• Did you know, for example, that men who exercise 30 minutes a day are 40% less likely to have ED than sedentary men?

• Or that ED is twice as prevalent among men with depression?

• Or that men with high HDL cholesterol are far less likely to have ED than men with low HDL cholesterol?

What are lifestyle changes that can help you sidestep or reverse Erectile Dysfunction?

• Lessen alcohol consumption
• Lessen stress
• Exercise
• Whole foods
• Adequate sleep
• Timing
• Others

Non-alcoholic beer has some health benefits.

• Beer improves copper utilization in rats with copper deficiency, thereby preventing the negative effects (which include atherosclerosis). This effect does not depend on the alcohol content.
• Non-alcoholic beer aids marathon recovery. I could have sworn regular beer used to help back in my running days, but maybe I was wrong. Maybe if I stuck to O’Douls, I could still be out there today!
• Non-alcoholic beer helps shift-working nurses get better sleep and enjoy reductions in anxiety. This effect was attributed to the hop content of the beer.
• The silicon content of beer – not the alcohol – may reduce the risk of osteoporosis. Non-alcoholic beer should therefore have this effect.

Aloe Vera

Oral aloe vera has anti-hyperlipidemic and anti-hyperglycemic effects. A recent study found that in type 2 diabetes patients with bad blood lipids and excessive fasting blood sugar levels, a 300 mg capsule of aloe vera gel taken every twelve hours for two months lowered LDL, HbA1c, fasting blood glucose, and total cholesterol. No adverse effects were reported, and liver and kidney function tests checked out.

An extract of aloe vera even shows promise as a promoter of dental pulp cell proliferation (the stem cells that “turn into” teeth) and the mineralization and formation of dentin. The study involved capping the exposed upper molars of rats in either the aloe extract (acemannan) or a control for 28 days, so it’s not as simple as swishing with aloe vera juice every night.

Aloe is certainly good as a laxative, but there’s no concrete evidence that I’m aware of for its use in healing damaged stomach tissue. You could give it a shot in an experiment of one, of course. Just note that chronic oral aloe vera consumption has been linked to hepatic toxicity in some cases. Doses of between 250 and 500 mg per day were cited – a not unheard of amount, so use caution.

Maca

If aloe’s supposed aphrodisiac effects are based in obscure folk wisdom, maca has actual clinical trials. Maca appears to be that rare substance that actually works as advertised. Most importantly, it increases sexual desire, function, and fertility in both men and women.

In men with mild erectile dysfunction, maca root increased subjective perceptions of general and sexual well-being, beating out the placebo group.
In men and women suffering from SSRI-induced sexual dysfunction (disinterest, low libido, inability to attain arousal), patients taking maca root experienced significant improvements. Libido increased and arousal became possible on both 1.5 grams per day and 3 grams per day, though the larger dose was more effective.
In post menopausal women suffering from sexual dysfunction, 3.5 grams a day of powdered maca reduced anxiety, depression, and sexual dysfunction when compared to a placebo. Interestingly, these effects were independent of any changes in hormonal profiles (neither androgenic nor estrogenic).
In men aged 21-56, both 1.5 and 3 grams per day of maca root increased sexual desire, with the larger dose having the greater effect. As with the previous study on postmenopausal women, the increase in libido was independent of any changes to male hormonal profiles.
Maca also increases sperm count, sperm motility, and ejaculate volume without affecting serum hormone levels in men.
Maca also has some neuroprotective effects, at least in rodents, but the sex angle is the most studied.

If you decide to try it, don’t necessarily rush out and buy the raw maca. Traditionally, maca root was eaten as a root vegetable in Peru – cooked, boiled, mashed, or turned into flour. It wasn’t eaten raw to “preserve enzymes” or some other such thing. Raw maca is generally less expensive than gelatinized maca, but the latter is more concentrated with the starch removed, and perhaps more effective. Furthermore, since maca is in the brassica family (along with cabbage, broccoli, and kale), it has goitrogenic qualities that increase the requirement for iodine. Raw maca is going to have more goitrogenic activity than heat-treated maca.

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