Millennial Love: Dr Hazel Wallace explains why straight women aren’t having enough orgasms

‘When I speak to women, so many of them feel like there’s something wrong with them,’ says bestselling author

This week on The Independent’s Millennial Love podcast we speak to Dr Hazel Wallace, the NHS medical doctor, registered nutritionist and bestselling author.

During the episode, Dr Wallace, who goes by The Food Medic on social media, explains why straight women aren’t having as many orgasms as they should be.

“Not many women, especially straight women, actually orgasm with sex,” she explained.

“This kind of opened another conversation around the orgasm gap, which is this gap between heterosexual women and men and the fact that orgasm rates are in their nineties for men and for women are down in the sixties.”

Dr Wallace went on to cite research she has included in her new book, The Female Factor: Making women’s health count – and what it means for you.

“Four per cent of women can orgasm through penetration alone,” she said.

Dr Wallace continued by explaining that this has a wider impact on women from a societal point of view.

“Whereas when I speak to women, so many of them will feel like there’s something wrong with them because they’re not orgasming through penetration.

“Then they feel like they have to fake because they don’t want to affect their partner’s ego. But when does that end?”

Elsewhere in the episode, Dr Wallace opens up about some of the other taboos around women’s health and how better sex and masturbation can lead to better sleep.

She also reveals which foods to eat and which to avoid during your period, how diet can ease symptoms of PMS, and why it can be so hard to diagnose endometriosis.

You can listen to the full episode here.