There are certain fruits that might be hurting or helping your erections without you realising. If you want to show your partner that they really are the apple of your eye, then find out which fruits can transform your sex life.
The pretty pink fruit hardly screams danger, but it contains a group of chemicals that can interact with the way medication is absorbed. One medication that falls culprit: sildenafil. Sildenafil is the active ingredient Viagra and when too much grapefruit is consumed, it can change the way sildenafil is absorbed into the blood. One study on the consumption of grapefruit and sildenafil found that the fruit delayed the absorption of the medication. So if you consume a lot of grapefruit and find Viagra isn’t working as it should, you may want to revisit the contents of your fruit bowl.
Packed with antioxidants and amino acids which help to improve blood flow, some have termed watermelon the ‘natural Viagra’. But is it worthy of the mighty title? Watermelon is naturally rich in the amino acid, citrulline. The body converts citrulline to arginine, which reacts with other chemicals in the body to create nitric oxide. This substance keeps our blood vessels healthy, which is key when it comes to getting an erection. A study on the effects of L-citrulline supplement on mild erectile dysfunction (ED) found that men taking the supplement were more likely to see improvements in their ED, suggesting that the amino acid found in watermelon could play an important role in getting an erection.
You may have seen the headlines saluting pomegranate juice as the silver bullet for ED. Unfortunately, it’s not that cut and dried. A study did find more men reported improvements in ED after drinking a glass of pomegranate juice when compared to men drinking a placebo. However, the difference was minor and just happened to be funded by a pomegranate manufacturing company.
But before you throw all your pomegranate juice down the drain, it’s proven to be very beneficial for men, even if it’s not quite the Viagra of nature. Rich in antioxidants, the fruit is thought to be great for your heart and just because there’s no hard evidence (mind the pun), it definitely won’t harm your erections.
It’s not as commonly eaten as some other fruits, but is kiwi good for erectile dysfunction? Unfortunately, research is lacking in this area. However, a recent study on rats investigated whether kiwi fruit could combat the negative side effects of tadalafil (a popular ED treatment) and found that it was indeed beneficial. Kiwi is also a great source of vitamins and actually contains more vitamin C than an orange.
Little is known about how helpful lemon is when it comes to erections, but it doesn’t cause any adverse effects when consumed alongside sildenafil. Lemon could also improve ED indirectly as it’s rich in vitamin C and plant compounds which may reduce high blood pressure. High blood pressure has been linked to ED, so this is just one of the many benefits of consuming the fruit.
If you’re experiencing ED, you may have an underlying health issue such as high cholesterol or diabetes. You can easily take an at-home blood test to measure important biomarkers such as blood lipid and testosterone, and get to the root of what’s causing your ED.
A healthy diet and lifestyle are proven ways to improve ED, so even if a bite of one of these fruits doesn’t give you an erection, it’s still worth incorporating them into your diet.
Bursting with antioxidants and amino acids, some fruits are thought to be somewhat helpful when it comes to getting an erection. However, when it comes to grapefruit, it contains a group of chemicals that are best avoided when taking sildenafil or Viagra, as it delays the absorption of the medication.
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle that incorporates these nutrient-rich fruits is likely to benefit you in a number of ways and may even help your erections indirectly, so it’s worth stocking up on your next visit to the supermarket.
