Just can’t get in the mood? Before you blame your low libido on menopause or age, take a look at other sneaky issues that could be wrecking your sex drive. They’re all incredibly common — and fortunately — easy to fix!

Low iron

When’s the last time you had your iron levels checked? According to a study of Iranian women, sexual function and satisfaction were significantly lower in women with iron deficiency anemia. Other signs of anemia include loss of energy, difficulty concentrating and dizziness.

Vitamin D deficiency

It’s estimated that half of all US adults are deficient in Vitamin D. Why does this matter for your sex life? As multiple studies have shown Vitamin D deficiency can lead to depression and sexual dysfunction in healthy women and men. Symptoms of Vitamin D deficiency include bone pain, muscle weakness and aches, and mood changes. Need to stock up on the sunshine vitamin? Find out how to get enough Vitamin D for optimal supplementation.

Adrenal fatigue

When the adrenal glands are put under excessive stress, they begin pumping out higher and higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol, over time entering a state of adrenal fatigue. As research shows, higher cortisol levels can hormonally interfere with sexual arousal. Signs that you’re in a state of adrenal dysfunction can range from fatigue and brain fog to belly fat and food cravings. Taking steps to reduce stress in your life and nourish your adrenal glands with beneficial adaptogens can help cortisol levels return to normal — and your sex drive to return to normal too!

Low thyroid

As many as 1 in 8 women will experience low thyroid, a condition that can result in lethargy, weight gain, hair loss, fuzzy thinking — and low libido. Studies have also shown hypothyroidism (the official name for low thyroid) can impair female sexual function, including desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction and pain. Could your thyroid use extra support? Take our quiz to find out if you’re experiencing low thyroid symptoms and what you can to do naturally support healthy thyroid function.

Leptin resistance

Leptin is a hormone produced in the fat cells that sends signals to your brain that you’re hungry or full and also helps to regulate the body’s energy expenditure. Sometimes the brain can’t correctly recognize (or respond to) the hormone’s signals. This is a condition called leptin resistance. As a result, you may eat more and still feel hungry.

The real trouble for your sex drive is that leptin resistance has been shown to lower testosterone levels, which decreases libido in both men and women. If you know or suspect that you have leptin resistance, one way to re-regulate the hormone is to limit refined sugars, refined grains and other inflammatory foods. Focus instead on anti-inflammatory foods and get plenty of sleep.

Interested in learning more about the causes of low libido — and solutions for a more satisfying sex drive? Read our feature article: Increase your libido and sex drive in menopause.

The post Sneaky issues wrecking your libido appeared first on Women's Health Network.

If you want a clear example of what’s wrong with women’s health care today, the new drugs for low libido show it all. Here you’ll see all the forces at play — women’s needs, the conflicting voices in media, the pharma-medico-regulatory complex — and in the end, lots of money is made while women’s needs are not being met.

But let’s be clear: low libido is a real issue for many women. It affects a huge and growing number of them, especially after age 35, and is often most severe in the years before and after menopause. It cuts us off from the most normal pleasure in life, and the stress and guilt it induces can create strain in our relationships.

That’s why many feminists have argued for years that the pharmaceutical industry owes women a simple solution, like Viagra and Cialis for men. And who doesn’t love a simple fix? But low libido is more complex than erectile dysfunction, and sexual desire in women is more complex than sexual desire in men. What’s more,the new drugs for women have a much worse risk/reward ratio than is described in their marketing; the new drugs are certified for just a fraction of women, yet marketed almost as a cure-all; and doctors are likely to prescribe them off-label rather than treating the underlying causes.

Should you take these new sex drugs for women? Or your sister? Or your friends?Before any of you answer, let’s understand the nature of libido, how these drugs work, and more about their side effects and health risks. There’s important knowledge you need first but most likely won’t get from your doctor or the FDA.

What libido drugs for women do

To understand how these drugs work, you need to realize that sexual desire and excitement is something that happens (mostly) in the brain, especially in women. It involves a multitude of neuro chemicals acting together: dopamine, melanocortin, oxytocin, vasopressin, and norepinephrine. Dopamine, the “pleasure neurotransmitter,”has an obvious role to play, and we have a pretty good sense of why oxytocin (the“cuddle hormone”), vasopressin (the blood pressure elevator), and norepinephrine (an “excitement hormone”) come into play — the role of melanocortin is a bit more mysterious, but it appears to be essential to sexual arousal in both men and women.

In many women diagnosed with what’s called hypoactive sexual desire disorder(HSDD), serotonin is elevated and dopamine is suppressed — and since elevated serotonin blocks sexual desire (a common side effect in serotonin-based antidepressants),it leaves the woman physiologically uninterested in sexual activity and may lead to emotional distress and problems in her relationship. Once you know this, it’s obvious why the two drugs on the market target neurotransmitters:

• Addyi (flibanserin) decreases levels of serotonin and increases dopamine in the brain to offset the imbalance that leads to HSDD. It doesn’t act immediately, but must be taken as a pill nightly (because it causes drowsiness) to build up levels in the bloodstream.

• Vyleesi (bremelanotide) doesn’t address the serotonin/dopamine imbalance; instead, it boosts melanocortin to produce sexual arousal regardless of the dopamine deficit — so you get the arousal but not necessarily the pleasure, which seems a bit self-defeating. Vyleesi is self-injected into a muscle, which by itself makes it a no-go for a lot of needle-phobic women.

