Acupuncture, an ancient Chinese form of healing therapy, operates on the nervous system, stimulating nerve pathways to improve sexual function. The nervous system in turn, affects the levels of every substance produced by the body. Science has shown that acupuncture affects a broad range of chemical messengers from dopamine, norepinephrine and the fight-or-flight hormone cortisol, to histamine, a compound critical in immune response. Sexually speaking, acupuncture has also been found to affect both free and total testosterone in the body,[i] as well as estradiol, a form of estrogen, both of which are key players in our sexual function.[ii]
Medical jargon aside, though, the takeaway is simple: Hormones affect sex, and diet affects hormones. Certain dietary habits improve hormonal balance, while others derail it mercilessly.
So even when you address the insecurity, unfamiliarity, lack of skill or good old-fashioned nervousness that plagues us all from time to time in the bedroom, hormones and diet are two critical elements of sexual function. When ignored, they can make for bad sex. But tame them both and you unlock the key to sexual satisfaction.
The endocrine system is our chemical communications system that produces hormones or messengers in the body. Think of them as the messengers who shape the very narrative of our well-being, controlling our blood sugar, our energy levels, our stress response, our sleep schedule and even our fertility. They are the town criers of our bodies, telling us when we are hungry, when we are full, when we are sleepy and, most importantly to my clients, when we are horny.
They are key players in sexual function. Arousal? It all depends on hormones such as testosterone and estrogen, among numerous others. Libido? Hormones. Erections? Hormones. Lubrication? Hormones. Pleasure? Say it with me: hormones!
While it isn’t essential for the layperson to grasp every hormone’s complex function in the body or the bedroom in order to gain a little mastery over them, what’s important to grasp here is how critical they are to great sex, and how much control we really do have in aiding them in their goals.
Ancient Chinese medicine awoke to this reality long before Western medicine took notice, observing hormonal balance as the continual interaction between yin and yang. Yin and yang are the way of heaven and earth, through which one can understand all phenomena in the universe, including sex. Yin is the cool, feminine dampness of a winter night. It is the earth. Yang is the hot, masculine scorching of a summer day. It is the heavens. Heaven and earth became disconnected in us, but in sex, yin and yang essences merge once again between us and within us.
[i] Ren Y, Yang X, Zhang Y, Wang Y, Li X. (2016). Effects and mechanisms of acupuncture and moxibustion on reproductive endocrine function in male rats with partial androgen deficiency. Acupunct Med. 2016;34(2):136-143.
[ii] Fu H, Sun J, Tan Y, et al. (2018). Effects of acupuncture on the levels of serum estradiol and pituitary estrogen receptor beta in a rat model of induced super ovulation. Life Sci. 2018;197:109-113.
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