Nutrition and Erectile Dysfunction Overview
Erectile Dysfunction, commonly referred to as ED, may seem like an embarrassing problem. But if you suffer from ED, there is no reason to be embarrassed. ED is quite common. In fact, a national health survey found that ED affects nearly one out of every five men over the age of 20. In men who are 75 and older, nearly 80% are affected.
If you suffer from ED, be sure to talk to your doctor about treatment options that may be right for you. This may include medications if your ED has an underlying physical cause such as blood vessel disease. In addition to medical treatment options, there are other things you can do to improve your health. This in turn can help manage your condition by preventing a worsening of the underlying physical causes of ED.
Can Nutrition Help With ED?
At first glance, you may wonder how nutrition could possibly be related to Erectile Dysfunction. What’s food got to do with it? A whole lot, it turns out. Health researchers have discovered that there are several health-related issues that significantly increase a man’s risk of ED. Three out of four of these issues are related to nutrition and diet! What you eat can make a difference.
Men who have diabetes are nearly three times more likely to suffer from ED than men who do not have diabetes. Being obese, which translates into being more than 30 to 40 pounds overweight, significantly increases risk of ED. High blood pressure raises ED risk as well. Finally, men who smoke have a higher likelihood of suffering from ED than men who do not smoke.
And decades of research confirm that diabetes (type II), obesity, and high blood pressure are strongly related to a person’s diet. Also, keep in mind that obesity increases the risk of both diabetes and high blood pressure. As you can see, these three conditions - obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure – are related to one another and to a man’s risk of being affected by ED.
Obesity & Diabetes
Obesity raises risk of ED for a couple of reasons. First, being overweight or obese increases the risk of diabetes. Second, being overweight or obese increases the risk of high blood pressure. Both obesity and high blood pressure increase the risk of ED. Finally, we know that obesity increases the risk of heart disease.
Why is heart disease important? Because the same process that causes the blood vessels around the heart to clog up also can contribute to clogging and narrowing of the vessels in other parts of the body. This includes the vessels leading to the genitals. When these vessels become clogged, blood flow to the area is decreased and this can lead to ED.
Another reason to maintain a healthy body weight is that this can help manage diabetes if you have it and can help prevent diabetes if you are at risk of this disease. And anyone who is obese, which is about 30 to 40 pounds over a healthy body weight, is at risk of diabetes.
Diabetes is an important part of ED. In uncontrolled diabetes, the same processes that cause damage in other parts of the body also damage the vessels and nerves leading to the genital region. Again, this raises risk of ED. In fact, men with diabetes are nearly three times more likely to be affected by ED. The good news is that diabetes itself does not cause ED. Rather, the high blood sugar that is a part of uncontrolled diabetes leads to ED. If you have diabetes, keeping you blood sugar in a healthy range will help prevent the damage in the body that leads to ED.
The Bottom Line
If you are significantly overweight and you want to reduce risk of Erectile Dysfunction, you need to make a healthy body weight a top health priority. As well, if you have diabetes, work with your doctor to keep your blood sugar numbers under control. Take your medications as prescribed and follow your healthcare provider’s advice on diet and exercise. Diabetes itself does not cause ED. But uncontrolled blood sugar does.
For more information and details on this important topic, please see our article on Healthy Approaches to Weight Management.
High Blood Pressure
As discussed, uncontrolled high blood pressure increases ED risk. Just like with heart disease and diabetes, it is not the condition of high blood pressure that causes the problem. Rather, uncontrolled high blood pressure can damage the blood vessels in the body. This includes the vessels in the genital region. This increases ED risk. Having high blood pressure as a condition does not cause ED in and of itself. But uncontrolled high blood pressure does.
If you have high blood pressure, and one out of four American adults does, it is very important that you follow your doctor’s advice. Take your blood pressure medication as prescribed and keep your blood pressure in a healthy range. Also, keep in mind that if you are overweight or obese losing weight can reduce your blood pressure. Losing just 5 or 10% of your current body weight can be an effective way to control high blood pressure.
For example, if you weigh 200 pounds, losing just 10 to 20 pounds can be enough to lower blood pressure. Losing weight for improved health, not to fit into some ideal of what you should look like, is the most important goal!
In addition to medications, exercise, and maintaining a healthy body weight, what you eat can have a big impact on your blood pressure. A healthy diet can dramatically lower blood pressure. One particular diet that has research-proven ability to lower blood pressure is the DASH diet. DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension.
The DASH diet focuses on a healthy eating plan that is low in sodium (salt), high in vegetables, fruit, and whole grains, and that contains two to three servings of low-fat or no-fat dairy each day. As well, the DASH diet includes about a serving per day of nuts, seeds, and beans and allows for small amounts of meat, poultry, fish, and sweets. In summary, the DASH diet is an ideal eating plan if you want to control blood pressure, maintain a healthy body weight, and reduce risk of heart disease and stroke.
If you are ready to make your health a priority by reducing risk of high blood pressure or controlling it if you already have this condition, please see our article on Diet Tips for Lowering Blood Pressure.
Smoking
The smoking habit raises risk of ED. There is no question that this is true. What is also true is that it is very hard to quit smoking, but you can do it. If you smoke, talk to your doctor about making a plan for quitting.
Quitting smoking is challenging, but you can succeed. Obtaining help from your doctor or nurse is important to your success. Your health care provider can prescribe nicotine replacement therapy such as the patch, gum, nasal spray, or inhaler. These products can substantially increase the chances that you quit for good. In addition to nicotine replacement, you can obtain advice from your doctor on support groups, "quit smoking" programs, and other ways to help yourself give up the smoking habit for good.
Focus on the Big Picture
If you have ED, talk to your doctor about medication options for managing this condition. In addition to this, there are many steps you can take to improve your overall health. And improving your health can help prevent ED and may even improve this condition if you already have it.
The best way to improve overall health? Focus on maintaining a healthy body weight, keep your blood sugars in a healthy range if you have diabetes, keep your blood pressure under control if you have high blood pressure, and quit smoking if you are a smoker. By taking control of your health, you can take control of ED!