The 20 Worst Foods for Erectile Dysfunction
Erectile dysfunction is a sensitive topic. As a result, people don't like to talk about it. Fortunately, there is a lot of interest, meaning there has been a lot of research into the topic. Unfortunately, erections are surprisingly complicated, meaning the causes of erectile dysfunction are surprisingly complicated. The Mayo Clinic says someone can experience erectile dysfunction because of everything from stress to high cholesterol and high blood pressure. As a result, a person's diet is very much capable of causing them to suffer issues in this regard.
20. White Bread
Historically speaking, white bread was a rich man's food. That was because it took much more effort to make white bread than whole-grain bread. As a result, it wasn't a regular part of most people's diet. Rachel Laudan says that changed in the 19th and 20th centuries when new food production techniques and technologies made white bread accessible in a way that it had never been before. People rushed to white bread because they saw it as better tasting, higher status, and more nutritious.
Nowadays, we know that the last one is incorrect. Harvard University says a kernel has three parts called the bran, the endosperm, and the germ. Each part has its own set of nutrients. Whole-grain bread is more nutritious because people use all three parts of the kernel to make it. In contrast, people make white bread using the endosperm and only the endosperm. As a result, white bread increases a person's chances of becoming overweight, meaning interested individuals should avoid it.
19. Mint
Mint can refer to the genus Mentha from the family Lamiaceae. Some people claim that eating mint, spearmint, and peppermint causes erectile dysfunction. Unfortunately, this is one of those things that remain unconfirmed, meaning interested individuals need to wait for more research results to come out. Still, if they want to be cautious, they should avoid anything containing mint, spearmint, and peppermint.
18. Pizza
Pizza has a variable position on this list. Essentially, people can make it using a wide range of ingredients. Certain ingredients can make a pizza much worse than others. For instance, white flour sees more use than whole-grain flour. Since white bread is bad, it makes sense that pizza made using the same flour is also bad. Similarly, pizza can have several other ingredients that contribute to erectile dysfunction. Thanks to these things, pizza can place either high or low on this list.
17. Cheese
Speaking of which, cheese is one of the ingredients that make pizza a contributing factor to erectile dysfunction. Dairy products are often high in saturated fats, which can cause blockages in the blood vessels. That is terrifying because that can lead to strokes and heart attacks. On a somewhat less terrifying but still unpleasant note, blockages in the blood vessels can also impede blood flow to the penis. Since erection relies on blood flow, dairy products can contribute to erectile dysfunction.
16. Butter
Butter is yet another dairy product. Specifically, BTTR states butter comes from the fatty part of milk. Under normal circumstances, this remains separate because of the membranes containing microscopic globules. As a result, people have to either churn or otherwise agitate the milk so that the fatty part can come together. Then, they have to remove the liquid before pressing the remnants together. In the end, that leaves butter at around 80 percent milk fat. Suffice it to say that interested individuals should reduce their consumption of butter for much the same reason as reducing their consumption of cheese and other dairy products.
15. Ice Cream
Ice cream can be a potential issue for a couple of reasons. First, people can make it using milk and milk solids, meaning it is sometimes a dairy product. Second, ice cream tends to contain a lot of sugar, which causes people to gain weight. Luckily, people are making ice cream using a wider range of ingredients than ever before. That means if they want, they can choose ice cream made using substitutes for these problematic ingredients. Not all ice cream is dairy ice cream. Likewise, interested individuals can find ice cream made using artificial sweeteners rather than their natural counterparts.
14. Popcorn
Popcorn is another food that can vary depending on exactly what people eat. Generally speaking, plain popcorn should be a safe or at least somewhat safe option. Meanwhile, interested individuals should avoid microwavable popcorn because that tends to be high in oil and high in salt. Be warned that the seasoning can have a huge impact on the health effect of popcorn. For instance, caramel is not a healthy option because caramel is the product of heated sugar.
13. Pastries
The term "pastry" is somewhat inexact. Still, it tends to refer to baked goods made using dough consisting of flour, water, and fat. By default, that means pastries are more unhealthy than bread because they have more fat in them. On top of that, pastries can incorporate various ingredients that make them even worse when compared with their counterparts. Anyone who has ever eaten a chocolate puff pastry that is near-white with sprinkled sugar should have no problem guessing that it won't do wonders for their waistline.
12. Candy
Unsurprisingly, candy is bad for a person's health. After all, sugar is one of its primary ingredients. Even worse, candy encourages people to snack on them in a way that most foods don't. That is because they are small and convenient, meaning it is much easier for people to snack on them without thinking much about the process than something that presents more of a hassle. If interested individuals aren't careful, the impulse eating of candy can be disastrous for their weight.
11. Chips
Chips are also terrible. They are high in fat and high in salt. Furthermore, chips are similar to candy in that they make convenient snacks.