Side effects of libido drugs

Not having sex (and not getting to enjoy the closeness it brings with your partner)can be distressing — there’s no question. But the drawbacks to these drugs are pretty serious:

• Aside from the drowsiness it causes, Addyi can cause low blood pressure and cannot be used with alcohol — even casual use (e.g., a glass or two of wine) can cause significant drops in blood pressure that lead to fainting, making it a potential safety issue for women who drink alcohol despite the warning. It also can’t be taken alongside drugs that inhibit the CYP450 pathway, such as the antifungal, fluconazole (Diflucan), and there are some indications that birth control pills are a problem too. Only about half the women in the clinical trials saw a clear benefit beyond placebo, and it can take anywhere from 4–12 weeks to become effective.
• Vyleesi caused nausea in 40% of women who used the drug in the clinical trials, 13% of whom needed anti-nausea medications (for some, it was severe enough that they dropped out of the trial). The drug also can cause darkening of the skin and gums, and it cannot be used in women with high cardiovascular risk or high blood pressure (unless, of course, you boost her blood pressure meds, which of course can cause problems, too). Doses are limited to 8 per month.
• So far, there is no long-term data — none — for either drug.

Lots of red flags

The side effects are just some of the reasons why I’m leery of these drugs.The way they’re being promoted to physicians is another. There are hugered flags.

For instance: FDA guidelines say these women’s libido drugs are supposed to only treat premenopausal women who, in their words, “for no known reason, have reduced sexual desire that causes marked distress,” which they specify to mean that the lack of sexual desire “is not due to a co-existing medical or psychiatric condition, problems within the relationship or the effects of a medication or other drug substance.”

Yet the very problem these drugs are designed to “correct” — an imbalance of neurotransmitters in the brain — is a coexisting condition.Overproduction of serotonin and underproduction of dopamine don’t happen forno reason! And healthcare providers should be looking at what those reasons are(assuming they’ve identified this neurotransmitter imbalance), so they can be addressed rather than masked by medication.

Another concern: the 2017 expert panel that defined HSDD was composed almost entirely of consultants or advisory board members for the drug company that developed Addyi. This same drug manufacturer was recently reprimanded by the FDA for lobbying to remove the alcohol warning altogether — although the FDA allowed them to soften the safety warning’s language to suggest that alcohol use was “a concern” and should be avoided within two hours oftaking the drug.

We have to be wary of what we’re being told in an era when the rules about FDA approvals have been relaxed. Drug companies are no longer required to publish the actual data from clinical trials, so we can’t even look at the raw data to see whether the authors’ conclusions are justified (and looking at the conflict of interest statements on some of the articles… let’s just say I’ve got my doubts).

And then there’s the marketing

Not surprisingly, the marketing for these drugs is simplistic. Yet there are all sorts of reasons — physical, hormonal, neurological, emotional, and psychological— why a woman might have difficulty becoming aroused or even wanting to become aroused. So you’d think there’d be very, very few women for whom not one physical or psychological factor contributing to low libido or HSDD could be uncovered if someone looked at all the possibilities, right?

But the (drug company-sponsored) websites that “educate” patients and providers about HSDD proclaim it to be “the most common” cause of sexual dysfunction in women and claim that as many as one in ten women suffer from this condition — and frame treatment as something that isn’t just helpful,but an inalienable right (one website for patients is called “righttodesire.com”).

My biggest objection to the marketing is the emphasis placed on “dysfunction.”Women’s sexual response is less linear than that of men, meaning that sexual desire is much less likely to occur on its own and need an outlet (release of sexual tension). Instead, it’s highly influenced by factors such as relationship,body image, feelings of acceptance, and erotic stimulation. In short, it’s more responsive than spontaneous. Many women have no problem with their sexual function once aroused. Getting there is a different matter, and one that’s usually not explored in the doctor’s office. With such focus on sexual dysfunction,women are made to feel broken and guilty. It was for precisely this reason that“HSDD” for women was removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual(DSM) of Mental Disorders in 2013, and replaced with Female sexual interest/arousaldisorder (FSIAD) — a diagnosis that applies to women lacking responsive desire and/or the ability to get aroused.

So, anyone who slaps the label “HSDD” on a woman prior to treating her with these drugs may be failing her in at least a couple of different ways: 1) by not appreciating the differences in men’s and women’s sexuality, a normal woman is made to feel defective and isn’t helped; and 2) by overlooking a variety of other possible health problems, a woman goes untreated and isn’t helped. And that’s not even touching on the fact that postmenopausal women’s libido issues are brushed aside, since these drugs aren’t approved for use after menopause — even though women are more likely to experience low libido after menopause than before.

There’s no question that women deserve to have a fulfilling sex life and healthy sex drive — but I find it disturbing that drug companies are using feminist,sexual empowerment language to promote medications that (1) aren’t necessarily the best, or even a good, solution for low libido (which, let me be clear, can be a very real problem); (2) carry potentially dangerous side effects; and (3) do nothing to get at the “unknown” root causes of sexual dysfunction.

There are many reasons why a woman might experience a decrease in libido —and we should be looking for those reasons and trying to correct them, not just giving her a pill or a shot as a quick fix.

Give your libido a lift — naturally! Read: Menopause sex breakthrough: 4 steps to better sex.

The post The dubious claims of sex drugs for women appeared first on Women's Health Network.

Want to feel turned on again?

There are certain points in our lives when sex is all we can think about. And others when it’s the last thing we’re thinking about.

If you’re simply not interested in sex, it’s okay. Honor that and don’t push yourself right now.

