The Forgotten Sexual Gland in Men

When a man realizes he has erection problems the first thing he would generally do is to ask his doctor for that famous "blue pill", Viagra,  which appears to be the miracle for all evil.

Unfortunately or fortunately it is not like that as viagra is just a temporary fix which will increase blood flow to the penis and therefore facilitate the erection.
But there is a much more important factor when it comes to sexual performance and blood flow: it is undoubtedly the prostate.

This gland is a bit like 'the nerve center" that triggers everything that revolves around men's sexual performance. A study carried out on the prostate and sexual performance pointed out a correlation between the two which led the entire scientific community speechless.

According to this study, men who undergo prostate surgery suffer serious sexual repercussions  which leads to worse performances in the bedroom. The finding shows that over 50% of men who have had prostate surgery endure serious sexual difficulties.

This study has also shown that a small percentage of these men would still be able to have sex but would no longer reach orgasms; only less than 5% claimed that their sexual activity had remained unaffected. 

According to all this we can now understand how the prostate gland should be considered a fundamental element; it is therefore not sufficient to only increase blood supply to the penis but we need to have a full functional prostate. 

However, it is important not to worry too much about our own virility. All it takes is to have a healthy lifestyle, sleep well at night and be self-confident when it comes to sexual performance.  These are key factors to avoid any major problems related to erectile dysfunction.

There is one thing that we need to know and that is often ignored by people who complain of sexual issues: the prostate plays a huge role in men sexual performance.

Preventing any health issues affecting the prostate becomes crucial and we can reach that so through prevention to always keep it at its best functioning.

Often, enzymes help us, but in the case of the prostate there are two enzymes in particular that instead are causing problems. The first one is called 5-alpha reductase, while the other one is called aromatase. As we age, the 5-alpha reductase enzyme changes  testosterone into DHT or dihydrotestosterone.

Every man has his DHT in small amounts but if the level increases it can bring these issues. The same applies to the aromatase enzyme that with aging slowly transforms testosterone's reserve into female's estrogens.  So, both DHT and female estrogens bind to the prostate receptors and have a negative impact on virility and sexual performance.

When aging, the human body will go through several changes such as the estrogen increase and the testosterone changes which lead to atrophy of the muscles, especially around the belly and chest.

However, you can avoid all this by start making some dietary changes such as choosing meat that comes from organic farming and eat cruciferous vegetables to lower estrogen levels in the body. The intake of lean protein and physical activity carried out at least two or three times a week will help to raise your testosterone levels  (I particularly recommend kettelbell's practice).

In addition to this healthy lifestyle you can add specific nutrients that have been created to keep a healthy prostate.

Safeguarding the prostate does not mean to increase sexual performance, but it means keeping it in a healthy environment that will allow it to continue functioning properly as it always has. Several studies have shown that a few important ingredients are necessary to keep a fully-functioning prostate.

Beta sitosterol increases urine flow and decrease residual urine in the bladder. There are other herbs that help rather significantly prostate's functioning and among them we can include: saw palmetto, the bark extract of pigeo, and pumpkin seed extract.

Saw palmetto, also known as Serenoa repens, is a palm tree that grows in the states facing the US southern Atlantic coast, in southern Europe and North Africa. This small palm produces dark red berries which are similar to olives in size.
The saw palmetto is now widely used in the treatment of benign prostatic hypertrophy and in androgenetic alopecia (hair loss caused by hormonal inbalances)

Its active ingredients, triglycerides, sitoseterol derivatives, phytosterols and flavonoids, are responsible for its antiandrogenetic properties, which directly work on the receptors of dihydrotestosterone and indirectly through inhibition of the 5-alpha-reductase enzyme.

The dihydrotestosterone is in fact responsible for hair loss in androgenetic alopecia.
Saw palmetto also has antinflammatory and antispasmodic properties on the urinary tract's smooth muscles; this is very useful as it counteracts the contraction of prostatic muscles which causes the obstruction of the urethra leading to the urination disorders associated with benign prostatic hypertrophy.

Among minerals, zinc, which is highly present in pumpkin seeds, plays an important role on prostate's health as it reduces the enzymes that convert testosterone into DHT. Having the right levels of zinc means: maximizing testosterone's production,  increasing its half-life in the blood and raising  receptors's sensitivity to male's hormones (such as testosterone itself).

He Shou Wu's root is a very interesting herb as, in addition to containing a good amount of zinc, it is one of the most popular herbal remedies in Traditional Chinese Medicine.  It is both a liver, blood and kidney tonic.

In fact, according to Traditional Chinese Medicine,  the "kidneys" also include the adrenal glands and the reproductive system. If the kidneys are weak due to excessive stress, lack of sleep or anxiety there is less sexual vigor which results in decrease of both sexual desire and performance.

The bark extract of pigeo, native of equatorial Africa, has both antinflammatory and anti-DHT activity even if less effective than saw palmetto.

Finally, a study conducted at the University of Tehran in 2013, has shown that nettle leaf extract can help reduce the size of the prostate gland and thus improve both urination and sexual function ; It does have both diuretic and antiandrogenetic properties due to its content of sterols.

There are some natural supplements combining the substances we mentioned earlier to help maintain both health and well-being of this very important gland.

I would recommend in particular to choose one that contains fulvic acids as they significantly increase the absorption of the active ingredients on a cellular level.

Finally,  it is very important to detox from excess of estrogens and xenoestrogens  as, like we saw at the beginning, do have a negative impact on virility and sexual performance.

There are several active ingredients that act in this regard including the DIM, a vegetable compound of cruciferous vegetables which increases estrogen metabolism; indole 3-carbinol which is also contained in the cruciferous and activates hepatic metabolism and thus contributes to the elimination of toxins and excess hormones.

Finally, green tea, resveratrol, curcumins and wasabi are also fundamental compounds to enhance reproductive health as they are powerful antioxidants; wasabi inhibits tumor cell proliferation and metastasis.