For years, men have been in search of an effective treatment for erectile dysfunction, but did you know refined sugar can also be responsible for impotence problems?
For years, men have been in search of an effective treatment for erectile dysfunction, but did you know refined sugar can also be responsible for impotence problems?
A study in the Journal of Clinical Investigation shows too much glucose and fructose can deactivate the gene that controls the amount of sex hormones in your blood1.
When your liver breaks down these sugars, the process deactivates the SHBG (sex hormone binding globulin) gene. Why is SHBG so important? It helps to regulate hormones floating around in your bloodstream.
Without SHBG to help balance hormones, your actual sex hormones get out of whack (which often leads to impotence in men or simply a low libido). For women the effects of this hormonal imbalance are even worse. In addition to the development of blood sugar problems, such as diabetes (which can also significantly decrease a woman’s libido), low SHBG levels can also cause infertility, polycystic ovaries, acne and uterine cancer2.
Obviously, if you’re going to take control of your sexual health, one of the first things you should do is begin avoiding sugar and high fructose corn syrup. To satisfy a sweet tooth, eat naturally sweet fruit instead of candies or pastries. Cherries are great since they have a low glycemic index.
If you like to add sweetener to your food, try something I learned while traveling in the mountains of Peru. It’s a very interesting fruit-like vegetable called yacon. Instead of sucrose or fructose, yacon consists of fructooligosaccharides, a particular natural combination of sugar rings that human beings cannot digest. So it does not affect blood sugar.
Another thing I like about yacon is that it has inulin, a prebiotic-like compound that helps you digest other foods and enhances immunity because it promotes beneficial bacteria in your intestines3.
Stevia is an all-natural sweetener that’s been used for hundreds of years with no side effects. You can use it to sweeten tea, lemonade and even food. It’s about eight times sweeter than sugar, so a little goes a long way.
I don’t drink too many sugary drinks because my favorite drink is good old fashioned water. I try to drink only purified water, because anything else will probably contain chemicals that will also put your sexual health at risk.
When I want a sweet drink, I do what my grandmother used to do. I add a bunch of slices of cucumber to some ice water, let it sit for a couple of hours, and I have a tasty drink in no time. Mint makes cucumber water even more refreshing.
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1. Selva D, Hogeveen K, Innis S, Hammond G. “Monosaccharide-induced lipogenesis regulates the human hepatic sex hormone–binding globulin gene.” J. Clin. Invest. 117:3979-3987. 2. Laaksonen DE, Niskanen L, Punnonen K; et al. “Testosterone and sex hormone-binding globulin predict the metabolic syndrome and diabetes in middle-aged men.” Diabetes Care. 2004;27(5):1036-1041. 3. Stoyanova S, Geuns J, Hideg E, Van Den Ende W. “The food additives inulin and stevioside counteract oxidative stress.” Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2011 May;62(3):207-14.