Roughly 47 million men in the United States experience sexual dysfunction. Whether the cause is psychological, physical, or a combination of the two, erectile function and penile rigidity is directly related to blood circulation within the body.
If you’re looking for ways to increase blood flow to the penis, there are a few simple places to start: diet, exercise, and sex itself.
The Basics of Blood Flow and Erectile Function
Before we dive into how to increase blood flow to the penis naturally, it’s best to familiarize yourself with a bit of the science behind penile blood flow and penis engorgement.
If you’re looking for how to increase penis sensitivity, first it’s helpful to know more about your blood flow. Nitric oxide (or NO) is the main factor that helps to increase blood flow to the penis. When blood starts flowing into the penis, the source of NO in the blood vessels continues to be activated. When more nitric oxide is released, more tissues relax. In doing so, more blood comes into the penis, increasing penis size and leading to a better erection.
Certain lifestyle factors, like aging or medication, can decrease blood flow to the penis. Clogged arteries, high blood pressure, and pelvic trauma can result in a numb penis and cause erections to be weak or short-lasting.
Thankfully, there are a handful of ways to combat this type of erection problem and naturally work towards better erections and more fulfilling sexual intercourse for you and your partner.
1. Start an Exercise Routine
Fitness and nutrition play a huge role in sexual health in regards to achieving and maintaining erections. Exercise improves your heart health and increases your blood flow—including blood flow to the erectile tissue. Starting a regular aerobic exercise routine is a great way to combat issues like heart disease, but it can also lead to stronger erections and improved sexual health.
A great way to help increase blood flow to penis is with Kegel exercises. To combat sexual dysfunction and erectile problems, Kegel exercises help to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles. In men, these pelvic floor exercises target and strengthen the bulbocavernosus muscle, which is the muscle that helps the penis fill with blood during an erection.
To figure out how to target this muscle with your Kegel exercises, stop and start your stream of urination multiple times without clenching the muscles in your buttocks, stomach, or legs. You can do your exercises sitting, standing, or lying down. Simply clench, hold for three seconds, release, and repeat three to five times (do this set three to five times daily for best results).
2. Incorporate Healthy Eating Habits
Healthy eating habits, along with incorporating certain foods into your diet, can aid in optimum blood flow. If you’re curious about how to increase blood flow to the penis naturally, one of the best places to start is your diet.
Here are 5 foods to include on your next shopping list to get that blood pumping.
Beets
Beets, along with other vegetables like spinach and collard greens, are rich in nitrates, which convert into nitric oxide in the body and boost blood flow.
Garlic
Known to benefit circulation and heart health, the sulfur compounds in garlic can increase tissue blood flow, lower blood pressure, and relax the blood vessels (just be careful about eating too much of it before a big date).
Turmeric
In a 2017 study, curcumin (which is the compound found in turmeric), was linked to an increase in blood flow.
Cayenne Pepper
Cayenne pepper gets its spice from a phytochemical called capsaicin. Capsaicin not only lowers blood pressure, but it stimulates the release of nitric oxide and expands the blood vessels.
Cinnamon
A 2015 study conducted on animal subjects found that two of the major compounds in cinnamon—cinnamaldehyde and cinnamic acid—can produce nitric oxide and reduce vascular tension.
In addition to incorporating some of these ingredients into your meal prep, try to avoid alcohol and smoking, as these are a risk factor for erectile dysfunction. Less alcohol and no smoking can often mean better erections.
3. Try to Stay Sexually Active
If you're looking for one of the simplest ways to increase blood flow to penis, try to stay sexually active. A Finnish study of men between the ages of 55 and 75 found that those who engaged in sexual activity less than once a week were twice as likely to have erectile dysfunction than those who had sex once a week. Thus, researchers concluded that staying sexually active with regular intercourse helped to protect against erectile dysfunction.
When facing ED, it can be difficult to stay sexually active, but there are things you can do to make an effort toward more frequent sexual activity. Remember to communicate with your partner, take things slow, take steps to reduce self-pressure, and stay positive. In addition, celebrate the small improvements, knowing that these are a step in the right direction. The more you engage in sexual activity, you’re actively working to train and strengthen your body. Increased sexual activity, a healthy diet, and self-care are all a great start to improving your ED. From there, Eddie by Giddy can work in tandem with your lifestyle changes to help with the physiological symptoms of erectile dysfunction.
In addition to maintaining an exercise routine, incorporating healthy eating habits, and staying sexually active, Eddie by Giddy is a wearable ED device designed by urologists to treat sexual performance issues. Eddie’s unique design fits the penis comfortably and constricts where it’s needed for a healthier erection and a satisfying ejaculation.
While wearing Eddie, the veins are optimally restricted, the arteries are left unencumbered, and when it comes time to climax, Eddie doesn’t block the urethra like circular devices do - meaning ejaculation feels natural and satisfying.
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Sources:
1. Effect of Spinach, a High Dietary Nitrate Source, on Arterial Stiffness and Related Hemodynamic Measures: A Randomized, Controlled Trial in Healthy Adults. US National Library of Medicine. URL. Accessed January 8th, 2021.
2. The 14 Best Foods to Increase Blood Flow and Circulation. Healthline. URL. Accessed January 8th, 2021.
3. 3 Exercises To Fight The Effects Of Erectile Dysfunction. Urology Specialists. URL. Accessed January 8th, 2021.
4. The Building Blocks of Erection. John Hopkins Medicine. URL. Accessed January 8th, 2021.
5. Sexual Dysfunction. Wayne State University. URL. Accessed January 8th, 2021.