Lisa Davis, MPH, wrote the book Clean Eating, Dirty Sex: Sensual Superfoods and Aphrodisiac Practices for Ultimate Sexual Health and Connection (out now) with an accompanying podcast because she wants to help people make healthier choices. During her research, with the help of thousands of health experts, she discovered that even if people aren't willing to change for themselves, they’re ready to do it for their partners and sex lives. “Both men and women are interested in aesthetics, but there becomes a point where you go, ‘I’m already married, who cares if I have a potbelly or if my love handles are too big?’" She says. "But if you’re like, ‘Oh, man, I can’t get it up and my wife is frustrated and I’m frustrated,' you’re more willing to take a look at this.”

Despite the play on words in the book’s title, Davis doesn’t care what kind of sex you have. “Honestly, you can make it as clean or dirty as you like, I just want you to be able to have it," she advises. "I want you to be able to do whatever you want. If you read my book and you make these lifestyle changes, your sex life is going to be that much better, and then it’s up to you to make it—as long as it’s consensual, obviously—however the hell that you like it.”

Davis is serious about the idea that you can eat your way to better sex. Along with a section of “turn-on recipes,” her book includes advice from an assortment of health experts, including holistic cardiologist Joel Kahn, MD. She says, “Eat your damn berries. Berries are great. As a matter of fact, Dr. Kahn, who recommends people get on a plant based diet, tells his patients that blueberries are "blowberries" and strawberries are "screwberries" because they’re so good for your sex life.” In the book, she refers to a study that found men who eat more of certain fruits had a 14 percent lower risk of erectile dysfunction. Davis herself is not on a plant-based diet.  “I’m not asking people to go 100 percent plant-based, but I’m asking you to go as plant-based as you can.”

She lists a few other foods that are good for your sex life—watermelon, avocados, apples, almonds, beets—before elaborating, “All of these healthy fruits and vegetables have these phytonutrients that are going to help with blood flow. The bottom line is that it’s about blood flow.”

Of course, it’s not just about eating more of the foods that are healthy; you’ve also got to avoid the bad stuff. Davis recommends avoiding all processed foods—which sadly makes up the majority of the standard American diet. But there is a way around junk...literally. “Only shop the perimeter of the grocery store," she says. "Everything else in the middle, just don’t buy.” That's where pre-packaged high-sodium foods—packed with ingredients few can pronounce, nonetheless explain—stack the shelves.

Instead, Davis says, “Go and get your meats, get your fruits and vegetables, get your nuts and seeds. If I shop at a regular grocery store you’re not going to find me in the middle, because all of these convenient packaged, highly-processed foods are stripped of everything. I don’t care if they throw a few vitamins back in, for the most part, they’re crap. Eating all that crap leads to heart disease, diabetes, atherosclerosis…” If processed foods seem easy, she says, “It’s not that easy if down the road, you may get sick.”

Wondering how many “blowberries” and “screwberries” you’ll have to eat to improve your sex life, or how long you’ll have to avoid processed food to see results? Davis says that depends where you’re starting from. “It depends if they’re somebody that eats fast food a few times a week, lives on a standard American diet with all the processed food—which unfortunately is what a lot of people eat—and if they have any cardiovascular issues already.” While it might take a few months to notice a change, she says, “If you’re super committed, I think you could see changes pretty quickly.”

While food is the book’s primary focus, it includes related topics such as sleep. Davis describes sleep as her religion. She says people underestimate sleep, and that without it, “You just can’t function well. You also tend to eat more when you don’t get enough sleep, you tend to eat later, and you tend to eat the wrong things. It screws up how you’re feeling throughout the day—brain fog and all that stuff.” Stress also comes into play. “When you’re stressed out, your body goes into overdrive. You have the adrenaline and more cortisol is released, and that affects your hormones. It just gets you out of whack and it gets you uptight.” She adds that when people say stuff like, “She needs to get laid,” they’re sometimes right. Sex can help people relax, and so can deep breathing and yoga.

Davis is a fan of the organization Health at Any Size, and says that ultimately, “It’s not about getting to a certain number on a scale or being a twig. One of the problems in our society is that with all of the images out there of buff men and women, we feel like, ‘I’m never gonna be that.’ I don’t want people to be that unless they want to, and unless their body type can actually do that. I just want people to get off their ass, move around, feel better, have better sex, and take care of themselves.”