But if you wish your libido were stronger, keep in mind that physical changes may be the problem. And those changes aren’t all beyond your control — they just require something new. If you truly want to rediscover sexual pleasure and stimulation, you should learn more about L-arginine. It’s a proven libido enhancer, but is also safe and all-natural.

What is L-arginine?

L-arginine is an amino acid that has several jobs in the body, two of which are especially important. The first is to build specific proteins, like other amino acids. The other is to increase the amount of nitric oxide, a powerful neurotransmitter, in the bloodstream. More nitric oxide circulating through your system relaxes the blood vessels, which improves blood flow. You can actually feel the positive effects!

L-arginine is often recommended to:

• Treat high blood pressure
• Relieve leg pain connected to poor blood flow
• Assist wound healing and recovery after surgery
• Address erectile dysfunction in men

But L-arginine has one further effect that isn’t so well-known: its enhancement of blood flow has an especially dramatic impact on sexual arousal in women.

How L-arginine reliably increases libido

Supplementing with L-arginine can expand both sexual excitement and desire. This helps you reach orgasm by amplifying both genital blood flow and smooth-muscle relaxation.

Once it gets in your body, L-arginine enhances sexual responsiveness by increasing the nitric oxide in your blood, which relaxes and expands your blood vessels. This lifts libido by:

• Intensifying sensation
• Increasing the flow of oxygenated blood
• Stimulating the entire vaginal, and even the clitoral area.

All of these physical effects of L-arginine mean that sex can quickly become more pleasurable. Plus, your desire is noticeably increased.

In one study, researchers found that in women with low libido, 60 percent of those taking L-arginine (along with ginkgo, damiana, vitamins and minerals) experienced improvement in their sex life. That’s dramatic!

How to get more natural L-arginine

L-arginine is in all protein foods and is one of the “essential” amino acids. Yet some women don’t consume enough to meet their body’s demands. Plus, less estrogen in menopause is thought to contribute to impaired nitric oxide function in blood vessels and genitals. Supplementing is a dependable method for raising levels of L-arginine in your body.

Our Arginelle is formulated to use daily to normalize sexual desire and arousal, or, for a more immediate response, one hour prior to having sex. This way, your body can be ready for sex when you are. Like many nutritional and herbal formulas, though, give the product several weeks with daily dosing to influence your physiology and fully express its effects.

You can also increase your L-arginine levels by eating foods that are high in protein, such as:

• Red meat
• Poultry
• Pork
• Fish
• Dairy
• Chickpeas
• Lentils
• Peanuts
• Pumpkin seeds
• Soybeans

L-arginine helps simplify sexual arousal in women

The truth is, there are many times in a woman’s life when steamy sex can seem inaccessible. For most women, this includes perimenopause and menopause, prior to your period, pregnancy, right after having a baby, and during any time of stress or emotional upheaval.

During these points in a woman’s life, hormones tend to shift and surge or recede. These changes affect both our physical arousal mechanisms and our psychological states. It’s no wonder that surveys show nearly half of all women have experienced painful intercourse, difficulty reaching orgasm, slow arousal and/or low libido.

But if your libido is consistently less than you wish — whether as desire or arousal or satisfaction — you don’t have to hibernate. With the right support for your body, you can open the door to healthy, fantastic sex, now and going forward throughout your life.

Ready for steamier sex without the guilt and shame?

The post Using L-arginine to boost your libido appeared first on Women's Health Network.

We all experience change and sometimes, to our chagrin, even libido swings away from us. A decrease in sexual desire can be caused by life circumstances, hormone changes, sleep problems and the biggest culprit: stress.

Yoga is a well-known practice for reducing stress, which in turn cultivates desire. But yoga has other benefits in the bedroom because it:

• Promotes deeper breathing
• Invites presence and awareness
• Increases flexibility and blood flow
• Clears the mind
• Enhances energy
• Builds confidence, self-love and self-respect

So let’s talk about how you can use yoga to make all that happen for you!

Yoga poses that can boost your libido

Yoga works to restore libido because it creates a new relationship with your body. This deep connection gives you the ability to be more aware of physical and emotional sensations as they arise within you. Being in touch with your body is an essential first step if you want to reignite passion and desire. A well-rounded yoga practice helps you maintain health and inner balance, and reduce stress. That sets the right foundation to rediscover the more intimate side of you.

Try the following routine to help restore your libido:

1. Cow / Cat (Bitilasana / Marjaiasana)

In a tabletop position, press your palms into the ground, keeping them directly under your shoulders, with your knees under your hips.

• Cow Pose: Inhale, press your heart forward through the arms, draw your shoulders back, stretch the belly, and tilt your pelvis and tailbone skyward.
• Cat Pose: Exhale, curl the spine by rounding into the back of your heart and the space between your shoulders. Draw the belly up into the low back and tuck your tailbone forward.

Undulate between these two shapes, following your breath in and out, as many times as you please. Let breathing and moving feel good!

Effects: Guides your attention directly to the pelvis and the breath. Tilting the pelvis forward and backward increases blood flow to this area. Inhaling in Cow Pose invites fresh energy in with a corresponding deep arch to the back and lift of the chest. Meanwhile, tucking the pelvis while completing the exhale in Cat Pose tones the pelvic floor and brings strength and elasticity to your intimate muscles.

2. Bound Angle (Baddha Konasana)

Sit down on the edge of a folded blanket or cushion to lengthen the spine before moving into Bound Angle: draw the soles of your feet together and fan the knees out wide. Lift your spine, belly and heart forward and up. Breathe sweetly and softly into your groin and outer hips for a few cycles.

