7 Sacred Herbs and Foods For Boosting Your Sex Drive and Optimizing Your Hormonal Balance

BY JUSTIN FAERMAN

foods-that-increase-sex-drive-sacred-herbsthere are a number of little known sacred foods and herbs for sex that boost libido and stimulate hormonal production and balance. photo: sonny abesamis

If there’s one idea I can impress upon you in this article it’s this: horny equals healthy. You see, few know this, but your sex drive is actually a pretty good indicator of your overall health. That’s because your libido 

is a direct reflection of your overall hormonal balance and hormones are the master regulators of nearly every system, organ and process in your body, including your emotions, mood and consciousness itself. And this goes way beyond simply raising or lowering your estrogen and testosterone levels. There are nearly a hundred known hormones as of this writing, each one playing an absolutely critical role in your health and wellbeing. But despite being a massively intricate and complex biological system, your libido levels are an easy way to calibrate your body’s overall health and functioning. They’re like a proverbial “canary in the coal mine”, if you will.

So if your sex drive is robust and responsive, then generally speaking, you’re probably in pretty good shape hormonally. But if it’s not quite where it needs to be and you are experiencing symptoms like erectile dysfunction or ED for men and decreased pleasure, low libido or desire in both men and women, then it may be time to introduce some libido boosting herbs and foods, because, as you may have guessed, these achieve their effect by rejuvenating, balancing and regulating the endocrine system, which is the master controller of your circulating hormones.

With that being said, a fair warning is in order: attempting to tinker with your hormones (or your libido) by introducing any kind of synthetic product (pharmaceutical or readily available “natural supplements”—and I use the term natural in the loosest sense—like DHEA or Progesterone) is a recipe for disaster. Here’s why: your body maintains a very precise hormonal balance that is based on thousands of different factors that are not yet fully understood by science. When you start arbitrarily inserting actual hormonal molecules into your system by taking a drug or synthetic supplement, it totally alters that delicate balance and throws your entire body out of whack (and with the endocrine system, that includes your mental and emotional balance as well). Furthermore, your body has built in homeostasis mechanisms—self-regulating feedback loops that will shut down natural production of hormones if one gets too far out of normal range.

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When you use any type of synthetic or “natural” hormone replacement, your body stops or severely curtails endogenous production of the hormone you are supplementing with to try and maintain balance. Then, when you stop supplementing with hormones, you’ll go through an intense withdrawal phase with all kinds of unpleasant symptoms until your body reboots it’s own natural hormone production, which can take quite a long time.

The point being that if you want to boost or balance your hormones and hence your sex drive, you’ll want to do it safely, which means going about it in one of two ways:

1. Supply your body with food-based raw materials to manufacture hormones and increase sexual performance and function
2. Use special herbs for sex that upregulate and balance your entire endocrine/hormonal system instead of arbitrarily supplementing with single, specific synthetic or bio-identical hormones

The good news is that these two methods are actually incredibly powerful—even more so than using drugs or synthetic/bio-identical supplements because they actually work to heal any underlying imbalances causing issues like lack of desire or ED (erectile dysfunction) in the first place. And if your sex drive is doing just fine and you simply want to turn the heat up a few notches for a night of passion, they work great for that purpose as well.

But even beyond their hormonal and libido boosting properties, many of these supplements and herbs for sex are sacred, revered medicines and foods in their own right. They have powerful healing properties that bring the entire mind-body-spirit triad into greater balance and harmony. As such, they should be treated with respect, and know that they may have additional effects above and beyond boosting your libido.

Sacred Herbs and Foods For Increasing Your Sex Drive and Rejuvenating Your Hormones

1. Mucuna Pruriens

mucunaphoto: shutterstock

Mucuna beans are one of nature’s most unique treasures. In part because they’re one of the few plants loaded with an unusually large amount of psycho and hormonally active compounds, particularly L-Dopa (as in dopamine), which also doubles as a powerful aphrodisiac.

