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Definition: "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance "

22.02.2009

Burning calories protects men against impotence

If men burn 430 kilocalories daily by exercise, they are eighty percent less likely to develop serious impotence than men who use less energy, write Austrian urologists in European Urology. They base their findings on research performed on nearly seven hundred men all of whom worked for the city of Vienna. The men were aged between 45 and 60.

Study
The researchers asked the men about the physical exercise they took. Climbing stairs, walking, cycling, running, fitness - everything counted. The researchers then estimated the amount of energy the men burned on a daily basis. In their own jargon: they awarded the men a Paffenbarger Score.

The urologists also asked the men about the quality of their erection. Based on these findings, the urologists awarded the subjects an IIEF-5 score [IIEF – International Index of Erectile Function]. The lower the IIEF-5 score, the worse the impotence.

Results
The figure below shows the relationship between the Paffenbarger Score and the IIEF-5 score. Each circle represents a person.

IIE-5 from 1 to 7 = severe impotence; IIE-5 from 8 to 11 = moderate impotence; IIE-5 from 11 to 17 = mild to moderate impotence; IIE-5 from 18-21 = very mild impotence; IIE-5 from 22 to 25 = no impotence.

Increasing the number of kilocalories that the men burned each week up to a thousand had a clear effect. The protective effect of physical activity on erections was greatest when the men burned four thousand calories a week. Higher rates of calorie burning added nothing to erectile quality.

The positive effect of physical exercise on sexual potency became more pronounced when the researchers first divided the men up according to their Paffenbarger Scores, and then took from each group the quarter with the greatest impotence problems. Then they calculated the average IIE-5 score for all those quarters added up. The results are shown below.

Mechanism
The researchers speculate that physical activity increases the production of the 'good radical' NO in the blood vessels. NO dilates the blood vessels.

Sources:
Eur Urol. 2009 Feb;55(2):509-16.

More:
One and a half grams L-citrulline can help mild erection problems 10.04.2013
Pistachio nuts versus impotence 31.01.2012
Stress-induced impotence may be permanent 17.12.2011

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