Effects: Increases blood flow to the pelvic floor, reproductive organs, hips and pelvic “bowl.” More blood flow means fresh oxygen is carrying nutrients and wellbeing to this part to your body. Forward-bending postures also calm the mind and invite inner quiet and peace, all of which helps you let go of the stress that suffocates your sex drive.

3. Squat Pose (Malasana)

With your feet set wider than hip distance and toes turned out a few degrees, bend your knees, ankles and hips as you gently lower your buttocks to be either in line with your knees (high squat with forearms resting on thighs) or down between your ankles (low squat, palms together or resting on the floor). If this creates discomfort, move your feet further apart or closer together, or sit on a block for support. Take a few rounds of breath and then come out gently by lifting your hips and folding forward.

Effects: Widens the pelvic opening by 20% — or more — and increases circulation to the hips, groin, pelvis and pelvic floor. Squatting also tones the reproductive system and clears out stagnant energy by sending it down and out.

4. Bridge Pose (Setu Bandhasana)

Restorative Bridge: Lie on your back, bend your knees so the ankles align beneath them, with feet on the floor. Lift your hips and slide a block or bolster under the pelvis. Extend the arms down along your body with palms face up, tuck the shoulders under you, and keep the neck relaxed. Breathe here for several minutes.

Active Bridge (pictured): Lie on your back, bend your knees so that the ankles align beneath them, with feet on the floor. Press into your feet and lift the pelvis toward the sky. With your extended arms underneath you, clasp your hands together, pressing down into the mat with your forearms. If clasping the hands is not available to you, hold the edges of your mat with both hands. Lengthen your tailbone forward and lift the belly, ribs and heart. Stay for five breaths and gently lower your body down. Complete several rounds until you feel satisfied.

Rolling Bridge: Same position as Active Bridge, only lift and lower the hips several times as you follow your breath in and out.

Effects: Nourishes the kidneys, adrenals and thyroid, and boosts the parasympathetic nervous system by turning off the fight-or-flight stress response, bringing peace and balance. Active Bridge Pose is also energizing.

The breath, the mind, the intention

Many of us engage in short, shallow breathing that keeps us in a state of tension and stress. You’ll notice a clear shift when your breathing pattern changes from choppy to smooth. Deep, long exhales help relax you and your pelvic floor.

Your mind plays a big role in how you feel sexually and you can use it to get you into the mood. When you become aware of the quality of your thoughts, you may notice how they spread into your daily rhythms. If you seek more desire, then make that your intention during yoga — and afterward off the mat. Visualize yourself overflowing abundantly with sexual and romantic energy.

Remember, stress drains your sex drive quickly. Making a commitment to your practice, and encouraging a slower pace with deeper breaths, will always help you regain your libido.

Want to learn about a supplement to enhance your libido?

The post Yoga poses for low libido appeared first on Women's Health Network.

I’m a huge fan of masturbation — and not just because it’s fun and healing and orgasmic. Masturbation is much more than just a sure-fire way to get off. Self-pleasuring can be a brilliant way to rediscover what you want and not just how you like to have sex — but also what you want to get out of sex.

I work with all kinds of people who want something more in their lives than they have now. Most of the issues they want to work on have something to do with sex. But many times, delving into someone’s sexual dissatisfaction uncovers a deeper, more complex insight about what they want in the rest of their lives.

I’ve discovered that masturbation can be a sweet and satisfying path to self-discovery for many of my clients. That’s just what happened with a client I saw recently — let’s call her Allie. Allie is almost 50 and first came to me just as she was getting out of a 25-year marriage. She was finally at the stage where she thought she was ready to head out into the dating world.

But something was worrying Allie, and that’s what she needed help with.

After years without sex, how do you figure out what you want?

Allie confided that her marriage had been virtually sexless, though that hadn’t been her choice. In fact, at the beginning, Allie had a healthy sex drive and planned on building a good, satisfying intimate relationship with her husband.

But it didn’t work out that way. Instead, Allie sublimated her sexuality for the sake of the relationship. Though they were incompatible sexually, and in many other ways, Allie and her husband stayed together for decades. But all those years without sex and physical closeness took its toll on Allie and her sexual identity.

Finding herself single at midlife was unsettling, to say the least, but Allie was motivated to move on toward a happier, more satisfying future for herself. As she prepared to get back into the dating scene, Allie realized quickly that she had no idea what she wanted from a sexual relationship — or even what she liked.

Allie is one of those people who’d rather tackle a problem head on than fumble around hoping to stumble upon a solution, so she came to see me. Since Allie’s sex life had become dormant years earlier, she was now estranged from her physical self. I felt that the best way for her to figure out what she liked and wanted sexually would be to get reacquainted with her body.

Allie and I designed a self-rediscovery program built around masturbation. Orgasm was not the goal (although it would become an enticing side benefit of the program). Our intention was for Allie to learn to listen to her body and to follow its lead.

Allie’s masturbation sessions included:

• Exploratory touch
• Breath practices
• Vocalizing and making sounds
• Meditations during masturbation
• Sex toy experimentation
• Journaling

Every part of the self-pleasuring plan was devised to let Allie discover what kinds of touch she liked, and where she liked it. Allie and I identified certain techniques, props and toys to locate and explore the parts of her body that respond to vibration and/or pressure.

Allie gave herself plenty of time to engage in these little adventures so she could fully process what she was learning about herself, and have fun along the way.