The high concentrations of L-Dopa cause the brain to release dopamine, in turn stimulating the pituitary gland to produce human growth hormone, which promotes muscle growth, increased strength, and has been proven to raise levels of testosterone, all of which result in an increased sex drive. It also simultaneously lowers levels of prolactin, which can reduce menstrual discomfort and associated weight gain in women and increase sperm motility, and hence fertility, in men.

Mucuna is classified as a jing-enhancing herb with sex drive boosting properties in the Chinese herbal tradition, which means that it is nourishing at the most fundamental levels to the body. Jing loosely translates to “vital essence” or “life force” and in the case of mucuna, can clearly be understood in terms of its restorative effects on the brain, nervous, and hormonal systems. Jing is believed to be depleted as we age and through sexual activity, so plants like mucuna that act to replenish it and enhance performance and function are prized in many herbal traditions.

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Mucuna-Pruriens-Himalaya-Herbs-for-SexOrganic Mucuna Extract

An ultra-high quality, high potency Organic Mucuna Pruriens extract, free from preservatives, fillers, artificial colorings, soy or stearates, just like nature intended.
 
 

2. Shilajit

Shilajitphoto: pranav bhasin

In the ancient Indian system of medicine known as Ayurveda, shilajit is known as an ojas-building substance, loosely translating to “vital essence or energy”, which is similar to the Chinese/Daoist concept of Jing. That’s because it’s literally millions of years of prehistoric plant matter compacted in a night-black, resinous tar that is literally an amalgamation of essential minerals in a highly biologically active form. Shilajit is formed under the weight of the Himalayan mountains in India and Nepal and in remote regions you’ll find it seeping out of crags and split rocks at dizzyingly high altitudes. It’s been used for thousands of years in India to restore female and male sexual performance, function and overall health, and it’s a staple food if you’re looking to boost your sex drive. Start slow and work your way up. Ideally taken long term for most noticeable effects, which also include detoxification of heavy metals and toxins and legendary stamina and strength, in addition to being a pick me up in the bedroom.

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Purblack-Shialjit-Sex-DrivePurblack High-Potency Shilajit Resin

Easily some of the highest quality Shilajit available on the planet, Purblack is fresh, pure, powerful and potent. Harvested from a protected, ultra-clean and pure source, Shilajit works to rejuvenate the body and endocrine system and restore sex drive to youthful levels.
 

3. Colostrum

colostrum

When baby calves are born, for the first few days, their mothers produce a very special kind of highly nourishing milk that is loaded with essential nutrients, vitamins, immune-stimulating factors, and a number of other potent health-boosting compounds that all work in their own way to nourish and stimulate your hormonal system. Colostrum is nature’s way of ensuring that the baby calves have the essential nutritional kickstart they need to grow into healthy adults and thrive. And in order to support that rapid body mass gain, colostrum is also loaded with growth hormone, which as you might have guessed has the end result of stimulating your sex drive. Don’t worry, eating massive amounts of colostrum is not going to cause you to gain weight in weird places, but it will supercharge your hormonal system and restore youthful vigor, horniness and all.

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Immune-Tree-ColostrumImmune Tree Grass-Fed Colostrum Powder

Harvested from humanely treated, grass-fed cows at peak potency and freshness, Immune Tree colostrum is a powerful health-restoring superfood that specifically works to boost hormone levels and restore health at the deepest levels.
 
 

4. Tongkat ali

tongkat-aliphoto: vanlap hoang

Tongkat ali is a phenomenally rare, tree-like flowering plant native to Indonesia that is one of the most powerful hormone boosting, herbs for sex on the planet. It’s one of the few natural substances that has been scientifically shown to actually boost testosterone levels, and it does so powerfully. Many men use it as a natural male enhancement herb and there countless reports of it working phenomenally well as natural supplement for erectile dysfunction (ED).

