Don't Even Think About Eating These Foods Before Having Sex

"Sex is kinda like pizza," the movie Threesome taught us. "When it's bad, it's still pretty good." Think about it: Food and sex are intrinsically linked in our lives. We go out to eat on dates when we meet someone new. We give our special someone chocolates as a sign of affection. And it's often nearly impossible to think about making out — let alone having sex — if we're starving.

According to the experts who study the way our minds work, sex and food also engage the same areas of the brain — that complex network of neurotransmitters, nerves, hormones and other chemicals that are responsible for not only sexual desires but other powerful physical responses, such as how you taste and react to food. The brain is the biggest sex organ after all. 

Sex and food both cause cravings. They both trigger the same reward centers in our brain, especially when we enjoy them. And they both involve all five of our senses, making them a fully encompassing activity for the whole body. All these things mean that food can also have a powerful positive — or negative — impact on our sex lives. The following foods are ones you should definitely be wary of eating before any sexual encounter.

Vampires aren't the only ones who can be scared off by a big clove of garlic. Your new Tinder friend definitely isn't going to like you chowing down on it either. And it's not just because of what garlic can do to your breath. Garlic actually makes your whole body — including your sweat—  stink, Michigan State University revealed. Yes, when you eat a big chunk or garlic bread or a spicy garlic-packed bowl of spaghetti, the oils present in the garlic don't just stay in your mouth and intestine. These oils also make their way into the lungs, affecting your breath, and emanate from your pores, causing particularly funky body odor.

"When you eat garlic you produce several sulfur-containing gases," physician and researcher Fabrizis Suarez from the University of Minnesota told WebMD. And they're almost impossible to get rid of. Your best bet if you're desperate to banish the odor? Research published in the Journal of Food Science suggested that eating either an apple, lettuce, or mint may be the most successful trick to help make garlic breath and garlic sweat disappear for good.

Coffee may be the one thing capable of getting you out of bed in the morning — but it could also be the very thing preventing you from having any fun when you get back into bed in the evening. According to Reuters, 64 percent of Americans have a cup of coffee at least once a day. But all that coffee we're pounding back has some drawbacks.

For one thing, coffee raises levels of a stress hormone in the blood known as cortisol. Since cortisol is typically produced when our bodies are agitated, the more of the stuff you have in the system, the harder it is for you to relax, Nicole Kasal, a health and wellness coach explained to Good Housekeeping. "What happens with that morning cup of coffee is that you end up disrupting your blood sugar all day," hormone expert Alisa Vitti told Prevention. As a result, your adrenals underperform, and you wind up with too much cortisol and not enough of another hormone called DHEA, which is linked to testosterone. And when DHEA drops, so, too, does your libido.

Next time you and your significant other are craving some late-night fries, consider this: A study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that people who eat French fries regularly don't live as long as those who eat them less often. Seriously! Scientists tracked 4,400 men and women over eight years and found that eating fries twice or more per week more than doubled an individual's risk of death — even when accounting for other factors like smoking.

In addition to negatively impacting your longevity, fries can also wreak havoc on your sex life. Since most fries are cooked in hydrogenated oil, they're likely to spike cholesterol. When researchers at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine cross-checked cholesterol levels and sex life data from 3,200 men, they found that as test subjects' cholesterol levels went up, so too did their risk for erectile dysfunction.

Women aren't immune to crispy, delicious death sticks (aka French fries) either. Fries and other salty foods increase water retention and bloating, cautioned Good Housekeeping. "Blood flow is what makes an orgasm possible, and too much salt will make it more difficult to get to that point, health and wellness coach Nicole Kasal told the magazine.

You might think popping a piece of gum before any sort of make-out session is a smart thing to do. But, well, you'd be wrong. As WebMD explained, the simple act of chewing a piece of gum repeatedly can cause you to also swallow air. That can leave you feeling bloated and gassy — two things nobody wants to experience before sex.

Mint gum, in particular, may be a bad idea since some rat studies point to potential problems. A study published in the medical journal Urology found that male rats who were gibven herbal mint teas experienced a drop in their testosterone levels. A later study of male rats published in Food and Chemical Toxicology also found that spearmint led to "decreased sperm density." 

Despite being good for digestion, these studies show that mint may not be the best choice for all situations. If you're concerned about having bad breath in the bedroom, there are options other than gum. Focus on your oral health regime and make sure you are brushing your tongue as well as your teeth since a number of odor-producing molecules can hang out there. Dentist Michelle Chan advised Cosmopolitan readers to drink more water, since bad breath is often a sign of being dehydrated.

The T in a G&T could be a no-go in the bedroom, especially for couples who are attempting to conceive. It turns out that the popular cocktail mixer known as tonic water contains a compound called quinine (which comes from the bark of a central and South American tree called the cinchona). Quinine isn't just used to give tonic water its bitter taste — it's also a drug. It is still used to treat malaria around the globe.

While generally considered safe by the USDA in small doses, large amounts of quinine can cause a host of ills ranging from blurred vision and vomiting to cold sweats, confusion, and even chills, according to data from the Mayo Clinic. It can also be a vibe killer in the bedroom, Yvonne K. Fulbright, a certified sex educator told Woman's Day. The quinine in tonic water could temporarily lower a man's testosterone levels and sperm count, she cautioned. Plus, the carbonation in the mixer can lead to gas and bloating.

Oats are often called a nutrition superfood — and they are in many ways. Harvard's The Nutrition Source confirmed that these flaky grains help lower your risk of heart disease. That same potent fiber found in oats is also useful for helping people to lose weight or avoid overeating. But there's a downside to a diet filled with multiple bowls of oatmeal — especially if you're the type of person who likes to eat breakfast and then crawl back into bed on the weekends for a romantic encounter.

According to Jacqueline Richard, California-based certified sex therapist, eating oatmeal causes your body to produce a natural stress-reducer known as serotonin. In small doses, serotonin is good, and it can even boost your libido. However, the expert told Woman's Day, when you eat a lot of oatmeal, you end up producing high levels of serotonin, which causes a drastic drop in sexual desire. Additionally, oatmeal contains a lot of fiber, which can trigger gas and bloating. And nobody wants to feel that way before sex.

Bad news sushi and Chinese food lovers: Soy (think edamame, soy sauce, tofu, tempeh, et cetera) can dull your sex drive. In this situation, the harm comes from what are called phytoestrogens. According to Healthline, phytoestrogens are naturally occurring compounds found in a number of plants that function similarly to the hormone estrogen once they enter the body. Although these phytoestrogens are present in many foods including fruits, veggies, legumes, and some grains, soybeans contain among the highest levels. So what do they do?

A study conducted by Harvard researchers have found that just half a serving of soy daily can cut sperm production by 40 percent (via New Scientist). A study of women in The Journal of Nutrition warned that high levels of soy can decrease estrogen and alter ovarian function. Whether you're just hoping to get it on or grow your family, you may want to reconsider your takeout meal.