Understanding ED and how to manage it

The benefits of exercise are wide-ranging and well known, but here’s a quick recap:

Can support heart health and the vascular system;
Helps maintain a healthy weight range;
Reduces the risk of several serious illnesses including Type 2 diabetes, stroke and cancer;
Supports mental health and mood;
Improves energy levels.

That’s just to name a few, there are plenty of reasons to exercise regularly. (Hundreds more.)

Medical guidelines generally recommend around 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise a week is enough to lower serious risk and keep you fit.

And because erections rely on healthy blood flow and a well-functioning vascular system, regular exercise can play an important role in managing ED.

Cardio and erections

Cardio, otherwise known as aerobic exercise, is a physical activity that raises the heart and breathing rate. In the gym, you might have heard of ‘cardio’ machines. Examples include the treadmill, elliptical and cycling machines.

But you don’t need to go to the gym for a good cardio workout. Other examples include brisk walking, jogging and running. You can ask your doctor if your erectile dysfunction symptoms can benefit over time from these simple cardio exercises (as well as from many others).

Regular cardio over time helps your overall cardiovascular function and health improve, and it also helps to increase blood flow to the penile tissue and muscles, namely the corpus cavernosum.

This is because erections depend on good vascular health and blood flow. Research shows that men with higher levels of physical activity report fewer symptoms of impotence.

It’s also well known that regular aerobic exercise improves mental health and overall mood.[4] This is because the body produces endorphins when you exercise. This, too, could be of benefit to erectile dysfunction — particularly when it’s caused by psychological factors like anxiety or depression. However, if you suspect that your ED is related to psychological factors, seek medical advice. It’s possible that your doctor will determine that exercise alone is not enough, and that psychological therapy may be of benefit.

Strength training and erections

So we’ve covered cardio, but what about strength exercises?

You can think of exercise as two sides of one coin. It’s important that we strike a good balance between aerobic exercise and strength exercise, or resistance training.

Strength exercises are those which target the muscles and build strength and endurance. It’s often associated with weights, but can be defined in three ways:

• Calisthenics: Calisthenic exercise helps build muscle and target key areas, without depending on anything except your own body weight. Examples include pull-ups, push-ups and chin-ups.
• Isometrics: Isometric exercises involve static contraction of muscle groups without visible movement in the angle of a joint. Examples include the plank and glute bridges.
• Plyometrics: Plyometric exercise, also known as jump training, happens when the muscles exert high force in short bursts of time. Examples include skipping and jump squats.

These exercises and resistance training groups are designed to build muscle and endurance, but most of them will also raise the heart rate and breathing. This can help with ED, because – that’s right – good erections depend on good blood flow and circulation.

Can yoga and meditation help with erections?

Yoga is an ancient form of low-intensity exercise which focuses on strength, stretching and breathing. It’s long been claimed that yoga benefits mental health and mood.

Meditation ‘focuses one's mind for a period of time, in silence or with the aid of chanting, for religious or spiritual purposes or as a method of relaxation.’

But how effective are these techniques, and can they help with erectile dysfunction? Yoga will require some form of physical exertion, which will help with circulation and blood flow (especially when performed regularly). This, in turn, can help with the symptoms of impotence.

But what about meditation for erectile dysfunction? Well, it’s less about the physical and more about the mental. This is because a lot of meditation is about (through practice) letting go of worry and stress. It’s about becoming comfortable with yourself and your mind.

This might not sound like your thing, but there is some evidence that meditation can help with ED. However, because psychological causes vary, these practices are typically integrated alongside formal psychological therapies or medical treatments. So make sure to always ask the advice of a healthcare professional when dealing with conditions such as erectile dysfunction.

We get told from an early age how important food is (eat your greens, an apple a day keeps the doctor away, carrots help you see in the dark and so on).

While some of these phrases are exaggerated, they all have roots in truth. Fruit and vegetables are one of the most important food groups, and as part of a balanced diet, they can have a number of far-ranging benefits.

The reason for this is because different food groups, and the varying foods within those groups, contain different vitamins and minerals which all have varied jobs in the body. For example, milk contains calcium, which benefits the teeth and bones.

Eating a healthy diet reduces the risk of developing many chronic diseases, such as heart disease, stroke and cancer. A diet that is high in saturated fats and sugars can damage the blood vessels and have a knock-on effect on your erections.

But are there any foods that are actually good for ED?

There aren’t any foods that are specifically known to treat ED. However, eating a balanced diet will help you to stay generally healthy; and being generally healthy reduces your risk of getting ED. A balanced diet typically includes fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins in quantities that are enough to provide essential vitamins and minerals that support the vascular system.

Recreational drugs, smoking and alcohol consumption all have the ability to cause serious, long-term damage to the body and impact the ability to get or maintain an erection.

Recreational drugs can include illegal drugs, but also unprescribed or misused medication. Drug misuse can impact the blood vessels and vascular function, and also impact sexual desire and libido.

Nicotine, also a drug, has a similar effect. Smoking can decrease libido. Nicotine is a vasoconstrictor, meaning it temporarily narrows blood vessels. Over time, smoking contributes to long-term cardiovascular damage. This, in turn, can cause problems with erections.

Drinking alcohol also carries risks, especially if you drink too much over time. Alcohol interferes with the ability to get an erection for a number of reasons in the long and short term.