Pop some Pepper to boost your SEX LIFE

BEIJING: Looking to spice up your SEX LIFE? Forget the romantic dinner, champagne and chocolates and eat spicey food! Instead of popping the cork on a bottle of bubbly, pop a pepper!

As with many aspects of health—including a healthy sex life—what you put in your body makes a big difference. What counts in sex is circuitry—as in nerves—and circulation—as in blood. And if you're overweight—lose it!

That's why researchers recommend food high in Omega-3 fatty acids such as mackerel, salmon, wild salmon and chili peppers.

"Omega-3 makes your nervous system function better,"says Barbara Bartlik, assistant professor of psychiatry and a sex therapist with the Human Sexuality Program at Weill Cornell Medical Centre. "Sex is really about circuitry."

Multivitamins and minerals will help, too. Both improve neurological function, which contributes to good circulation. Improved circulation results in greater erectile response.

To accomplish that, reach for food rich in L-Arginine, such as granola, oatmeal, peanuts, cashews, walnuts, dairy, green vegetables, root vegetables, garlic, ginseng, soybeans, chickpeas and seeds. Studies show that L-Arginine is helpful for improving sexual function in men.

There haven't been studies done on women—but remember, erectile response is something both sexes share.

"Women have erections too: in their clitoris and the tissue surrounding the vulva,"says Bartlik.

John Mulhall, director of the Sexual Medicine Program at New York Presbyterian, agrees that what a man puts in his stomach is important, but the heart is the key that opens the door to sexual performance.