According to research from the Cleveland Clinic, around forty percent of men are affected by erectile dysfunction (ED) by the age of forty. This means that experiencing difficulty with achieving an erection is much more common than what many people think.
Healthy erections, from a physiological perspective, are about blood flow. When your blood is able to flow freely into the erectile tissue of your penis, you’ll notice that it’s much easier to get an erection when you’re sexually aroused. This is assuming that there aren’t any other issues present.
But when it comes to how to increase blood flow to your penis, there are several things that you can do to help. This is good to know, considering that it’s more difficult to get an erection when your blood flow is restricted. Often times, it gets restricted due to something you ate or drank, a certain habit, or an underlying health condition.
If your blood flow gets too restricted, you might not be able to achieve an erection at all.
Luckily, there are several tips and tricks that you can follow in order to improve your blood flow. Continue reading and we’ll go over everything you need to know.
Modify Your Eating Habits for More Blood Flow
The foods that you consume have a big impact on your blood flow. You should be able to improve your blood flow and other important health markers by consuming a healthy diet that’s high in nutrients, minerals, and vitamins. If you don’t eat well, then you could suffer from a reduction in blood flow.
If you’re looking to improve blood flow throughout your body – penis included – then you should try to add certain foods to your diet. Let’s go over them below.
Cinnamon
Cinnamon is believed to improve the health of your heart. Cinnamic acid and cinnamaldehyde are two of the main organic compounds found in cinnamon. They can produce nitric acid and also reduce vascular tension.
Garlic
It’s believed that garlic can help improve one’s blood flow. A study that lasted for three months used patients with coronary artery disease. The researchers discovered that patients were able to increase blood flow throughout the body and also relax their arteries by regularly consuming garlic.
This is because garlic is able to improve endothelial function.
Fish That Have Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Oily fish that contain high levels of omega-3 fatty acids – such as sardines, salmon, and mackerel – are both great sources of protein and good for blood flow. Omega-3 fatty acids contribute to cognitive health and can reduce one’s resting blood pressure.
Onions
Onions are rich in flavonoid antioxidants. Those are phytonutrients that can help to improve your cardiovascular health by dilating the arteries. By consuming onions regularly, you could greatly improve your cardiovascular health.
Citrus Fruits
Other foods that have high levels of flavonoids include citrus fruits, such as grapefruits, oranges, and lemons. These foods are associated with improved heart health and blood flow.
However, if you take medication for erectile dysfunction then you should probably not consume grapefruit juice. That’s because grapefruit and grapefruit juice can possibly increase the blood levels of the ED medication that’s in your body.
Dark Chocolate
Not only is dark chocolate an aphrodisiac, but it also contains plenty of flavonoids that can improve your heart health. The higher the cacao percentage, the better. You should consume dark chocolate that’s at least seventy percent cacao so that you can really boost your blood flow.
Vegetables That Contain a Lot of Nitrates
There are certain vegetables that are rich in nitrates. These include collard greens, spinach, and beets. These vegetables enter your body and are converted into nitric acid.
That acid can boost blood flow throughout the body and thus improve your cardiovascular health.
Nuts
There are certain nuts that are rich in minerals like magnesium and iron. Some of those nuts include almonds and walnuts. These minerals can improve your blood flow and heart health.
Nuts are also rich in vitamins A, B, C, and E.
Red Hot Peppers
No, we’re not talking about the band, but rather the food, and more specifically, the capsaicin that’s in the peppers. That’s because it’s associated with improved blood flow.
In fact, capsaicinoids can promote good blood flow by stimulating the release of nitric oxide.
Turmeric
Similar to those red hot peppers, turmeric can also help to improve your overall blood flow. One of the main compounds that’s found in turmeric is curcumin. Consuming that compound can greatly improve your blood flow, especially for postmenopausal women and healthy middle-aged and older men.
Water
While it’s not actually a food, it can’t be overstated how important it is to drink water and stay hydrated. Your blood, as well as your body, is mostly made up of water. This means that your blood will flow best when you drink a normal amount of water.
If you’re ever dehydrated, then there will be a lower volume of blood available to move through your body to organs, muscles, and tissue, including your penis.
While there isn’t an ideal amount of water that everyone should drink per day, you should generally go by the eight-by-eight rule. This refers to drinking eight glasses of eight ounces of water.
Generally, if you’re feeling thirsty, that means it’s time to drink some water.
Foods That You Should Avoid
As we can see, certain foods can greatly improve your heart health and increase your blood flow. On the flip side, there are certain foods that can greatly restrict your blood flow. You should do your best to limit your consumption of these foods or even cut them out of your diet entirely.
Let’s look at some of those foods below.