Masturbate to get know yourself — again and again and again

I encouraged Allie to allow herself to feel and to express whatever emotions came up before, during and after her self-pleasuring sessions, including any sad and angry feelings. This turned out to be the most challenging and rewarding part of Allie’s journey.

Conscious masturbation is a deeper practice than you might imagine. You may be surprised — as Allie was — at how many different sensations, reactions and intense feelings it can expose, especially after years of suppressing sexual expression. The emotional rediscovery during this process is as important as the physical one.

Finally, I asked Allie to keep a journal of what she discovered. This step helped her to see what worked consistently and what didn’t. Just as important, being able to put words to her feelings makes it possible for Allie to explain to a partner what she wants and how she wants it.

Allie is not an exception. There are a lot of women just like her who need and want to rediscover sex after a long absence. Masturbation is useful (and fun!) at every step of that process. Whether you’re ending a relationship or starting a new one, happily single, or single and looking for a relationship, masturbation gets your sexual energy moving, releases old stuck emotions, and shows you what you want in future sexual encounters.

Of course divorce is painful — it’s the end of an important chapter in your life. But a breakup is also a new beginning. Self-pleasuring is a wonderful way to discover what you want in your next relationship, and how to get it.

Make time for self-pleasuring in your life — you won’t regret it!

Masturbation has health benefits? Heck yeah! Read about them here.

The post Self-pleasuring to rediscover the sexual you appeared first on Women's Health Network.

When I was 30, I had my first baby — and my first gallbladder attack. About a week after giving birth, I ate some Chinese takeout and hours later ended up in the emergency room in the most excruciating pain I had ever experienced — even worse than labor! Was I having a heart attack? Had I been hit by a truck and not noticed?

Nope, neither one, reported the ER doc, who informed me I was in the throes of a gallbladder attack.

I knew enough about gallbladder issues to know that when people have gallbladder attacks, they usually end up having their gallbladders surgically removed. My dad, my aunt and my sister had all had theirs removed in recent years. Was I next?

3 natural steps for gallbladder health

The ER doc advised that surgery might be inevitable, but when I told my naturopathic doctor about the gallbladder attack, she encouraged me to try to save this tiny organ — and even gave me some easy steps for how to do it.

1. Eat the right fat

Your gallbladder has a specific purpose. Sitting just below the liver, it’s a small pouch that’s used to store and release bile — a liquid made by the liver that helps the body digest fats. Bile is comprised of three key ingredients: cholesterol, bile salts and bilirubin. When an imbalance develops and bile contains too much cholesterol, sticky “sludge” or hardened stones of cholesterol can form.

Many people who develop gallstones usually don’t even know they have them until they eat a high fat meal and the gallbladder is called upon to release a large amount of bile. Squeezing a gallbladder that contains gallstones can lead to irritation and inflammation — and horrific pain.

To avoid attacks, people often eliminate all fat from their diets as a quick fix. This is simply not sustainable. Nor will it address the underlying problem, my naturopathic doctor explained. She recommended that I still eat fat — but only fat that is easy to digest, such as unrefined coconut oil and olive oil, nuts and seeds, avocados, salmon and chicken. Because healthy fats place less stress on the liver and gallbladder to digest, eating them gives these organs room to recover.

Fatty foods to avoid include the usual suspects: hydrogenated oils, deep fried foods and other unnatural fats that can trigger inflammation.

2. Make apple cider vinegar your new best friend

Apple cider vinegar (ACV) delivers a 1-2 punch to gallstones. Malic acid, a compound from apples, helps soften and dissolve gallstones, while acetic acid and other acids in the vinegar help to naturally reduce cholesterol production in the liver. Apple cider vinegar is so effective that drinking it during a gallbladder attack is often enough to stop the pain in its tracks.

To harness these amazing benefits, my naturopath recommended that I mix 2 tablespoons of raw, unfiltered ACV with a small cup of apple juice or water — and drink this concoction every day. After doing so for about a week, I felt much less bloated and gassy (two common symptoms of gallbladder dysfunction).

3. Correct hormonal imbalances

Gallstones and gallbladder issues are often connected to hormonal imbalance. Too much estrogen (estrogen dominance), for example, can trigger the liver to produce too much cholesterol. Other hormonal fluctuations can cause the flow of bile to slow down and collect in the gallbladder, creating ideal conditions for stones to form.

I’m living proof of this. After years of calm, I began to experience gallbladder pain again a few years ago just as I entered perimenopause. Working with my doctor, we identified that my liver needed help detoxing from excess estrogen. This help came in the form of the supplement DIM (diindolylmethane), a compound naturally found in cruciferous vegetables that supports normal estrogen metabolism. Once I began to take DIM regularly (in addition to watching my diet and doubling down on ACV), the gallbladder attacks once again disappeared.

15 years of success and counting

It’s now been 15 years since my original gallbladder attack that landed my in the ER. Can my gallbladder make it 15 more years — and hopefully more after that? We keep tabs on it through annual ultrasounds — and so far so good. I realize that not everyone can or should take my path. But for me, it’s worked and is working — even if it does means never eating crab rangoon again!

Think your hormones are causing your symptoms?

The post What I’m doing to save my gallbladder appeared first on Women's Health Network.

Every sexual episode starts in your senses. Whether it’s a touch, a taste, a scent, a sound or a sight, arousal starts in the brain. Often it happens long before you even consciously think about having sex.

Your five senses bring in an extraordinary amount of primal information in a split second. When you are able to be more aware of each moment during this flood of sensation, you can explore and build each little thrill into a prolonged ecstatic experience.

