You may not give staying hydrated much thought, but it’s just as important as regularly changing the oil in your car.
Neglecting this activity will cause your bodily functions to break down, just as not changing the oil in your car will cause it to go haywire.
Not only does staying hydrated keep your body temperature and electrolyte levels balanced, but it also affects your performance across the board: from the office to the gym, all the way to the bedroom.
Dehydration causes headaches, dizziness, fatigue, lethargy, poor concentration, and heat stroke.
Sure, muscle cramps and headaches may not concern you, but perhaps causing erectile dysfunction will.
Drinking adequate amounts of water daily is critical for keeping joints lubricated, delivering nutrients throughout your body, fighting against infection, and maintaining optimal organ function. This also includes your sex organ.
How? Adequate hydration results in increased blood volume, facilitating enhanced blood circulation throughout the body, including your penis.
We’ll say it louder for those at the back: yes, a link exists between ED and dehydration.
ED happens when an individual runs into problems achieving or keeping an erection. While ED can be a chronic problem for many men, it can be an occasional or one-off problem for some.
There’s no question about it: erectile dysfunction (ED) is one of the most common medical conditions affecting men worldwide. Its prevalence is such that around 76% of men experience some degree of ED at one point in their lives. ED becomes more prevalent with age and is linked to cardiovascular disease.
In many cases, ED is often a manifestation of another potentially serious underlying medical condition, such as heart disease, neurological conditions, or diabetes, just to name a few.
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How does dehydration cause ED?
Erections aren’t produced out of thin air: it takes the cooperation and involvement of various bodily systems that all play a part in determining an individual’s capacity to obtain and maintain an erection for sexual activity.
Those systems rely on adequate hydration. A loss of just 1% in total body water already affects memory and cognitive performance. A 3-4% decrease in total body water increases body temperature and causes dizziness, headaches, and lethargy. Lack of ample hydration affects muscle performance, strength, endurance, and your performance between the sheets.
However, one of the hallmark biomarkers of erections is the volume of blood circulating in your body.
What does this mean? Higher hydration levels indicate higher blood volume, allowing blood to flow in greater volumes throughout your body – including your penis.
Less blood delivered to your penis means it receives less oxygen, the latter being transported throughout the body by red blood cells.
Men with ED have less oxygen saturation levels in the penis. Diminishing hydration levels in the body also triggers the release of angiotensin, a hormone responsible for constricting blood vessels. It may consequently trigger increased blood pressure, preventing blood from flowing freely to the penis.
After considering the various bodily systems that work together to produce an erection, we forgot to add that sexual desire has a physiological and emotional aspect to it.
Even mild dehydration affects mood negatively in men, even if this effect is more striking in women.
Based on another study, most men noticed a diminished libido when depressed or sad.
In general, drinking ample amounts of water contributes to improved overall health, and that’s reason enough to keep an eye on your hydration levels consciously and recognize the signs of dehydration.
What other conditions cause ED?
There are obviously many other causes of ED. Dehydration is a fairly easy problem to address, but the following conditions that cause ED require medical attention or medication:
- Problems involving blood circulation (including hypertension)
- Neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis
- Chronic illnesses like type 1 diabetes
- Mental health or emotional disorders
- Cardiovascular disease
- High cholesterol
- Obesity
- Taking certain prescription medications
- Recreational drug use (including alcohol and tobacco)
- Prostate cancer or prostate enlargement treatments
The process of getting an erection relies on multiple bodily systems and functions. Consult your doctor to determine which diseases and prescription medicines can cause ED.
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What treatment options do I have for ED?
Two important things to remember: a bout of ED doesn’t always necessarily mean a more sinister health problem exists, and it’s entirely possible to treat more complicated ED causes.
Consult your healthcare provider to help assuage your anxiety since stressing and being anxious about the situation may interfere with erectile function. Performance anxiety is a very real thing that affects men, and it can catch you during your romps in the bedroom.
Most of the time, treating ED all boils down to treating the underlying cause. It can be as simple as drinking adequate amounts of water for dehydration or taking prescription medication for hypertension, just to name a couple. If treating the underlying cause doesn’t help, plenty of prescription ED drugs are viable options for you to overcome it.
ED treatments include prescription drugs, vitamins, supplements, and hormones. Oral ED prescription drugs are the most common, safe, and effective treatment options available, which include sildenafil (Viagra), tadalafil (Cialis), avanafil (Stendra), and vardenafil (Levitra).
These medicines treat ED by boosting blood flow in the penis and relaxing the smooth muscles responsible for producing an erection. For cases involving low testosterone levels, hormone replacement therapy might be an option. Other vitamins and supplements such as L-arginine may ease ED, but your mileage may vary. Simple lifestyle changes such as getting more exercise, reducing alcohol intake, or quitting smoking can all contribute to better sexual health (and improved erections).
Ultimately, sticking to a healthy lifestyle may help prevent ED. Healthy habits such as managing stress, getting adequate exercise, keeping a healthy weight, and eating a low-salt, low-fat diet all support sexual health. Drinking adequate amounts of water throughout the day is also a good practice to maintain optimal hydration levels that support optimal erectile function.
