Studies show how sugar destroys your sex life. We now know that sugar is an issue in our society. The amount we consume is responsible for many common autoimmune diseases like diabetes and metabolic syndrome and others.  But what we don’t know is how our consumption of sugar has severe repercussions on our ability to have deep, meaningful connections, fantastic sex, and, on our love life as a whole.

Sugar has been around for a long time; since the 1700s. Trade of “white gold” was incredibly significant to the development of the world as we know it. But now, we are reassessing the importance of our record high consumption. According to the Harvard College Global Health Review, it’s the first time in our history that “chronic non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes pose a greater health burden worldwide than do infectious diseases…”

Too much sugar destroys our ability to have great sex.

The connection between sugar and how it affects our pleasure center in our brain is the same process as when we have sex. Too much sugar destroys your sex life.

Let me get a little sciencey for a minute and explain how the brain works when we are having sex.

Do you know that “cloud nine” feeling reported by many during sex? It’s when the nerves send messages to the brain’s pleasure center or reward circuit. The sexual arousal felt in the body floods the brain with a surge of neurochemicals, which are chemical messengers that forge emotions, feelings of attachment, and even love.

The level of pleasure is contingent on the release of these chemicals that can be used to measure the intensity of your sexual climax.

The areas of the brain impacted by sexual arousal include the:

Nucleus Accubens

Ventral tegmental area (VTA)

Hippocampus

Amygdala

Pituitary

Prefrontal Cortex

HOW IT WORKS

Nucleus Accubens – Controls the release of dopamine

Ventral tegmental area (VTA) – releases dopamine

Hippocampus – releases memories, pleasant ones

Amygdala – regulates emotions

Pituitary – produces a feeling of bonding and releases oxytocin

Prefrontal Cortex – releases the good feels of dopamine and oxytocin

When we are attracted to someone, the brain’s chemicals kick in, and we think to ourselves, YES, we like this person. YES, we want to have sex with them. YES, we want to bond and connect on a deeper level.

These hormones impact the way our bodies behave, and influence our minds and thus our perception of reality and our ability to pick our mates wisely.

OUR BRAIN CHEMICALS ON SEX

Four neurotransmitter rule:

1. DOPAMINE

Is the driver. It creates the pleasure high, the fireworks, our reward. The expectation of dopamine drives our mind to control our body to do things. You think you wanted a coffee to perk yourself up, but in fact, it was a dopamine cycle that kicked in to make your body get up and find a coffee to sate the dopamine expectation.

You can think of dopamine as the “Gotta have it!” neurochemical, whatever “it” is. It’s the “craving” signal. The more dopamine you release and the more your reward circuit is activated, the more you want or crave something. It’s responsible for addiction, that excitement when you see a beautiful person.

2. SEROTONIN

Serotonin is serenity, ecstasy, and the state of grace. It is a lingering pleasure sensation we get that is less intense than dopamine, but a powerful driver for our behaviors. Serotonin is about feeling good, really good.

It’s the bliss you feel after an orgasm. Or the extended sexual ecstasy you achieve, when you become adept at Tantric practices. The serotonin serenity also occurs when you meditate.

3. OXYTOCIN

This is the bonding agent, the cuddle chemical. It makes us want to connect, physically with another person. And once connected, you want to stay connected. It’s considered the “bonding” neurochemical. Super crucial for our health and wellbeing.

Oxytocin can be easily fabricated, just with close contact with another human being (or a pet). That’s why we like to be in communities and gather in groups. Only twenty seconds of hug contact, even with a stranger, can dramatically boost levels of oxytocin.

2.VASOPRESSIN

This one is for the males and isn’t that common in females. It is the protection drug and kicks in to support feelings of possession and desire. It’s what we like to imagine as the knight in shining armor scenario and helps our male lovers come to our protection if there is a threat of being taken by another knight.

THE CONNECTION TO SUGAR

When we are having sex, our brain’s chemicals get activated like this:

Two minutes before we orgasm, the brain centers associated with reward are activated. These areas also get triggered when we eat or drink.

Shortly before orgasm, other brain regions are activated, such as the cortex that receives sensory messages of touch from all over the body.

And the last brain area to be activated was the hypothalamus, the control center that regulates temperature, hunger, thirst, and fatigue.

Our neurotransmitters are being activated everywhere, shooting off like fireworks in the brain.

Remember the reward neurotransmitter, dopamine? Well, when we eat sugar, this chemical gets over activated and puts us in an addiction cycle, wanting more, eating more, etc.

And each time we need more to get that reward we want (sugar or sex). Eventually, just the anticipating of sex and orgasm is enough to trigger the flood of dopamine into your brain. This works the same for sugar.

We achieve full-blown addiction once the reward is satisfied. Dopamine blunts the brain because it has been flooded with dopamine as we thought about eating or watching porn. This is how sugar destroys your sex life.

We want to get that rush of chemicals faster and don’t want to wait or have the patience it takes to forge a deep, meaningful, healthy bond. We’ve become used to having easy access to sex at every turn. Porn used to be taboo, and now it’s become accepted as just a way of life. I’m not out to bash these things but to make you aware of the addictive pattern that exists.

We eat sugary foods to make us feel good instead of trying to connect and forge deep relationships. And we can’t have quality relationships because we are hyped on sugar, impatient, rushed and stressed out – all conditions of being addicted to sugar. Sugar destroys sex.

The result is that sugar addiction eventually shuts down the pleasure centers ability to make us feel loved, connected, desired. We end up seeking porn, becoming lousy lovers, and inadequate partners to get the rush that we crave.

How do we eliminate the effects of sugar on our sex lives?

Let’s be realistic sugar is here to stay. And it’s in most of our packaged foods whether you are aware of it or not. Do this exercise to see how much sugar you consume in a day.

Being aware is the first step.

1. Stop putting extra sugar in your coffee. Opt-in to sugar alternatives such as STEVIA or nothing.
2. Eliminate the sugary fruit juices and pops and sodas. Your bones will love you too!
3. Replace sweet desserts with fruit. When you eat healthy organic fruits as a snack, your cravings for sugary desserts will diminish.

The effects of sugar and sex on your brain are the same.  When we consume sugar in large quantities, we not only guarantee ill health, but we are setting ourselves up for disappointing sex.

By reducing your sugar consumption, you create a healthy body and mind. You allow your body to produce dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and vasopressin in healthy quantities.  And this brings back a balance to the production of your essential feel-good neurotransmitters, allowing you to have deep, meaningful connections, fantastic sex and the blissful love life that you want.

xo