Chris Shugart
The Sexual Health Food
Want to improve sexual health? Here's the one food you need to eat every day, according to science.
Women with higher levels of vitamin D enjoy sex more. They experience more desire and more intense orgasms. But what about men? What can we do? Well, according to one study, we can eat more nuts.
The Nut Study
Researchers gathered 83 men between 18 and 35 who ate the typical Western diet. The men were divided into two groups for this randomized, controlled, parallel-feeding trial:
- Group 1 didn't change anything about their diets.
- Group 2 consumed 60 grams of mixed nuts daily for 14 weeks.
The result? The men who ate nuts every day reported improved orgasmic function and sexual desire. So, just eat about half a cup of mainly walnuts, hazelnuts, and almonds daily. The only issue? That'll add over 400 calories to your daily diet.
Why Does This Work?
The researchers tested peripheral levels of nitric oxide (NO) and E-selectin (surrogated markers of erectile endothelial function), but there were no significant differences between the two groups. So, they weren't exactly sure why eating nuts helped with male sexual function. We could make some educated guesses though.
Walnuts contain ellagitannin, a powerful polyphenol. Get enough and it can improve erectile function and hormone levels by improving vascular health, reducing inflammation, and bettering hormone regulation (which, in turn, keeps your libido high). You'd have to eat a lot of walnuts though, but maybe the men in this study above had such crappy diets that nuts helped.
A better approach may be to ingest water-soluble punicalagin, a specific type of ellagitannin. You could eat a whole pomegranate a day (rind and all) or take P-Well (Buy at Amazon) which contains a whopping 180 mg of punicalagin per serving along with other sexual health boosters.
Walnuts (but not so much hazelnuts or almonds) also contain the omega-3, alpha-linolenic acid or ALA, so maybe that did the trick for the men in the study. (ALA is converted by your body into DHA/EPA, but this conversion rate is relatively low.) Sturdy erections rely on blood flow, and omega-3 fatty acids promote healthy blood flow and arterial health. Healthy fats help with vasodilation (widening of blood vessels), allowing for increased blood flow to the penis.
Likewise, inflammation plays a part. By reducing excess inflammation, omega-3s help ensure healthy nerve function. Inflammation interferes with the transmission of signals between the brain and the penis necessary for erection initiation and maintenance.
So, again, maybe these men were eating so poorly that the small conversion of ALA to DHA/EPA boosted their sexual health. A more efficient approach? Just ingest plenty of the final product: DHA/EPA. In short, take fish oil, ideally one with more DHA than EPA since the former is the omega-3 packing the biggest health punch. Flameout DHA-Rich Fish Oil (Buy at Amazon) contains five times more DHA than EPA.
And yes, go ahead and have a palmful of nuts every day, mostly walnuts. But to get the most bang from your wang, go straight to the source and take fish oil and punicalagin.
Reference
- Salas-Huetos et al. Effect of Nut Consumption on Erectile and Sexual Function in Healthy Males: A Secondary Outcome Analysis of the FERTINUTS Randomized Controlled Trial. Nutrients. 2019 Jun 19;11(6):1372
