Everyone knows that what you eat has a big impact on your body and mind, from your mood and energy level to your mental dexterity and overall health. A recent study has now proved that the food we eat can impact our sexual abilities, especially in men.
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A higher intake of foods packed with flavonoids, a compound found in certain fruits and veggies, may help men maintain erections during sexual intercourse, according to a study published by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Researchers discovered that flavonoids reduced the risk of erectile disfunction in men under the age of 70. Foods that are rich in flavonoids include peaches, hot peppers, blueberries, celery and apples.
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So how did the researchers come to this conclusion?
Over the course of 10 years, the researchers followed the lives of over 25,000 men. Every four years, the men were required to fill out a survey that tracked their health and diets. In addition, the participants were asked to self-report their erectile function in 2000, 2004 and 2008.
Researchers discovered that the participants who ate flavonoid-rich foods were less likely to have issues with sustaining an erection compared to the participants who ate foods with less flavonoids.
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A higher total fruit intake was associated with a 14% reduction in erectile dysfunction. And participants that combined flavonoid-rich foods with exercise reduced their risk of erectile dysfunction by 21%.
So why might flavonoids increase a man’s ability to achieve and maintain an erection? Simple. Flavonoids are believed to help preserve the health of blood vessels, which obviously lends a hand in achieving an erection.
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Of course, eating more foods with flavonoids does not guarantee stronger erections – there are a lot of outside factors that could explain the erectile function of the men, such as activity level, smoking habits and stress.
But it couldn’t hurt to eat an apple. You know what they say, “an apple a day…”