Ann Louise Gittleman--

Wendy (name has been changed) and her husband used to make love at least three times a week. But for the past six years, she’s lost interest. “All of a sudden I didn’t have any desire,” she says.

She’s not depressed and she loves her husband. “But after our second child was born, I just lost interest in sex,” Wendy says.

Ever since Viagra and pills for male sexual dysfunction hit the market, drug companies have been searching for a female version. However,
sexuality is very different for women.

“Attempting to treat low libido with a pill ignores the fact that many women’s level of desire is deeply affected by everyday life stresses and interpersonal relationships,” says Judy Norsigian, executive director of the women’s health advocacy organization, Our Bodies Ourselves.

"That’s not to deny a biological basis for low libido in women," says Debby Herbenick, PhD, MPH, at Indiana University’s Kinsey Institute. Clearly, hormones play an important, if not complex role in sexual desire.

That explains why more women experience loss of libido during perimenopause and menopause, as their hormone levels decline. As if hot flashes, night sweats, and vaginal dryness weren’t enough to spoil their pleasure.

While levels of the female hormones decline dramatically with the change, estrogen is not the only hormone at play here. New research points out powerful benefits of the male hormone testosterone on libido—even for women.

Unlike female hormone replacement therapy that’s been linked to cancer and cardiovascular disease in women, a little testosterone also seems to support women’s health overall. The Multiethnic Cohort Study, which followed diverse populations of women, shows that testosterone—as opposed to female hormones—was inversely linked to breast cancer.

And a recent Swedish double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial shows that adding testosterone to the female hormone estradiol lowers an inflammatory marker for cardiovascular disease, C-reactive protein, helping to protect a woman’s heart.

I’m glad the research is finally reporting what I’ve recognized for years—women need testosterone too!

After menopause, women’s testosterone levels are about half what they were before the change. Low levels of testosterone are also found in women with high levels of cortisol, a stress hormone.

Sure, it’s important for vaginal health to counteract the effects of low estrogen levels. But it’s equally important to boost your testosterone levels if you want to keep the fires of sexual desire burning into menopause and beyond.

A little testosterone not only supports a woman’s libido but also relieves fatigue, irritability, depression, joint pain, and dry, thinning skin. This male hormone has even been found to strengthen women’s bones, preventing osteoporosis that’s so common with menopause.

Trouble is, oral testosterone dosage is tricky in women, and the testosterone patch produces adverse side effects like acne, irritated skin, and weight gain in 75 to 80 percent of females who use it. Even too much testosterone cream can cause unwanted facial hair, belly fat (linked to heart disease), agitation, and other unwanted symptoms.

Instead, I recommend Hot Times Testosterone Creme for Women, a unique blend of 11 homeopathic ingredients that have been safely used for more than 150 years. These ingredients stimulate testosterone in the body—increasing sex drive and energy levels, enhancing mood, and helping maintain muscle tone—without the negative effects of this hormone in women.

Sources:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19906002

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19903744

www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1939884,00.html?artId=1939884?contType=article?chn=sciHealth

Visionary, health guru, diet/detox expert, and natural foods icon Ann Louise Gittleman is the award-winning author of 30 books on health and healing including the New York Times bestsellers The Fat Flush Plan and Before The Change. Her most recent release is The Gut Flush Plan. For the past two decades she has been considered one of the foremost nutritionist in the United States. A regular contributor to national television and radio, visit her at www.annlouise.com. You can also follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

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