Some sexual health boosters for men work for women too. Here's one for healthier hormone levels and a more satisfying sex life.
Women might not have prostates or other man-parts, but they do experience the same kind of blood engorgement when mentally or physically stimulated. In fact, the reproductive tissues in men share a lot of similarities with those in women.
So, it's not much of a stretch to think that the same drugs or supplements men use to support their reproductive systems would work the same way in women.
The supplement for lady parts and man parts
The ingredients in Biotest's P-Well (Buy at Amazon) have all been found to have profound positive effects on women, even though the supplement is marketed mostly to men:
- Punicalagins (from pomegranate whole fruit extract)
- Lycopene (from natural tomato fruit extract)
- Cranberry (whole fruit concentrate)
1. Punicalagin for natural hormone therapy
Punicalagin is a phytochemical found in large amounts in pomegranate fruit (mostly the rind). Men are interested in it because it's a powerful inhibitor of aromatase activity, which means it thwarts the conversion of testosterone into estrogen, thereby elevating testosterone levels naturally.
This same process occurs in women, too, and this elevation of testosterone levels is substantial. One study of men and women found that punicalagin raised levels of the hormone by an average of 24%. Elevated testosterone levels convey the same benefits to women as they do to men:
- Less body fat
- Increased muscle tone
- Increased energy/libido
But punicalagin from pomegranate isn't just about testosterone and sex. It has a lot of health benefits that are gender-neutral:
- It reduces cholesterol.
- It improves the health of blood vessels through its powerful antioxidant capability. It enhances blood flow in general and even reverses arterial plaque growth (roto-rooter out the plaque and you automatically improve blood flow).
- It has an antimicrobial effect against urinary tract infections.
- It improves anaerobic exercise performance.
- It reduces inflammation in coronary arteriosclerosis.
- It prevents the absorption of carbohydrates. Punicalagin inhibits alpha-glucoside, which leads to a decrease in glucose absorption, thus ameliorating diabetes and helping ward off obesity.
2. Lycopene, nature's Viagra
Lycopene is often called "Nature's Viagra" because it elevates levels of nitric oxide (NO), which relaxes the smooth muscle fibers of both penile and clitoral blood vessels so that more blood can flow into them.
More blood flow in penises allows intercourse to proceed. More blood flow to the clitoris means more pleasure and quicker, more powerful orgasms. That's exactly how drugs like Viagra work, which is why many doctors are now prescribing it to female patients.
But like the other substances in P-Well (Buy at Amazon), lycopene has plenty of other superpowers that pertain to both men and women:
- Among all the carotenoids, lycopene has the highest free-radical scavenging ability.
- Levels of lycopene are inversely related to plasma glucose levels and fasting insulin levels. That means it makes you more insulin sensitive, thus thwarting Type II diabetes and inefficient carbohydrate metabolism.
- As little as 5 to 7 mg. a day of lycopene reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease (but in the cases of existing cardiovascular disease, doses of 35 to 75 mg. per day might be needed).
- Lycopene protects the skin against UV-B induced sun damage.
- Lycopene inhibits platelet-derived growth factor, which inhibits the growth, invasion, and metastasis of melanoma.
- In animal studies, lycopene improved the visual appearance of the skin, made the skin moist, and even increased skin thickness. (When animals age, their skin gets thinner, allowing for more wrinkles.)
- Increased lycopene levels are associated with a lower risk of age-related macular degeneration.
- Lycopene activates the adaptive immune response, the T-cells and B-cells that produce antibodies that attack specific infections.
- Lycopene is thought to have promise in combating some neurodegenerative diseases.
- A meta-analysis of 12 studies found that 25 mg. of lycopene taken daily reduced LDL (the "bad" cholesterol) and high blood pressure.
- An observational study of 6,000 people found that eating tomatoes protected against digestive cancers.
3. Cranberry whole fruit concentrate
Most women know to use cranberry juice to treat or reduce the recurrence of urinary tract infections. But cranberry concentrate has another, less publicized benefit to both men and women: it promotes complete bladder emptying by strengthening "bladder detrusor contraction and relaxation," which is a technical way of saying that it makes the bladder muscles more effective in doing their job.
Honey, where'd you hide the P-Well?
It's easy to understand why something called P-Well (Buy at Amazon) might be pigeonholed as a supplement made exclusively for men. After all, one of the product's effects is promoting healthy prostate size and function, thus allowing men to pee well, or pee better.
However, the supplement provides many other beneficial effects to vascular sexual health and urinary tract health, as well as providing a host of other health benefits, none of which are sex specific.