Low sex car? This diet increased lust in mice so much that the elderly had more children

Can you go to the dinner of passing your love life again on the right track?

A new international study found that a particular form of permanent fasting increased the lust of male mice, raising questions whether it could cause a similar effect on humanity.

“Lack of sexual desire is not necessarily perceived as problematic – but some people suffer from it,” said Dr. Dan Ehninger, the lead author of the study produced by the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases. “Fasting can potentially serve as a useful addition to existing treatment options.”

Low sex stimulation is more common than you can think, affecting up to one in five men and an even greater number of women at some point in their lives, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

For some, this sinks into the disorder of hypoactive sexual desire (HSDD). People affected by the situation experience a lack of perseverance of motivation or desire to have sex without any clear reason, which leads to imply concerns in their personal lives.

Experts say the diagnosis and treatment of HSDD is challenging, mainly because the science behind sexual desire is still not completely impatient. However, there are medicines available, and some people find that therapy and lifestyle changes can help.

As permanent fasting increased the game of mating mice

In the study, researchers tried to research how fasting affects male mice descendants, but they were prevented in a sudden turn: elderly male mice reproduced with a surprisingly high scale after being placed on a long -term limited diet.

“It was a little detective work to discover the real cause,” Ehninger said. “Finally, we realized: It’s a matter of behavior. Men of fasting had significantly more sexual contact than my rats who could eat free.”

Ehninger noted that this increase in pairing behavior more than compensated the age -related physiological restrictions of the elderly of fasting, such as lower testosterone levels and decreased sperm quality.

In the study, rats were put in a permanent fast regiment starting from only two months. For 24 hours, they could eat everything they wanted, but for the next 24 hours, it was strictly water.

Men followed the diet for 22 months. When they finally got acquainted with women, it was clear that they were more than ready to mix.

Those who fasted for at least six months would understand more sexually than the free eating control group. Interestingly, the new rats who followed the fasting diet for just six months also showed an increase in mating behavior.

However, a group that fasted for only a few weeks did not show the same kick in libido.

“For permanent fast to increase sex, it takes some time,” said Dr. Yu Zhou, a professor at Qingdao University who collaborated in the study. “Based on our experiments, the minimum duration seems to be somewhere between six weeks and six months.”

Serotonin bond

Researchers believe that raising libido traces again in serotonin, a well -known neurotransmitter that it affects sexual behavior.

In the humanities, high levels of serotonin are usually associated with a sedentary sex machine, while lower levels are often associated with an increase in sexual desire.

The production of serotonin depends extensively on the tryptophan, an essential amino acid that the body cannot produce itself means that we have to get it through our diet.

As a result, the fasting regime in mice caused a deficiency in tryptophan, which lowered serotonin levels – and, in theory, increased their sexual movement.

“Given this, I consider it very credible that human sexual desire can be affected by fasting – perhaps not only to men but also to women, as serotonin also affects their lust,” Ehninger said.

Researchers are not sure if the decline in serotonin levels is related to the specific eating regime followed by mice or if it would hear with other types of fasting.

Ehninger said further studies are also needed to clarify if the effect can occur with general caloric restraint, where food is constantly available but in smaller quantities.