A POPULAR diet may be the key to getting your sex life back.
If you suffer erectile dysfunction, you’ll know the impact it can have on your relationship, for you and your partner.
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The good news is that a new study has suggested men who eat a Mediterranean diet may be able to treat their impotence.
The diet – branded the “healthiest in the world” – emphasises fruit, vegetables, whole grains, fish and olive oil, while moderating dairy products and red meat.
It has been linked to a healthier heart and staving off dementia.
But the critical benefit for the performance of the penis is that the Med diet can improve blood pressure levels.
It is already known that men with high blood pressure (hypertension) are twice as likely to have erectile dysfunction as men with normal blood pressure.
High blood pressure can narrow the blood vessels and make it harder to get an erection.
Researchers in Greece studied 250 men who had both factors – hypertension and erectile dysfunction.
Participants were an average age of 56, as both conditions tend to become more likely as a man ages.
Each of the men filled out a quiz which gave them a score of how closely their diet matched that of the Mediterranean.
Their fitness, vascular health and testosterone levels were also measured.
When it came to their sexual performance, each man answered five questions which gave a score of 0 to 25. The higher the score, the better their erections were.
The study found that the more men ate Mediterranean foods, the stronger their erections were.
The Mediterranean diet could play a role in maintaining several parameters of vascular health
Dr Athanasios Angelis
If their diet score was above 29 out of 55, then their erectile performance score was above 14 out of 25.
Their arteries were less likely to be stiff and their blood was more free-flowing, tests revealed.
These people were also more likely to be fit – measured using a treadmill test.
Study author Dr Athanasios Angelis of the University of Athens, Greece said: “In our study, consuming a Mediterranean diet was linked with better exercise capacity, healthier arteries and blood flow, higher testosterone levels, and better erectile performance.
“While we did not examine mechanisms, it seems plausible that this dietary pattern may improve fitness and erectile performance by enhancing function of the blood vessels and limiting the fall in testosterone that occurs in midlife.
“The findings suggest that the Mediterranean diet could play a role in maintaining several parameters of vascular health and quality of life and in middle aged men with hypertension and erectile dysfunction.”
The study is only observational, meaning it can only observe a relationship between two things, rather than proving cause and effect.
Nevertheless, eating a healthy balanced diet and exercising is known to control high blood pressure as well as erectile dysfunction.
The two conditions also share similar risk factors – a bad diet, low fruit and veg intake, being overweight or older.
The NHS warns that one in three people in the UK have hypertension but many do not realise because there are few symptoms.
Read here how to do the Mediterranean diet on a budget.