If you've got ED, you may want to put down the Viagra and pick up a cup of coffee instead.
Researchers at the University of Texas may have extremely good news for men everywhere: those who drink two cups of coffee a day were 42 percent less likely to have erectile dysfunction.
Researchers examined 3,724 men over the age of 20 who were participants in a survey about their caffeine consumption and also answered about whether or not they had ED. The research also examined other factors, like tea and high-caffeine drinks, according to a Telegraph report.
Researchers found that those who drank between 85mg and 170mg of caffeine each day had a 42 percent lower rate of erectile dysfunction compared to those who didn’t consume caffeine. Those who drank even more caffeine — between 171 and 303 mgs — weren’t very likely to get ED at all, as just 39 percent reported an occurrence of ED. A typical cup of coffee has about 100 mgs of caffeine.
So why does this happen? Scientists believe that caffeine causes the arteries in the penis to relax, allowing for greater blood flow.
Still, it’s not all good news. Even though overweight men or those who had high blood pressure also saw their chance of ED drop with coffee consumption, those with diabetes did not. Scientists said this was not surprising since diabetes is one of the highest risk factors for ED.
Many health benefits have been found for coffee over the years. One major study in 2012 found that a couple cups of coffee in a day could protect against bowel cancer, although scientists caution that the study was inconclusive and the best way to avoid bowel cancer is the usual healthy diet, exercising, and stopping smoking.