This month’s case study is ‘Hannah’ who came to the Clinic with low libido:

At the age of 37 and after having my two children, I noticed a real dip in my libido, which was quite upsetting because it had never been a problem for me. Not only was it affecting me, it was having a negative impact on my relationship with my husband. I think it was an accumulation of no longer feeling ‘sexy’ and just physically too tired to make the effort. I had also been aware of feeling slightly drier which then made intercourse quite uncomfortable. I had a hectic life running around after a 2 and 4 year old, plus working part time, so by the evening when my husband was ‘in the mood’, I was ready for sleep. Talking to fellow mothers, it did seem a trend, but I knew that it was not what I wanted for myself because my husband and I had always had such a loving, fulfilling relationship. 

I decided to be proactive about the situation and had heard that libido could be affected by nutrition. I knew my diet had slipped since having the children – not eating the right foods, snacking on leftovers and just not being consistent. I think I’d been so concerned that my children were eating well, that I took second place. I had got to the point though where I thought I had to change this and start thinking about me. A colleague at work had been to see a nutritionist at the Dr Marilyn Glenville Clinic for weight loss so I decided to phone and book and appointment.

 

I was sent a very comprehensive Nutritional Questionnaire that I was asked to complete and return before my first appointment to allow the nutritionist time to review it. It was excellent because it really made me think about how I was feeling and by the time I had completed the questionnaire. I realised that not only did I have low libido, my energy was low and I felt stressed and anxious. I also decided to perform a Hair Mineral Analysis to assess my mineral status. This was such a simple test, because all it involved was taking a sample of hair and sending it to the lab. The results would be back in time for my first consultation.

 

My first consultation was one hour and the nutritionist took a very detailed medical history and went through my ‘typical’ diet. She picked up that I wasn’t eating regularly; in fact sometimes I was going all day without food! I was running around after my children and so intent on making sure they were ok that sometime I just forgot to eat until the evening. She explained how this would affect my blood sugar levels, causing them to drop and then this would stimulate my adrenal glands to produce the stress hormones adrenalin and cortisol. These hormones encourage the body to store fat, particularly around the middle, plus they make stress and anxiety worse. Part of the reason my libido was low was due to lack of energy and just not ‘feeling in the mood’ so I could see how this made perfect sense to eat and nourish my body.

 

The Hair Mineral Analysis identified low levels of zinc and chromium which really related to my symptoms. Zinc deficiency is a common cause of low libido because it is directly involved with female hormone production. The nutritionist explained that zinc can be depleted by tea and coffee, both of which I was consuming on a daily basis. This had become a habit after the children were born because it was the only thing I found to get me through the day. Tea and coffee have diuretic properties which essentially ‘flush’ minerals like zinc out of the body. She gave me a list of zinc rich foods which included pumpkin seeds, wholegrains and shellfish – particularly oysters! She explained that this was why oysters had natural aphrodisiac properties! I went out with my new shopping list to stock up on all of these foods.

 

She wasn’t surprised that my chromium was low either because this mineral is associated with blood sugar balance. She explained that extremely high blood sugar stimulates the release of insulin. Both insulin and adrenaline can disrupt your production of the sex hormones, particularly progesterone.

 

We also talked about exercise and how important this was for raising natural mood enhancing chemicals called endorphins. I hadn’t done any formal exercise since the children were born and knew it was an area I needed to address. I suppose I felt I didn’t have time, but she said that I ideally I needed to exercise three times a week preferably cardiovascular exercise like aerobics/jogging. Not only does this improve mood and wellbeing, it helps with weight loss and helps improve physical appearance. I had got issues with my appearance since having the children which was one of the factors affecting my libido. I decided that I had to be proactive about this so started going to the gym three mornings a week when the children were at school and nursery.

 

The nutritionist recommended a programme of supplements and herbs to help improve my libido and give my weight loss a kick start. A good multi vitamin and mineral was prescribed together with extra zinc and chromium to account for my deficiencies. I was also given an herbal formula containing agnus castus, ginseng and shativari to ‘nurture’ reproductive organs and help boost libido. She gave me some natural vaginal lubricant which contained kiwi extract if I felt I needed some extra support.

 

I found the first week quite hard, making sure I was eating all the right foods, but as the week progressed it became easier as I started feeling I had more energy. It soon became second nature to eat every three hours and I felt so good for doing so. I was snacking on lots of zinc-rich pumpkin seeds and oatcakes and hummus in between my meals. I even cooked a romantic meal with oysters which went down very well with my husband! I could not believe the change in the first month. I had gone from being lethargic and feeling frumpy to having so much energy and for the first time in a long while I felt sexually attractive. It was a combination of losing weight and getting in better shape from going to the gym and nourishing my body with good nutrients which gave me more energy and improved hormone balance. I actually didn’t need the lubricant in the end so I think part of the problem had been the way I was feeling in my mind.

 

I must admit when I first started the programme I never imagined just how effective it would be and not only have I got my life back, I’ve got my marriage back and everything feels complete now. This change has made me realise just how important eating well and exercising is and I know I will never fall back into old habits. My husband says he has got back the lady he married and he is so pleased that I made contact with the Dr Marilyn Glenville Clinic.

 

I had my follow up consultation 8 weeks after and this was an excellent time to revaluate my programme and make some small modifications. Essentially the nutritionist said that I would be following this type of diet for life, but of course there are times when I can deviate! She did make some changes to my supplements and reduced the herbs down as these would not be needed in the long term. She was so happy with my progress and going back to see her was such a motivation in itself! 

 

Marilyn’s comments

 

It is so lovely to support a patient and see them progress so well. Not only has Hannah got her libido back, she has so much more energy and confidence, plus it has changed her whole relationship with her husband. We see patients like Hannah all too often at the clinic where they are rushing around leading busy lives, looking after the children and home and neglecting their own health and needs. Making time to put a plan into action is important as Hannah did, particularly with her exercise regime.

 

There is only so long your body can run ‘on empty’ and as we can see with Hannah, having had two pregnancies which depleted her nutrients, and then not eating properly it really took its toll on her whole body. The human body is a very delicate ‘machine’ which needs a constant supply of good nutrients.

 

If you are interested in having the test mentioned here please see the resources page.

 

 

 

 

This entry was posted on Friday, February 1st, 2008 at 7:40 pm and is filed under Case Studies (The True Power of Good Nutrition), General Health, Nutrition and Healthy Eating. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.