ePillz.com - A Correlation between Diet and Impotence Shown

A Correlation between Diet and Impotence Shown

July, 2006, - International Journal of Impotence Research -

A correlation between certain eating habits and the development of erectile dysfunction in men has been shown recently by a group of Italian scientists. The results of their study, focused on the effect of Mediterranean diet on the occurrence of erectile dysfunction, were published in the July issue of the International Journal of Impotence Research.

It is known that erectile dysfunction is very often associated with other diseases, especially diabetes, obesity and those, affecting cardiovascular system, such as coronary heart disease and hypertension. In the meantime, the role of diets or certain eating habits has not been sufficiently studied yet. To fill in this gab, scientists from the University of Naples SUN, Italy, designed a case-control study to find a possible correlation between cases of erectile dysfunction and certain foods, people consume.

Since the study took place in Italy, the researchers focused on a type of diet, known as “Mediterranean”. Though, it is rather a group of certain eating patterns, peculiar to Mediterranean region, than a full-featured separate diet plan, as American Heart Association explains, this eating plan has its distinctive features.

Among the key features of Mediterranean diet are high intake of vegetables, fruits, beans and nuts; high intake of olive oil, which is a source of monounsaturated fat, instead of saturated fats. The ration of people in the Mediterranean countries is also characterized by a moderate intake of fish, low to moderate intake of milk products and poultry and consuming very low amounts of red meat. One more characteristic feature of the said diet is moderate intake of alcohol, mainly wine.

So, to answer the question whether there is a connection between certain eating patterns and erectile dysfunction, scientists compared a group of men, suffering from erectile dysfunction, with the group of men, experiencing no problems with sexual performance.

The results of the study showed that the occurrence of ED cases was significantly lower among the people with a high rate of adherence to Mediterranean type of diet. Among those people, who do not follow the Mediterranean diet (low rate of adherence), 42% suffered from erectile dysfunction, and only 30% did not have such a problem. On the other hand, among those people, who strictly followed the Mediterranean eating patterns (high rate of adherence), a larger part did not suffer from ED (37%), while only 20% experienced erection difficulties.

Thus, the researchers proved their suggestion about a connection between eating habits and the development of erectile dysfunction. Moreover, they showed that eating vegetables, fruits, nuts, beans, consuming olive oil, reducing the intake of saturated fats and red meat may lower the risks of erectile dysfunction.

It is interesting to note, that Mediterranean diet is very close to a diet plan, recommended in America as a healthy way of eating. The American Heart Association says that consuming monounsaturated fats, such as olive oil, does not lead to the increased cholesterol level, thus, preventing heart diseases.

So, the above described study is one more evidence of the fact that the best way to preserve health in general and sexual health in particular is to follow a healthy lifestyle with a well-balanced diet and appropriate physical exercising.

Nick

External resources
http://www.nature.com/ijir/journal/v18/n4/full/3901438a.html
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4644
http://www.healthyweightforum.org/eng/diets/mediterranean-diet/