Don’t be fooled by less than reputable websites and liquor stores hawking low quality, often fake or adulterated Tongkat. This herb is the real deal and you may have to do some digging to find a quality source. It’s not cheap for high-grade products but a little goes a long way, and quite frankly, it’s worth it if you need the kick. There’s a reason why it’s a legendary part of many Asian cultures…

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A powerful blend of ultra-potent Tongkat Ali, Polyrachis Ant and He Shou Wu—three legendary performance-enhancing herbs for sex from the Daoist tradition. This is a powerful, highly-renowned formula in Asian countries for its effectiveness and rejuvenation.
 

5. Pine Pollen

pine-pollenphoto: shutterstock

As far as herbs go, Pine Pollen is somewhat obscure, known mainly in the Chinese Medicine tradition as a powerful androgenic and vitality enhancing substance. And pine pollen is just that—the sexual fluid of pine trees. It’s the seed that when mixed with soil, air, sun and water can grow into a massive, multi-ton, hundred foot plus pine tree. And it tends to have similar effects on your hormonal system and libido. Like mucuna, it’s a powerful and rare jing-enhancing herb (meaning an herb that restores your sexual and vital essence) with distinctly aphrodisiac effects.

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6. Orchic

Orchic is a friendly name for bull testicles. Yes, you read that right, and no I am not suggesting you head down to the butcher store and buy a pair. You can actually get this in a friendly, encapsulated supplement form so you don’t have to taste anything. If you didn’t know better you’d say it looks like a non-descript vitamin pill.

Now with that out of the way, why would you actually want to ingest orchic? Well, as you may have surmised, they are rich in sex hormone precursors and are a powerful libido-boosting substance. Supplying a thousand pound plus animal’s sex hormone needs, you can imagine what it can do for your libido. It works particularly well for men and is one of the best male enhancement supplements available. Orchic is considered a natural food and as such, the hormonal precursors are truly bio-identical (i.e., made by nature, not scientists in a lab), meaning your body can assimilate them without its system being thrown out of balance.

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When you want to powerfully boost hormone production and restore sex drive, Orchic is the herb of choice. This is a powerful traditional superfood that specifically targets and rejuvenates the the reproductive organs and associated glands. Sourced from humanely raised, free range, grass-fed New Zealand cows.
 

7. Deer Antler

tongkat-aliphoto: yuya sekiguchi

You may not know this but male deers, known as bucks, are pretty intensely sexual animals. And for some odd, yet fascinating reason, their antler’s somehow concentrate their hormonal and sexual essence. I know that’s not a very scientific claim, but trust me, a dropperful of deer antler extract is a major kick in the pants, and you can’t argue with results. For those of you who insist on knowing why, deer antler is rich in prostaglandins—which are hormone-like compounds that help control blood pressure, smooth muscle activity and inflammation, and stimulate glandular secretion, calcium movement, hormone production and cell growth. And very likely deer antler contains other powerful, hormonally rich compounds as of yet unknown to science. But that doesn’t really matter because with herbs for sex it’s all about results and in that sense deer antler performs (no pun intended). Known as one of the premiere herbs for erectile dysfunction, when it comes to boosting your libido, few things pack as much punch as a high quality deer antler extract, and when obtained from a reputable source, it’s a totally humane process.

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Deer antler is a powerfully rejuvenating, legendary Daoist sexual herb renowned for its positive effects on female and male performance. Deer antler also works to restore the body and endocrine system and increase horomone production. Sourced from humanely raised, free roaming Manchurian deer. No deer are killed or harmed in the making of this product. Extensive precautions are taken to make sure the deer feel no pain during the harvesting process.
 

About The Author

Justin Faerman has been studying and writing about holistic health practices, herbalism and natural medicine for over 14 years and is a leading authority on both modern and ancient therapies for creating lasting health and wellness. He has a degree in Environmental Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara and has conducted field research into organic and regenerative agriculture practices and eco-social sustainability during his time there. He is also the Founder of Lotus Superfoods, a boutique purveyor of rare herbs and superfoods as well as the Co-founder of Conscious Lifestyle Magazine and the Flow Consciousness Institute. Learn more about his work at flowconsciousnessinstitute.com and lotussuperfoods.com