Salt
Foods that contain a lot of salt will introduce a lot of sodium to your bloodstream. This is bad because sodium can cause you to experience increased blood pressure.
Increased blood pressure means that arteries can get damaged and they will struggle to supply the necessary amount of blood to your penis. This can lead to problems sustaining an erection.
It’s important to note that you need to consume a certain amount of salt in order to be in optimal health. In fact, it’s generally recommended that you consume a maximum of 2,300mg of sodium per day.
It’s fairly easy these days to consume way too much salt in a day. Because of that, you should do your best to avoid eating too many foods that contain a lot of salt. Especially if you’re concerned about your sexual performance and ability to get an erection.
Sugar
Sugar is not going to affect your blood pressure as directly as salt and sodium will. Still, consuming too much sugar can increase your chances of getting diabetes. Diabetes is a disorder that can reduce your blood flow and greatly increase your chances of dealing with erectile dysfunction.
Trans Fats
Although trans fats used to be seen as not being a very big deal, we now know a lot more about them. Trans fats are the worst kind of dietary fat.
They provide no health benefits and can also deliver a variety of negative effects on your cardiovascular system. They’re particularly bad when it comes to LDL cholesterol.
Maintain a Healthy Weight
It’s generally not seen as healthy to obsess over your body fat percentage or weigh yourself every day. However, it is important that you maintain a healthy weight. This will help you achieve optimal sexual performance, cardiovascular health, and blood flow.
Erectile dysfunction is closely associated with obesity. Men who are obese or overweight are more likely than men of average weight to experience some issues with their sexual performance.
Although obesity is not a direct cause of erectile dysfunction, it is associated with diabetes, hypertension, and other health problems that can increase your risk of developing ED. All of these factors can also damage your blood flow and stop blood from making its way to the penis.
Obesity is related to other sex-related problems, too. This includes the risk of developing lower testosterone levels than average.
All of these issues help to emphasize why it’s so crucial to maintain a healthy body weight. And it’s doubly true if you’re concerned about blood circulation and sexual performance in general.
Start a Regular Exercise Routine
One of the best ways to increase your blood flow and improve your heart health is to exercise. And this includes the blood flow to the tissue in your penis that’s in charge of helping you achieve and sustain an erection during sex.
By exercising regularly, you can reduce your blood pressure levels, improve your overall health, and promote healthy blood flow. This is why regular exercise is so important in general, even if you aren’t trying to optimize your sexual performance.
According to a scientific review from 2018, researchers found that both endurance training and resistance training (which can include weightlifting and calisthenics) can be effective at lowering one’s baseline blood pressure. To put it simply, exercise, in just about any form, is a great way to improve your body’s blood circulation.
Reduce Your Nicotine and Alcohol Consumption
Nicotine – whether inhaled through a vaporizer or cigarettes – and alcohol are both bad for your blood circulation and sexual performance. First, we’ll talk about nicotine.
No matter how you consume nicotine, it’s going to have several negative effects once it enters your body. This means that your heart is going to start to beat faster and your blood pressure will then begin to go up. Once that happens, the arteries that control your blood circulation throughout the body will begin to constrict.
The final result of all of this will be a reduction in the ability of your heart to effectively pump. This will reduce blood flow within your body, including the blood that’s flowing to the erectile tissue of your penis.
Basically, nicotine, in all of its forms, isn’t a great choice when it comes to optimal blood circulation and sexual performance.
Now, onto alcohol. Alcohol doesn’t always restrict your blood circulation directly. In fact, it’s a mild vasodilator when taken in small amounts. But at large amounts, it can restrict your blood flow and damage your sexual performance.
Consuming heavy amounts of alcohol can lead to a variety of sexual issues in men, including erectile dysfunction.
In order to achieve optimal blood circulation, you should avoid nicotine at all costs. When it comes to alcohol, a small amount is okay. In fact, a glass of red wine could be a great way to get into the right mood.
Just make sure that you don’t drink too much, otherwise you’ll end up reducing the blood flow in your body.
Supplements
There are a variety of supplements on the market today designed to help increase blood flow to the penis. Some of these are PDE5 inhibitors and are specifically designed to increase circulation.
Other medications, like Viril-X, make use of nitric oxide (also produced by capsaicin) and can be extremely effective.
The Importance of Knowing How to Increase Blood Flow to Your Penis
Hopefully, after reading the above article, you now have a better understanding of how to increase blood flow to your penis. Essentially, you can do a lot for your sexual performance and overall health by maintaining a healthy lifestyle through diet and exercise.
Are you looking for other men’s health articles like this one? If you are, then make sure to check out the rest of our blog today!
