A study in the journal "Maturitis" calls libido an elusive state that describes emotional and physiological conditions and their relationship to sexual behavior. Three contributing basics influencing a woman's desire are motivation, her body and her mind. These basics have influences of their own, such as relationships and their status, medications, stress, work, hormones involved with menopause, depression and anxiety. Consult your doctor to ascertain if vitamins may help.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D has been linked to depression and seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, according to the journal "Psychopharmacology." Supplementing with vitamin D may help SAD and other depressive moods in otherwise healthy people, increasing interest in sex. The Linus Pauling Institute notes that vitamin D works hand-in-hand with calcium in promoting nerve functioning. The genital area, especially the clitoris, is rich in nerve endings. Healthy nerve functioning may benefit arousal and climax. The recommended dietary allowance, RDA, is 600 IU per day and may go as high as 4,000 IU per day.
Vitamin C
Taking vitamin C for its antioxidant properties may neutralize free radicals, thus preventing cell and tissue damage to the blood supply to the genital area. Vitamin C also helps make collagen, a component of blood vessel structure. Arousal and stimulation of the genital area causes the clitoris and vaginal walls to engorge with blood, enhancing the sexual experience, leading to orgasm. Vitamin C plays a role in the vasodilation, or enlarging, of blood vessels. The RDA of vitamin C, or ascorbic acid, is 75 to 90 mg per day, with an upper limit intake of 2,000 mg per day.
Choline
Choline is not strictly a vitamin, but it is an essential micronutrient, as the body cannot make enough of it for its own use and must supplement it from other sources. A paper in "Nutrition Review" notes that choline plays a part in nerve transmission involving sexual responses. It adds that choline plays a part in orgasm and vaginal contractions during climax, including their duration and intensity. Adequate intake of choline is recommended as 400 to 550 mg per day.
References
- "Maturitas"; Libido: the biologic scenario; Alessandra Grazziottin; January 2000
- "Psychopharmacology"; Vitamin D3 enhances mood in healthy subjects during winter; Allen T.G. Lansdowne and Stephen C. Provost; May 1996
- Linus Pauling Institute: Vitamin D
- Linus Pauling Institute: Vitamin C
- "Nutrition Review"; Arginine and Select Phytonutrients Enhance Libido; Jim English; 2010
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