10. Bacon
Strictly speaking, bacon isn't a single thing. That is because different kinds of bacon come from different parts of the pig. For example, side bacon has a rather misleading name because it comes from the pig's belly rather than the pig's sides. Meanwhile, back bacon comes from the loins, which are cuts from the pig's lower back. There are more unusual kinds of bacon in existence, as shown by how jowl bacon comes from the pig's cheeks. Regardless, bacon is united by being salt-cured pork, meaning it lasts longer than otherwise possible because people have used salt to remove the moisture from it.
There are several issues with eating bacon. For starters, red meat isn't something interested individuals should consume in excess unless they want to risk weight gain and other complications. Furthermore, bacon being salt-cured pork means bacon is high in salt. Certain kinds of bacon can be very high in fat as well. Indeed, side bacon has alternating layers of fat and muscle, which are very easy to distinguish from one another.
On a semi-related note, the sheer enthusiasm for bacon means people sometimes eat it in ways that are even more unhealthy than normal. Both chicken-fried bacon and chocolate-covered bacon are real dishes. Naturally, they make an already unhealthy food even worse from a nutritional perspective.
9. Ham
Bacon isn't the only kind of processed meat that interested individuals need to watch out for. Every kind of processed meat is bad when consumed in excess. That doesn't mean that interested individuals can't eat them at all. Unfortunately, that does mean that they need to be very careful about how much they eat. For instance, people should regulate their consumption of ham.
8. Sausage
Sausage is by no means exempt from the list of processed meats that people need to watch out for. It is just as capable of contributing to weight gain and related issues. On top of that, the National Cancer Institute says eating too much red meat increases the chances of stomach cancer and colorectal cancer.
7. Smoked Fish
Pre-modern preservation methods can be rather unusual. For instance, people still produce smoked fish by suspending it over smoldering wood, though there is a modernized version of the process as well. Be warned that there is a difference between hot-smoked fish and cold-smoked fish. The former is already cooked, meaning it is ready to eat. In contrast, the latter underwent lower temperatures, so interested individuals will need to cook it before eating unless they want to risk food poisoning for some reason. In any case, fish is a better choice than red meat. Even so, people need to remember that smoked fish is high in salt, so this is still an occasional treat.
6. Fast Food
There are always trade-offs. As the old saying goes, people get to pick two out of fast, cheap, and good when they buy a product. Fast food is fast and cheap. Alas, that means it isn't good from a nutritional perspective. Some fast food items are worse than others. That is particularly true because some fast-food restaurant chains have gotten involved in the health food trend, meaning they have made some changes to make their menu somewhat less unhealthy. Still, if people eat a lot of fast food, chances are good that they will eat too much fat, too much salt, and too much sugar.
5. Deep-Fried Foods
Oils are pure fat. Deep-fried foods soak up a lot of fat in the process, meaning they are always high in fat. Even worse, a lot of us like deep-frying things that are already not necessarily very good for us, meaning we are effectively compounding health problem upon health problem. As usual, it is fine to eat these things, but interested individuals need to do so in moderation.
4. Canned Foods
Canning is a relatively new preservation method in the grand scheme of things. People have been curing foods for thousands of years. In contrast, a Frenchman came up with the general idea of canning during the Napoleonic Wars, which happened in the early 19th century. People didn't know why processing food before storing it in airtight containers worked before Louis Pasteur came along in the late 19th century. Despite that, they were quite happy to make use of the innovative method because it was extremely effective and efficient.
Alas, canned foods can be very unhealthy. Oftentimes, they contain large amounts of salt, which is bad for the eater's blood pressure and related health indicators. It is possible to mitigate this issue to some extent by looking for canned foods packed using less problematic ingredients. Even so, that won't completely erase the issue.
3. Frozen Foods
Frozen foods that people can heat and eat are convenient but often unhealthy. As a rule, they are high in salt and high in other unhealthy substances. Interested individuals can find some options that are healthier than others. At the end of the day, processed foods are still processed foods, meaning they might want to cut down on their consumption of frozen foods.
2. Soda Drinks
Soda drinks are very bad because they contain enormous amounts of sugar. For that matter, fruit juice isn't necessarily a healthy alternative to soda drinks. UC Davis Health mentions that fruit juice is high in calories and high in sugars. As a result, it contributes to tooth decay, weight gain, and a whole of related problems.
1. Alcohol
Reputedly, alcohol is one of the very worst things that people can consume if they are concerned about erectile dysfunction. The National Library of Medicine has a study stating that 72 percent of men with an alcohol dependence suffered some kind of erectile dysfunction, which is a very strong degree of correlation between the two. Of course, alcohol also contributes to a wide range of other health problems, so cutting down on alcohol consumption can help out a lot.
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Written by Dana Hanson
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