The trick is learning to slow down. That can be challenging at first, but stretching out the arousal stage of sex is a major factor in achieving orgasmic bliss. Think of this as a sensory mindfulness exercise. Give yourself time to absorb every aspect of whichever sensation your body is experiencing in each moment.

Each sensation will build upon the next until you’re bursting with pleasure.

Sensory turn-ons: figuring out what you like

Your specific turn-ons and responses are unique to you. While I love the smell of rosemary, you might prefer sage. I really enjoy the feel of warm wax on my skin but you might get a rush from the sensation of ice cubes sliding up your thigh.

The world around us is full of advice and propaganda about what “should” turn you on or off. Instead, honor your unique sensory likes and dislikes. Discard and dismiss anything that does not amplify your pleasure. Embrace and enjoy everything that delights you.

When it comes to your senses and sex, everything is cumulative — so choose wisely. Information from one sense builds on the others to create a time-release sensory explosion — but only if each sensation is one you enjoy.

Smell

Every day you breathe in a massive amount of sensory information through your nose. Your nose can catch the tiniest whiff of a scent well before your brain can process it enough for you to identify it. Your sense of smell is tied closely to your ability to taste and without it, eating wouldn’t be nearly as much fun.

You can be profoundly turned on — or turned off — by smells. If you’re going to be making love with a partner (or even having an intimate dinner), check in with them about their preferences for perfumes, colognes and other scented body products before you douse yourself in a fragrance. For example, I am generally turned off by commercial perfumes but usually like most essential oils. Even better, I prefer natural scents that fill the entire environment.

You might set the mood for sex with incense or an essential oil infuser. (Just make sure that everyone involved agrees that the chosen scent is a turn-on.) One incense you might try is Triloka, an especially lovely brand of herbal incense.

Sight

Low lighting or candlelight will set the sensory mood for an erotic evening. There’s science behind this effect: lowered lighting causes your pupils to dilate, which is one way the brain recognizes attraction. In other words, mood lighting can help you appear more alluring.

Beautiful, lush fabrics, colorful pillows and exotic accessories help create a cozy, safe cocoon. Reds and purples are traditional “sexy” colors, but you might be turned on by electric blues or feel relaxed and ready in a room filled with peaceful sea greens. Wearing something special, or asking a partner to dress a certain way, are fun visual stimulators too. Costumes or special ensembles can be very exciting, and little silky, satiny items not only look sexy but also feel good to rub up against.

Add some fresh flowers to bring sweet, natural color (and gentle fragrance) into the room. I like the combination of pale roses and deep purple calla lilies, but you might get off on spiky red gladiolas, or big, bright sunflowers.

One of the simplest visual boosters is a strategically placed mirror (or two) nearby. Mirrors can add a real charge to your visual sensations and can help you appreciate just how beautiful you are when you’re turned on.

Touch

While touch is the most obvious sexually active sense, there are ways to boost the joy you get out of it. The number one, most effective technique? Slow down! When you stretch out your sexual anticipation, you’ll get to hover on the brink of full intensity. Very hot.

Massage is a wonderful prelude to, or even a simultaneous component of sex. Have you discovered the delights of massage candles? These lower-temperature soy candles provide the perfect combination of sensual lighting and luxurious sensation. And, you can pour the warm soy wax directly onto skin.

Scented massage oils and creams are great too. I like ones scented with ylang ylang, amber and sandalwood. Any basic aromatherapy guide will explain the properties and effects of different essential oils to help you choose the right scent for a particular experience.

Sound

The sound of sex plays through music — and there is an infinite variety to choose from. Music is intoxicating, and it both separates your lovemaking space from the outside world and provides you with your own unique soundtrack.

Create a sensual playlist with a partner or surprise them with one of your playlists to set the desired sexy mood. If you’re not feeling creative, simply choose instrumental music with a gentle beat. Or try Buddha Bar — it’s world music with a mysterious, erotic vibe. If you’re into it, classical music can work too.

Taste

Our taste buds are as unique as our fingerprints. Many so-called sexy foods may delight you. Others may be total turn offs. My short list for sexy foods includes champagne, sparkling water, raw oysters, dark chocolate and blueberries. What are yours? Do you like savories or sugary things? Or both? I find a combination of protein and sweets to be the most satisfying.

And the way you serve your snacks can be part of the turn-on. For twice the fun, turn your lover into a snack tray — put whipped cream and chocolate on their body and lick it off.

Think of your senses like categories on an elegant restaurant menu — you get to choose what you want and how you want it served. I hope you’ll try everything at least once.

Read more from Barbara Carrellas about how to have better sex more often.

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Lots of us crave new and increasingly intense experiences, especially when it comes to sex. Exploring new territory is fun and exciting but sometimes, in our eager anticipation, we try to go from zero to sixty with little or no warm up. And that can mean too much, too fast.

Variety may be the spice of life, but it can be easy to go over the top when you’re just beginning to experiment with different flavors. For example, when you first discovered the atomic hot sauce on the table at your favorite Mexican restaurant, did you accidentally turn your tacos into an impossible-to-eat inferno?

Too much of anything all at once can be overwhelming. But if you slow down and give yourself the time and space to enjoy the process of experimenting without pushing yourself too far, too fast, you may discover that you love eating entire jalapeño peppers. Or, you may realize that hot and spicy peppers are not your thing, and figure out that, instead, you love excessive amounts of hot horseradish.

I think sexual adventuring should follow a similar process. When you ease yourself into it, sexual adventuring can be infinitely rewarding as you discover and refine your sexual desires and expression.

