Beyond Viagra: What erectile dysfunction reveals about men’s health
Erectile dysfunction is often the first symptom of an underlying health condition in men.
What you need to know:
- The earliest indicator of hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidaemia (high cholesterol) and obesity is habitually erectile dysfunction (ED).
- Other health issues including neurological conditions like Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's disease and spinal cord injuries are also indicated earliest by ED.
Erectile dysfunction (ED) is often the first symptom of an underlying health condition in men. The arteries supplying blood to the penis are more constricted in diameter than the coronary arteries that provide blood to the heart. Plaque build-up or dysfunction of the blood vessel lining tends to restrict blood flow in the smaller penile arteries years before it affects the larger heart arteries.
The earliest indicator of hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidaemia (high cholesterol) and obesity is habitually erectile dysfunction. Other health issues including neurological conditions like Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's disease and spinal cord injuries are also indicated earliest by ED. Erectile dysfunction is also an infant warning attestation of depression, anxiety and stress and is recurrently the first sign of chronic kidney disease and Liver disease.
Dr Rachel Ross is a board-certified family medicine physician, clinical sexologist, former co-host of popular American daytime talk show The Doctors and founder of the renowned Dr Rachel Institute. She is a graduate of Nashville-based Vanderbilt University and historically Black academic health science centre Meharry Medical College.
She has spent over 30 years researching men's wellness and holistic health, and is a proponent of destigmatising of sexual health within the Black community.
She eloquently articulates in her fascinating book, From No Sex to Great Sex in 7 Days or Less, that ED is a sign of advancing futuristic health problems that should be treated with the seriousness it deserves. Dr Rachel accentuates how quick fixes of using temporary measures like Viagra is a dangerous remedy that ignores sequential life-threatening ailments affiliated to ED.
Dr Rachel Ross' book. Dr Rachel accentuates how quick fixes of using temporary measures like Viagra is a dangerous remedy that ignores sequential life-threatening ailments affiliated to ED.
The presence of visceral fat (belly fat) in men is conspicuously the first physical indication of an existent or emerging erectile condition and when left unresolved, frequently leads to grave hypertensive and diabetic afflictions. Dr Rachel evidently states that the situation can immediately be reversed by rectification of harmful dietary habits.
Her first instruction is eliminating all artificial sugar products from the diet. Over 75 per cent of the foods sold on supermarket shelves are discreetly laced with processed sugar. Manufacturers covertly add extra layers of sugar to increase addiction to refined products, Dr Rachel therefore states that eliminating processed sugar will have an immense impact on blood flow.
Common names of sugar
There are over 70 common names for sugar on ingredient labels and sugar has a major impact on blood vessels. Sugar fuels a multitude of inflammatory corrosions in the body, fastens insulin dependency, increases weight, elevates hypertension, reduces nitric oxide levels and is extremely poisonous and debilitating to the body. Most health institutions and medical practitioners are affiliated to the sugar industry and fear the brutal honesty of blaming sugar as a major infliction of ED.
Negating artificial sugar from the system isn't merely avoiding processed sugar, but it consists of eliminating detrimental starchy foods that the body converts to sugar including white rice, corn flour (maize flour) and gluten. Gluten is a sticky and gummy substance that is found in wheat, barley, soy, rye and oats and should only be consumed by ruminant animals like cattle, sheep and goats that possess four stomachs and the ability to digest it.
When men consume wheat products, gluten from the wheat stagnates blood flow and eventually lead to erectile conditions, and thus one of the most vital steps of curing ED is to stringently avoid gluten. Dr Rachel equivalently states that human beings are the only creatures that drink milk to adulthood. Dairy products like milk, cheese, yogurt, cream and butter have saturated fatty components (plaque) which are absorbed and deposited in the arteries. They restrict blood flow by narrowing the arteries and result to flaccid erections, while increasing chances of heart attacks and strokes.
Eradicating processed sugar, gluten and dairy products from the body creates room for unrestrained blood flow, and is a remarkably proficient preliminary measure to persistent stiffer and harder erections.
Dr Rachel accentuates how pharmaceutical companies disincline the public from being healthy. Drug manufacturers prefer societal addiction to pills and quick fix drugs like Viagra, that don't cure ED, but temporarily manage blood flow to the penis. When their effect ceases, medical institutions manufacture more addictive versions of the drug, keeping their victims accustomed to their prescription pills.
These institutions are determined to hinder the populace from rectifying its lifestyle and relying on a purely organic nutritional diet. Dr Rachel's signature Erection Diet distinctively recommends nutritionally enriching foods that calibrate the blood vessels, energise testosterone production and elevate the presence of nitric oxide.
Nitric oxide is a crucial gas molecule constructed by the body that is vital for relaxing blood vessels (vasodilation), and increases blood flow to a vibratory rate.
Watermelon is the finest organic food to consume and ascend nitric oxide levels. The most refining parts of the watermelon are the rinds that are repeatedly discarded by consumers. They consist of L'citrulline, which the body transforms to nitric oxide.
Nitric oxide is predominantly located in the lining of the blood vessels and causes them to relax. A nitric oxide deficiency elevates hypertension and erectile dysfunction and its first consequence is often flaccid erections.
Dr Rachel states that it's imperative to briskly increase nitric oxide levels using natural foods, which will address the underlying health issue while curing ED. Other foods like beetroot, garlic, ginger, cayenne pepper and cucumber can be blended alongside watermelons and consumed as smoothies to instigate blood flow and reduce visceral fat.
Cruciferous vegetables, which include spinach, broccoli, kale, cabbage, cauliflower, celery and arugula, expeditiously escalate male libido and decisively negate erectile problems. Loosing belly fat and strengthening pelvic muscles is the conclusive recommendation toward fortifying erection health. Kegel exercises are renowned for targeting the pelvic area and when consistently performed for as few as 10 minutes daily, they exterminate not just erectile dysfunction, but also erase premature ejaculation.
Jeff Anthony is a novelist, Big Brother Africa 2 Kenyan representative and founder of Jeff's Fitness Centre @jeffbigbrother
