It seems that no matter how old I get my mother never fails to tell me to eat my fruits and veggies. And while we’re supposed to be eating our fruits and veggies for a million other reasons, you can add improving your sex life to that list. Jennifer Berman, MD and director of the Berman Women’s Wellness Center in California says, “There’s a growing body of evidence that some of the vitamins and components in foods can enhance sexual functioning and sexual experience”.New research has recently found that some of these foods may have another unexpected benefit– they could help with erectile dysfunction. Researchers at The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that men who ate larger amounts of flavonoids (a group of plant metabolites that can be found in fruits and vegetables) were less likely to report any problems with keeping an erection. They followed just under 26,000 men for 10 years who reported no erectile dysfunction at the beginning of the study. Every 4 years these men would answer questionnaires regarding their erectile functioning and their overall health. Researchers were particularly interested in foods that contained flavonoids that the men were eating.
In their analyses they found that the amount of flavonones (found in citrus), anthocyanins (found in blueberries and raspberries) and flavones (found in hot peppers and thyme) the participants consumed correlated with an 11-16% reduction in erectile dysfunction.
Since correlation and causation aren’t the same things, it’s difficult to determine whether or not the flavonoids actually caused the decreased risk or whether these results were simply due to participants leading an active and healthy lifestyle where eating these foods are more likely. Either way incorporating these foods in your diet will do more good than harm. So fellas keep your little friend happy and grab a handful of blueberries instead of that bag of chips.
Sources:
Health, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Picture Credits:
Cover Picture, 1, 2, 3