Erectile dysfunction or impotence, the inability to get and maintain an erection firm enough to be able to practice sexual intercourse, is the most common form of sexual dysfunction among men. Now, a new study carried out by scientists at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in Houston (USA) has concluded that coffee, tea, caffeinated sodas and energy drinks that also contain this substance (caffeine), can improve impotence problems . The work has been published in the magazine PloS One.
Impotence, caused mostly by obesity, overweight, diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure or psychological problems was the starting point of the study that reviewed previous research on health status including a nutritional analysis of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey program that It was attended by 3,724 men over 20 years of age and with impotence problems. Of all the participants, 40.9% of the men were overweight, 30.7% were obese, 51% had high blood pressure, and 12.4% had diabetes .
Examination of the results revealed that those men who consumed 85 to 170 milligrams of caffeine ( 2 or 3 cups of coffee ) a day were 42% less likely to have erectile dysfunction or impotence (regardless of whether they were obese or had high blood pressure high), compared to those who drank no caffeine or less than 7 milligrams a day.
However, in diabetics, caffeine did not produce the same result: “Diabetes is one of the major risk factors for erectile dysfunction, so it was not surprising to obtain these results, ” says David López, leader of the study.
Although the mechanism behind this association of caffeine and reduced risk of impotence is not clear, researchers hypothesize that caffeine induces a series of pharmacological effects that cause relaxation of the arteries of the penis and smooth muscle cavernous of the penis, thus increasing blood flow and allowing erection .
