A Healthy Diet Helps Reduce Erectile Dysfunction

• Flavonoids are natural components found in fruits, berries, vegetables red wine and tea
• A diet rich in flavanoids reduces impotence 
• Study involved tracking the health of more than 50,000 middle-aged men
• Erectile dysfunction is often an early warning sign of heart disease 

Erectile Dysfunction (ED) keeps coming up for further investigation. Now it seems that men who eat plenty of fruit and generally lead a healthy lifestyle are least prone to the condition. No need for Viagra when a natural remedy is close to hand. Surprisingly, we probably already knew this as the components claimed to be responsible, flavonoids have been investigated where many other conditions are concerned.

The condition ED affects mainly middle-aged men and is regarded as a significant health problem affecting between 33 and 52% of men at any one time (Ayta et al., 1999; Bacon et al., 2003; Grover et al., 2006). It implies that over 300 million men globally could be affected by the end of 2025. Although many of the reasons can be traced to psychological and neuropathic diseases, there is a situation where it can be purely loss of vascularity. The condition is linked to others such as smoking, heart disease, hypertension of high blood pressure and obesity. The condition is even an indicator of cardiovascular disease.

A recent study by researchers from Harvard University and the University of East Anglia – the Health Professional Follow-Up study (HPFS) which started in 1986 has been gathering data on a range of issues amongst a population of 50 thousand men, largely white, Caucasian health professionals. Data was collected every 4 years (Cassidy et al., 2016).  Using questionnaires and diary information, erectile dysfunction events were recorded along with physical and health states, diet and any other pertinent details relevant to the study as a whole.

One of the main findings was that consumption of antioxidant rich foods such as fruits and nuts were linked to a reduction in the condition. Diet is important in alleviating many health conditions. The specific role of any dietary change was already demonstrated in a 2-year Mediterranean diet trial where a diet rich in

The following: – whole grains, fruit, vegetables, nuts, legumes, and olive oil was associated with an improvement in erectile function in subjects with metabolic syndrome (Esposito et al., 2006).

The new study indicated that such a diet would improve sexual function. The antioxidants are mainly flavonoids although over components are equally responsible. The type of fruits that might be eaten would be blueberries, cherries, blackcurrants and the like but very dark chocolate and even red wine could also be included in the list of foods that contain a certain amount of antioxidants.

The general findings were that these fruit derived flavanoids could reduce impotence by 14 per cent. Combining a flavonoid-rich diet with exercise such as running and walking will result in an even greater improvement in combating erectile dysfunction, by 21 per cent, according to the study.

To the researchers knowledge, “this is the first observational study to suggest that increased habitual intakes of several dietary flavonoids are associated with improved erectile function.”

References

Ayta, I.A., McKinlay, J.B., Krane, R.J. (1999) The likely worldwide increase in erectile dysfunction between 1995 and 2025 and some possible policy consequences. BJU Int. 84 pp. 50–6.

Bacon, C.G., Mittleman, M.A., Kawachi, I., Giovannucci, E., Glasser, D.B., Rimm, E.B. (2003) Sexual function in men older than 50 years of age: results from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. Ann. Intern. Med. 139 pp. 161–8.

Cassidy, A., Franz, M., Rimm, E.B. (2016) Dietary flavonoid intake and incidence of erectile dysfunction. Amer. J. Clin. Nutr. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.115.122010

Esposito, K., Ciotola, M., Giugliano, F., De Sio, M., Giugliano, G., D’Armiento, M. (2006) Mediterranean diet improves erectile function in subjects with the metabolic syndrome. Int. J. Impot. Res. 18  pp. 405–10.

Grover, S.A., Lowensteyn, I., Kaouache, M., Marchand, S., Coupal, L., DeCarolis, E. (2006) The prevalence of erectile dysfunction in the primary care setting: importance of risk factors for diabetes and vascular disease. Arch. Intern. Med. 166 pp. 213–9.