Starting your sexual adventure: don’t rush anything

As you set out on your sexual adventure, take your time to truly enjoy the excursion from fantasy to reality. Perhaps your hottest fantasy is having a threesome, or maybe you’ve always longed to explore the wonders of anal sex. Perhaps you’ve got an elaborate setup in mind involving props and costumes.

No matter what you’ve dreamed about, start slowly. It may be way too ambitious to attempt to play out your entire fantasy on the first try. That’s okay. Any erotic activity can be deconstructed into a series of manageable steps. Give it some thought and do some research. What will be necessary to make your erotic adventure possible, practical and safe for everyone involved?

I get it — you want to get the heart of your sexual thrill ASAP, but there is a bigger erotic payoff in taking your time. Moving more slowly heightens anticipation and helps prevent you from missing lots of potentially exciting details. Taking the time to linger over each phase and plateau helps you stay in the present moment so you can take it all in, one delicious moment at a time.

If you have a partner, communicate what you want and then listen

You can avoid the painful pitfalls of diving into a new erotic activity unprepared by first consulting with your partner and establishing boundaries that work for both of you. For example, let’s look more closely at the very popular fantasy of a threesome, i.e. sensual/sexual intimacy between three people at one time. If you want to explore this with your partner, they obviously have to be in on the idea from the beginning.

The most important requirement for any type of sexual adventure, including a threesome, is that your partner explicitly consents to it — which is quite different from them having simply fantasized about it. And I mean this has to be enthusiastic consent — not coerced consent.

Perhaps your partner might be excited about the idea of a ménage à trois but still have reservations. For example, they might be enthusiastic about watching you have sex with someone else, but they might not want to participate. If that works for you as well, then you have enthusiastic consent. Now you and your partner can move forward and find a third person who’d also like to enthusiastically consent to this arrangement.

How do you start a conversation with your partner about inviting another person into your sexual relationship? Before you open up the conversation, do some preliminary research about non-monogamy and what it means to open up a relationship. If your partner has expressed interest in a threesome, allow time for a series of conversations about both your and their needs and fears about the idea.

Adding a third person to a two-person sexual relationship has plenty of potential consequences—many of them wonderful but some challenging. Talking it over with your partner builds trust and insures that you’ve both considered as many of these possible consequences as possible.

Yes, these conversations will take time, but it’ll be worth it because they will ultimately result in a much more rewarding experience.

Three tips to help you finalize your sex adventure’s itinerary

After everyone (you and your partner(s) and/or playmates) has had a chance to voice their feelings about the proposed adventure, it’s time to work out the details. These three basic guidelines are essential for a successful erotic adventure:

1. Be respectful of everyone’s feelings ALWAYS. If everyone isn’t feeling excited and committed to the adventure, don’t do it.
2. Don’t nag, pressure or force anyone to do something they don’t want to do. Yes means yes. No means no. Maybe means no.
3. Be open and willing to compromise, but know your limits.

Erotic adventures can take you to new heights and depths of love and pleasure. They are limited only by your imagination and physical stamina. The care and planning necessary to make your adventures safe will also make them exciting.

Get more information about negotiating erotic scenarios in my book, Ecstasy is Necessary! A Practical Guide and learn more how to open up relationships in Tristan Taormino’s wonderful book, Opening Up.

Keep the adventure going and read about how to make your sexual fantasy a reality.

The post How to create the sexual adventure of your dreams appeared first on Women's Health Network.

You don’t have to have a ton of money and a sex shop around the corner to enjoy sex toys. You can find toys to enhance your sensual and sexual pleasure right at home. In fact, you can turn almost anything in your own home into an extremely fun sex toy. I call items that serve this dual purpose “pervertibles,” and the kitchen is a one of the best places to find them.

Kitchen pervertibles are great because they:

• expand your erotic imagination
• save you lots of money
• provide hours of sexy fun

The adventure starts when you and a lover begin your search for pervertibles. There are so many kitchen thingies that are delightfully naughty. If you’re anything like me, you’ll laugh your sides sore (or shriek in horror) as you imagine an erotic purpose for all your kitchen items. Some provide sensation and some are good for impact play (thwack!).

Here are 6 kitchenware items that can be repurposed for a rousing and sexy good time:

Ice cubes
Want to feel a little chill as things heat up between you and that someone special? Run an ice cube anywhere along the body from head to toe. Ice cubes are all-natural sensual fun. Although you might think that they’re best in the summer, you’ll soon discover that an ice cube on the skin can sometimes feel like fire, especially if you’re blindfolded — two sensations in one!

Dough prickler
This fabulous little device was originally intended to roll out extra air in dough, but it can also be used to tickle your senses. Try running it up and down the inner thigh or along your lover’s back as a precursor to a massage.

Spatula
Try out some “impact play” with a silicone spatula. It’s lightweight and easier to handle than a traditional paddle. You can use it for gentle (or not so gentle) spankings on muscled areas of the body. Just stay away from the feet, belly, spine and kidneys.

Chip clips
Chip clips are intended to close up a snack food bag but if you use them with caution, you can pervert them for play. Many folks like them as nipple clamps, but you can apply them as pinch toys pretty much anywhere on the body. Just be aware that the longer you leave clips on, the more intense the sensation will be when you take them off. So start with just a few seconds or up to a minute to see how it feels. This is a great way to increase sensitivity and explore the thin line between pain and pleasure. If chip clips lead you to explore store-bought nipple clamps, you can find some with adjustable tension and made from a variety of materials.

