Ladies: How Chicken Can Hurt Your Sex Life

counselorbarb ♦ October 16, 2012

If you’ve looked at my website and have ever been a client of mine, you know how I feel about the connection between physical and mental health. The mind is connected to the body, and what is bad for the body is generally bad for the mind. When someone comes to me for help with anxiety, for example, I will generally ask them about their diet, and in particular about how much caffeine they are consuming. Because there is research connecting nutrition and mental well-being, it is important to be knowledgeable about the topic. Since I am a mental health practitioner, not a dietician, my knowledge in this area is limited. But I know people who know much more than I do about the topic and are willing to share their knowledge with us. So, this post also serves to introduce my friend and colleague Joy Rupe, Certified Dietary Manager. Joy will be collaborating with me to bring you important nutritional information that can affect your sex life. And your mental life, too, but honestly I get more hits when I say “sex life.” This week, Joy helps the ladies out with an important warning about chicken. Yes, chicken. See, there really IS a connection between chicken and sex. It just took me an entire paragraph to get there.

Joy, take it away…

For decades the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has been on the fence about antibiotics usage on livestock citing lack of proof that the practice may create antibiotic resistance in humans. This July ABC News reported that antibiotic-fed chicken has been linked to Urinary Tract Infections (UTI) in women.  DNA evidence – also known as a smoking gun – finds a bug-for-bug match of an E. coli strain on live chickens, their processed meat, and the bacteria found in women’s urine samples.  Those who have had a bladder infection know how impactful it can be on daily life. An increasing number of women are having UTIs for a month or more requiring multiple antibiotics. Aside from real pain, frustration and hours lost hovering near bathrooms, say “hello” to possibly weeks of no or considerably less sex. Add to that a weakened immune system and you’ve just opened the door for other opportunistic disease to occur.