Can Overeating Affect Your Sex Drive?

Prolonged stress–such as many of us are experiencing during the current recession--increases the likelihood we will develop unhealthy ways to cope. These inadequate behaviors take a toll on our overall health and vitality and may even put the kibosh on our sex drive. In a survey of moms in early 2009, one in three said they had turned to eating too much food or drinking too much alcohol in response to stress. Furthermore, one in four moms said they were having less sex because of stress, and moms who lost their jobs said they spent 50 percent more time fighting with their spouse and less time having sex.

Accumulating weight gain from overeating can lead to obesity when left unchecked. This can affect your sex drive in several ways.

Being overweight negatively affects your emotional health and psychosocial functioning. Overweight people often develop a poor body image, making them feel depressed and anxious. Over time, these negative emotions may eventually drive away all your interest in, and reduce your satisfaction from, sex. Studies have found that female sexual functioning–arousal, lubrication, orgasm and satisfaction--are significantly lower in overweight women than in women who maintain a normal weight. Obese and overweight women also report having fewer sexual partners.

Furthermore, being overweight puts you at risk for other related medical conditions. Diabetes and other weight-related diseases may also produce an unwelcomed loss of sex drive.

Although men are less likely than women are to lose interest in sex, overeating can diminish a man's libido as well. Excessive weight, for example, may cause erectile dysfunction. Furthermore, fat cells produce estrogen, so overeating prompts the body to increase the production of estrogen and reduce the amount of testosterone, which decreases sexual drive and functioning.

Eating a healthy, balanced diet, increasing your activity level, and effectively managing stress are all positive steps you can take to revive your mental and physical well being, and may have a surprisingly positive effect on your sex drive.


Sources

http://womenshealth.gov/bodyimage/

http://journals.lww.com/greenjournal/Fulltext/2008/09000/Body_Mass_Index_and_Sexual_Behavior.13.aspx

http://journals.lww.com/greenjournal/Fulltext/2006/04000/When_Does_a__Less_Than_Perfect__Sex_Life_Become.2.aspx

http://journals.lww.com/greenjournal/Fulltext/2006/04000/When_Does_a__Less_Than_Perfect__Sex_Life_Become.2.aspx