Meat Tenderizer
Want to try a sensation toy with a little rough and tumble to it? Check out a meat tenderizer. Gently tap your partner’s bottom with it to warm them up for a nice massage or a naughty spanking. Consider covering it in plastic wrap to vary the sensation and to keep it sanitary.

Fork
A fork is not simply a food delivery system. This essential utensil is another great toy for teasing the skin. Gently brush the tines along your lover’s arm or along the bottom of their feet for a sensation ranging from a sweet little tickle to a tantalizing scratch. Also good for careful pricking.

Everything in your kitchen looks different now, doesn’t it?

The next time you walk into your kitchen you’ll likely see a lot more possibilities for delightful, delicious fun. Just take care with your choices. Practice a little on yourself first so that everyone receives maximum pleasure with no unpleasant accidents. With a little creativity and some handy kitchen pervertibles, you can cook up an amusing and exciting erotic feast in the comfort of your own home.

Now go rummage in that junk drawer and see what you can come up with!

Get more fun ideas from Barbara Carrellas in Sexology 101 – ignite your sex life with advice from an expert

The post 6 ways to have sexy fun with kitchen pervertibles! appeared first on Women's Health Network.

Would you like to amp up your orgasms and turn them into dazzling, mind-blowing events? It’s easy — just breathe. That’s right, breathe.

If you think using your breath to have better orgasms seems silly or impossible, then you’re in for a little mind-blowing on multiple levels..

After many years of personal and professional research, I still haven’t found anything that has more impact on expanding the orgasmic experience than your breath. Sure, expensive sex toys and gravity-defying body positions are fun and often exciting, but your breath is your real ticket to the orgasm of your dreams

Most adults still have sex the way they did as teenagers. They do it quickly, quietly, without varying their technique and with lots of coiled muscular tension. How about you? What do you usually do when you get close to orgasm?

If you’re like most people, you hold your breath. Why? Think back to when you first started masturbating. You needed to be pretty quick and very quiet so you could get yourself to orgasm before anyone discovered what you were doing.

How did you do that? You held your breath — time after time after time. And because you held your breath every time you self-pleasured, it became a habit. Like most habits, it was done unconsciously — it’s just what you did when you wanted to orgasm — you didn’t think much about your breathing back then.

This “quiet and quick” technique might have given you pleasure when you were a teenager, but for the deep, expanded orgasms you’d like to enjoy today, you need to give yourself a lot more time and a lot more breath.

Oxygen is at the heart of great orgasms

Every orgasm is a physiological event that starts when you become sexually aroused. Arousal is the delicate balance between muscle tension and blood flow. While it feels like a uniquely personal experience, the physical mechanism of arousal is the same for everyone.

As your pelvic floor muscles expand and contract during the turn-on phase, they create tension that builds sensation. As you start to get more excited, more blood begins to circulate throughout your body and flow into your genital area, expanding the tissues and carrying in energizing oxygen.

Oxygen — that’s what better orgasms are about. If you aren’t breathing regularly while you’re building up orgasmic energy, you are cutting your orgasmic potential in half. Breathing deeply and consistently during sexual play can be the difference between a quick “firecracker” type of orgasm, and a long, ecstatic, orgasmic ride through the cosmos.

Do you need to do any special kind of breathing for better orgasms? No! And that’s what’s so wonderful. The secret to better orgasms is to just breathe a bit more fully and deeply than you usually do and to do it through your mouth.

Mouth breathing allows you to take in more air. Plus, it’s energizing. Nose breathing is wonderful for rest, relaxation and meditation, but have you ever seen anyone in the throes of passionate ecstasy breathing through their nose? No! They are breathing fuller and faster and through their mouth.

Breathing a bit more fully and deeply than you currently do is not just good advice for sex and orgasm. It applies to every aspect of life. Most of us are shallow breathers — breathing just enough to stay alive. When we find the space to breathe more deeply, we feel better and life looks brighter, no matter our age, physical condition or relationship status.

Try taking a few fuller breaths at random points during the day. You could set the alarm on your phone for 4 or 5 “breathing breaks.” This is a useful exercise for observing how restricted your breathing can become over the course of a day. It also shows how much a few fuller and/or faster breaths can clear the mind and energize the body.

“I’m supposed to be thinking about my breathing when I’m having sex?”

Yes! I know that remembering to breathe consciously during sex can be challenging at first. After all, there are so many other yummy things to focus on. Don’t be discouraged. Remember, you’re breaking a lifelong habit of holding your breath at the peak of excitement.

At first it may feel as if it takes longer to orgasm when you’re breathing fully. I can hear you asking, “If breath is such a great orgasm enhancer, then why am I taking longer to come?”

Look at it this way: imagine that your old way of breathing was the equivalent of putting a single gallon of orgasmic fuel in your tank. But when you breathe fully and deeply, you fill up the whole 30-gallon tank. Sure, it takes a bit longer of glorious anticipation, but that extra oxygen will take you on a much longer ride.

So have a little self-pleasuring session. Pay attention to your breathing while you’re masturbating and it’ll be easier to notice when you hold your breath. Give yourself lots of practice on your own. Then, when you’re with a partner, ask them to remind you (or order you, if that’s your style) to keep breathing.

For longer, deeper, more varied and more ecstatic orgasms, make a commitment to breathe fully and deeply from the first erotic thought or touch right through to orgasm. Be patient with yourself and enjoy the process.

Don’t think of orgasm as a goal. Instead think of pleasure as a magical journey, and savor each moment, peak and valley along the way.

Get more information about how and why you should practice breathing more deeply.

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