Are there any natural Viagra (sildenafil) alternatives?

One bad habit we all tend to acquire by living in the modern world is our overreliance on simple and easy quick-fixes. Whether it’s computer that’s malfunctioning, a creative project that’s on hold, or our health, we’re just used to always have an easy and instant solution, most often, just a click away. When it comes to health and wellness, it seems that we simply assume that no matter which problem we encounter, there is a medicine that will just fix it and let us continue with our lives unimpeded.

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Dietary Choices and ED treatment

While the progress of modern medicine certainly improved our overall quality of life, it seems that treating the symptoms while ignoring the root cause of the problem has become uncannily widespread. The same is true for erectile dysfunction – the exceptional popularity of impotence pills such as sildenafil-based Viagra created an expectation for men that if they do encounter problems with ED, they can still simply fix them with “the little blue pill” or one of its alternatives. The amazing effectiveness of these medicines certainly lends some merit to this attitude, but at the same time, it leaves potentially harmful lifestyle choices completely unquestioned and unchanged.

Natural food for a better sex life – does it really work?

Aside from injury, psychological factors and health conditions, erectile dysfunction can also be caused by lifestyle choices. Smoking, drugs and alcohol use as well as conditions related to unhealthy diet such as diabetes, atherosclerosis, high cholesterol or cardiovascular problems have all been directly linked to ED problems. Sure, most of these can be mitigated by Viagra or other impotence pills belonging to the PDE-5 inhibitors class, but this quick fix will still leave your health and wellness in not-so-great condition.

As an alternative, you can actually try to focus at the root cause of the problem, change your bad habits and improve your sex life without ever reaching for impotence pills. It doesn’t take much to notice a number of benefits with this approach:

• No side effects from medicines
• An overall increase in health and wellness
• Simultaneous solving of numerous health problems
• Reduced chances of experiencing ED later on in life
• Lasting solution to impotence, as opposed to temporary one
• Increased sex drive and pleasure aside from regaining erectile function

We can go on. After all, it’s perfectly understandable that helping your body work on optimal capacity, as it was naturally designed to do, is always superior to introducing artificial pharmaceutical compounds that will selectively change isolated processes within the organism, with potentially unwanted effects on a greater whole. So, in short, yes, healthier dietary choices will definitely make a difference. And taking certain food as an alternative to Viagra can, in the long run, turn to be way more beneficial not only for your ED, but also for your overall health and wellness.

What causes impotence and how can natural foods help?

Impotence can be caused by numerous factors, both psychological and physiological. When discussing the latter, that is, those which are usually treated by impotence pills such as Viagra, Cialis, Levitra or Spedra, the core reason behind the issue is insufficient blood flow within the arteries of the penis. This can be caused by stiff or narrow blood vessels, physical injury to the reproductive organ, atherosclerosis, high cholesterol and other diseases of the cardiovascular system.

PDE-5 inhibitors, a class of pharmaceutical compounds that Viagra and its alternatives belong to, work by helping the blood vessels to widen and stay expanded long enough to ensure a strong and lasting erection and, by extension, a satisfying intercourse. Natural foods that can be used as alternatives to Viagra mimic this mechanism of action in one way or another. Some of them have been thoroughly researched, while others are still under close scientific scrutiny. Here, we will explore a number of options.

Watermelon juice for ED – does it work?

This may come as a surprise for many, but among the natural ED medicines that work, watermelon has the most prominent place! While the studies in positive effects of watermelon juice on ED problems are still being researched, it seems that there is a strong scientific basis for this assumption. The recent professional attention paid to the benefits of watermelon firmly rest on tradition – more precisely, Islamic folk tradition which praised the sexual benefits of watermelon for centuries.

But how does watermelon really help ED? The scientists involved in the studies singled out citrulline as the compound that might play the most prominent role. Watermelon fruit is very rich in this molecule, much more than previously expected¹, which, after being consumed, is transformed through metabolic processes into amino acid arginine. This compound, in turn, is considered to be a precursor for the bio-synthesis of nitric oxide (NO), a molecule that plays a crucial all in the dilation of blood vessels.

While this mechanism certainly sounds promising, other experts have argued that a man would have to eat around 10 watermelons for any effects to take place, and even then it’s not sure that it would really have Viagra-like effects. This is why some researchers have suggested watermelon pills which would be highly concentrated in order to allow men to easily ingest needed amount. However, it is still unclear, as of yet, whether this kind of natural ED treatment could really be considered a true natural sildenafil substrate or alternative.

Dark chocolate

Dark chocolate certainly isn’t an example of sildenafil in natural foods – well, for that matter, it would probably be impossible to find naturally occurring sildenafil – but the point is that dark chocolate doesn’t even try to mimic the effects of Viagra. In fact, this natural ED remedy is much more concerned with emotional or psychological impotence. With stress relief effects, as well as contribution to releasing dopamine, chocolate that has a high percentage of cocoa (70% or more) will certainly act as a quick and mild completely natural feel good food that might take away just enough stress to allow you to enjoy your sex life once more.

Oysters

Just like using watermelon for ED treatment is rooted in Islamic folk tradition, the serious scientific research in potentially beneficial effects of oysters is based on the long European tradition that considers oysters to be an aphrodisiac. In fact, as the story goes, even legendary Casanova ate oysters for breakfast in order to prepare for his outrageous sexual adventures. While the research is inconclusive so far, the statistics seem to show that if the story of Casanova is true – he was definitely on the right track.

Broccoli

While definitely not a tasty snack one would have in order to relax a bit before sexy adventures, broccoli is one of the vegetables that is very, very rich in flavonoids, a type of pigments that naturally occur in numerous green vegetables and plants.² But, what makes this class of compounds special is their amazing health potential – not only are they antioxidants which also successfully treat inflammatory processes, they are also very beneficial for the cardiovascular system as a whole.³ And, by improving the condition of cardiovascular system, flavonoids also indirectly contribute to the improvement in ED issues.

Pomegranate and erectile dysfunction

Another thoroughly researched potential natural Viagra alternative is pomegranate.⁴ On one side, this fruit is very rich in antioxidants which help repair damage to the blood vessels and return blood flow intensity to the optimal level. On the other, the statistical research has shown that pomegranate juice significantly increases libido in both men and women.⁵ So, when it comes to impotence, it seems that pomegranate doubles the benefits by affecting both physiological and psychological causes of impotence.

Bananas

Bananas’ potential benefits when it comes to ED are much alike those of dark chocolate. While there are reasons to believe that this potassium-rich fruit can also contribute to the health of the cardiovascular system and optimal relations of some of the compounds involved in the process of gaining an erection, their primary benefit is concerned with psychological factors, as they significantly contribute to the optimal balance of endorphin and dopamine in the brain.

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