A carb-and-protein balanced meal
It’s not just about single food items. A combination can either make you feel sexy or leave you too sluggish or full to do the deed. Jennifer Hanes, DO, author of Lady in Weighting and the forthcoming The Princess Plan, explains that a woman’s libido is stimulated when the neurotransmitter serotonin is released in her brain. “Your serotonin level increases when you consume carbohydrates, but a carb binge can result in a massive sugar crash an hour or so later,” which leaves you too pooped to party. So skip the bottomless bowl of fettucine alfredo, and go for a meal that combines complex carbohydrates (like whole-grain pasta, brown rice, veggies and legumes, and not simple carbs like white pasta, white rice and white bread, which turn right to sugar) with protein. That’ll give you a lasting serotonin boost and stable blood sugar energy. Think steak fajitas with black beans or smoked chicken with baked beans. Then again, maybe the beans would lead to mood-killing, uh, aftershocks.