Have you ever wondered if there are more natural ways to lower your high blood pressure,

guard against Alzheimer's, loose weight, feel better?

Well, it turns out there is.

Welcome to the Nutrition Facts podcast.

I'm your host, Dr. Michael Greger.

Today we look at the best way to treat a condition that affects nearly 60% of all women.

D-H-E-A supplements don't seem to help with female sexual dysfunction,

but what about other dietary supplements such as the three roots,

ginseng, maca, and ashwaganda.

Ginseng has been suggested, given its demonstrated efficacy for male erectile dysfunction,

and the fact that it causes a relaxation response in vitro to isolated strips of rabbit vaginal tissue, but when put to the test in human studies, a meta-analysis found no statistically

significant effect of ginseng on female sexual dysfunction.

Macca root has been advertised as Peruvian Viagra.

It's an important dietary staple of the indigenous people of Peru, but appears to have been

overly hyped as a libido-enhancer

based largely on studies of male rodents.

Yes, Makkah seemed to enhance the sexual function of male mice and rats, but of the two

trials on sexual desire in male humans, only one showed a significant benefit, but it took

eight weeks to show an effect, which may explain the negative results of the second study, which only lasted two weeks.

A pilot study without a placebo control on the management of sexual dysfunction induced by SSRIs

due to drugs like Prozac or Zoloft, on mostly women, suggested Maka may be useful, but when properly put to the

test in a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial, it failed to have a significant effect.

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