Stay Hard For Life: Best Foods for Sexual Health

[T_Nation]

by TC Luoma

Eat These Berries for Stronger Erections

A study of 50,000 men offers up an incredibly simple way to give you stronger erections. Just eat these foods.

Researchers monitored 50,000-plus men in a 30-year study. The men were periodically asked about their ability to achieve and maintain an erection, tracking back to 1986. Those who regularly ate foods rich in certain polyphenols (e.g., anthocyanins, flavanones, and flavones) had improved sexual function and were far less likely to suffer from erectile dysfunction.

Foods that contain these particular polyphenols (and that were prevalent in the diets of strong-erection men) include blueberries, cherries, blackberries, and radishes.

Strong Heart, Strong Penis

Certain polyphenols – anthocyanins and flavonoids in particular – are associated with a reduced incidence of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Generally speaking, a good heart equals a good erection. After all, it’s all about hydraulics. So it stands to reason that if dietary polyphenols prevent or slow down the development of these diseases, you ipso facto get better erections.

Of course, there are likely other mechanisms involved, too. Certain anthocyanins can activate the enzyme AMPK, which affects nitrous oxide systems, which in turn control the intensity and duration of erections.

How to Use This Info

Ingesting certain polyphenols, most notably those found in blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, radishes, red wine, apples, pears, and citrus products, improves erections and helps prevent erectile dysfunction.

Exactly how much you’d have to eat requires further study, but it looks like you could easily duplicate the benefits experienced by the men in this study by adding a handful of blueberries to your cereal or protein shake a few times a week.

Alternatively, you could go the supplement route to make things even easier. Indigo-3G (Buy at Amazon) is an anthocyanin product and nutrient partitioning agent, but it’s also the most concentrated form of the anthocyanins available and goes a long way in fortifying sexual function.

Likewise, the product Superfood (Buy at Amazon), which is a freeze-dried preparation consisting of 18 different fruits and vegetables, contains abundant amounts of the polyphenols singled out in the erection study.

Oh, and Have Some Meat With Your Berries and Supps

Meat eaters get lots more vitamin B12 than vegans, and B-12 is essential to strong erections.

The take-to-bed message is this: A strong erection indicates overall health. It’s the flaccid canary in a coal mine, and if your canary is dead, failing, or flailing, start by shoring up your nutrition with polyphenols (and maybe even some more animal protein).

Reference

Reference

1. Cassidy A et al. Dietary flavonoid intake and incidence of erectile dysfunction. Am J Clin Nutr. 2016 Feb;103(2):534-41. PubMed.

[ejz62]

B12 is very easy to get via supplements. You do not need to eat animal products to have excellent sexual health.

[TC_Luoma]

No disagreement here.

[myrick]

Thanks TC we all need to stand At attention and make sure we salute the flag daily

Btw it’s not getting any easier but I’m chugging 8oz water and a scoop of superfood daily now

[Adamkruzich]

TC, you write favorably about many supplements. Have you ever shared your actual regimen?

[sheldonbkr]

Yes, but meat has lots of other good things, plus I like it.

[TC_Luoma]

@Adamkruzich

TC, you write favorably about many supplements. Have you ever shared your actual regimen?

This is basically it:
Breakfast – I’d find it virtually impossible to fulfill my ambitious daily polyphenolic goals without incorporating at least one or two shakes, aka “smoothies” (Gawd I hate that term).

Following is a typical morning shake. It incorporates 6 out of 7 of the polyphenol categories I listed above (all that’s missing is a representative of the spice family).

• 8 ounces oat milk (give or take)

• 1 scoop Superfood

• 1 small handful of chopped walnuts

• 1 tablespoon flaxseed

• 2 tablespoons white beans (yeah, you read that right. Their taste is bland, though)

• 1 handful of mixed berries

• 2 tablespoons pumpkin (also bland)

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

And two essential but non-polyphenolic ingredients:

1-2 scoops of Metabolic Drive Protein Powder [Metabolic Drive® Award Winning Gourmet Protein – T Nation Biotest]

5 grams of creatine [https://biotest.t-nation.com/products/creatine?selling_plan=688766943416].

In addition to that, I also mix up 1 tablespoon of cacao (a more “raw” and unprocessed form of cocoa) into my coffee (in addition to providing polyphenols, it enhances coffee’s nootropic effects).

Post-Workout Meal – I work out at 9 AM and I eat a small microwaved “brunch” afterwards consisting of the following:

• 1 handful of raw, shredded spinach

• ½ can of black or white beans (alternately, a cup of pre-cooked quinoa)

• 1 can skipjack tuna (lower mercury than other types)

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• Several shakes of Bragg Organic Sprinkle (24 herbs and spices)

• 1 teaspoon of hot sauce (usually my home-made Szechuan sauce)

Again, I’ve managed to round up quite a few polyphenolic groups, especially with the help of Bragg Organic Sprinkle [Bragg Organic Sprinkle].

Mid-Day Meal – This meal’s not as ambitious:

• 8 ounces oat milk

• 1 banana

• 1-2 scoops Metabolic Drive Protein Powder

And occasionally, a few spinach leaves (they don’t affect the taste).

Dinner – This meal is essentially just a hodgepodge of up to 10 different fruits and vegetables that I prepare in a Black and Decker vegetable steamer. Here are the everyday players, but I may add whatever else is lying around in the crisper:

• Sweet potato

• Purple sweet potato

• Cabbage

• Broccoli

• Peas

• Mixed leaves (spinach, kale, chard)

• Broccoflower (hybrid between broccoli and cauliflower)

• Mushrooms

After it’s steamed to my liking, I top if off with olive oil, Bragg Seasoning, and again, some type of hot sauce and serve with a great-white shark-sized hunk of meat or fish.

In addition to all this, I also incorporate polyphenol supplements like Micellar Curcumin [Micellar Curcumin - 95x Greater Absorption Vs. Piperine Formulas – T Nation Biotest], I-Well [I-Well – T Nation Biotest], P-Well [P-Well – T Nation Biotest], and Rez-V [Rez-V – T Nation Biotest] (resveratrol), each taken separately with one of my meals.

That’s it. That’s my polyphenolic day, not for the faint of heart. I didn’t bother to include the other supplements I use because none of them are or include polyphenols. Neither did I list the various food variations I use to ensure nutritional balance. It’s just a template.