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Summary
On episode 372 of 40+ Fitness, Coach Allan sits down with Lisa Davis, a former sex educator with nearly two decades of broadcast experience across radio and podcasts, and author of the book Clean Eating, Dirty Sex.
Lisa argues that sexual health over 40, libido, ED, energy, comes down largely to blood flow, and blood flow comes down largely to what you eat. She draws a clear line between “clean” whole food eating and “dirty” processed eating.
The conversation also covers how perimenopause can flip hormones almost overnight, why she calls herself a “whole fooditarian” instead of picking a diet camp, and how food sensitivities show up as fatigue and brain fog until you rotate or eliminate to find them.
Links
- https://cleaneatingdirtysex.com
- https://itsyourhealthwithlisadavis.com
Key Takeaways
- “Clean eating” means whole, unprocessed foods, “dirty eating” is processed convenience food. Lisa describes a clean meal as grass-fed beef, a big salad, a yam, and avocado, versus a box of ingredients you can't pronounce that's designed to sit on a shelf for months.
- Sexual health is a blood flow issue, and diet quality directly affects circulation. Lisa frames the book's core argument this way: what you eat doesn't just affect your weight, it affects blood flow, and blood flow is what libido and performance run on.
- Being a “whole fooditarian” beats picking a diet label. Instead of committing to paleo, vegan, or keto, Lisa eats whatever is whole food and skips whatever is processed, regardless of which camp it falls into.
- Food sensitivities are individual and often invisible until you test for them. Lisa found grains left her foggy and fatigued (what she calls a “food hangover”); she recommends rotating foods out for a few weeks or doing a short elimination to find your own triggers.
- Perimenopause can flip your hormones fast. Lisa describes her PMS turning severe almost overnight at 43, later diagnosed as estrogen dominance, which in turn slowed her thyroid and led to weight gain and mood swings; she recommends getting both hormones and thyroid tested together since they affect each other.
- Ultra-low-fat eating can tank testosterone. Lisa cites Dr. Steven Masley's finding that men on an ultra-low-fat diet can drop testosterone by 50 to 75 percentage points, which is why she pushes healthy fats like olive oil and avocado rather than avoiding fat.
- “Be Your Own Betty,” get help building the first stretch of new habits. Lisa tells the story of a friend who had someone prepare her food for a period until the payoff (feeling better, losing weight) became the motivation to keep going on her own.
- Lisa's three strategies to get and stay well: find your why, focused on function rather than just how you look; find a physical activity you actually enjoy rather than forcing yourself through something you hate; and pair a workout you like with something else you enjoy, like a good podcast.
“When it comes to sexual health, I'm talking blood flow, Allan, that's what I'm talking about.”
Lisa Davis