac, alongside stevia, coconut oil and beeswax. That’s it! One woo girl quoted on their website says, “This is like Whole Foods for your vagina.”

Now that we’ve got your turning all shades of pink, consider our work to get you in Valentine’s mood already well on its way ;) In all seriousness, living with a low libido should not be your norm. Let R+R set your feet on the path toward healing because no matter of health should be taken for granted! Call (817) 720-6220 to book today.