Cholesterol and Erectile Dysfunction

150. That's the magic number.  Keep your cholesterol below 150 all your life and you'll never have heart disease. There is a likely corollary to that:  keep your cholesterol low to avoid erectile dysfunction. 

The reason is simple:  your erections are very dependent on a healthy endothelium, the delicate lining of your veins and arteries that pumps out nitric oxide, and a healthy endothelium is dependent on low cholesterol.  As it turns out, high cholesterol tends to decrease the ability of the arteries to relax and you need them to relax for blood to flow into the penis.

Do you know the foods and drinks that increase erection-boosting Nitric Oxide? Check out the Peak Erectile Strength Diet where I show you how to dramatically and naturally improve your erectile strength.

One study of patients with cardiovascular disease and arteriosclerosis - and most people in modern, industrialized societies have significant arterial plaque buildup - found that Lovastatin (Mevacor) significantly improved endothelial function and arterial dilation. [1]  Of course, the significance of this is that Mevacor is a cholesterol-lowering statin medication.

This was verified with another statin, Lipitor, in a study on erectile dysfunction patients with high cholesterol and low morning erections and hardness factor. [2]  These middle-aged men had significantly improved erectile rigidity, a.k.a. hardness factor, after being on this cholesterol-lowering medication.

Even stronger evidence, however, was a study that found that men with total cholesterol over 240 mg/dl had 1.83 times the risk of erectile dysfunction and impotence.  In fact, they observed a dose-dependent rise in erectile dysfunction risk with increasing cholesterol. [3]  This means that the higher the cholesterol levels, in general the lower the T and is more solid evidence that the research conclusions are right on track.

So what is the best way to lower cholesterol?  Of course, the researchers in two of the studies above used pharmaceuticals, statins, to lower cholesterol.  However, is that really the best and most safe way?  Statins definitely have their issues and side effects, which I document in my link on The Danger of Statins.  In addition, a Low Fat Diet has been clinically proven to very powerfully lower cholesterol, clear out arterial plaque and produce excellent heart outcomes.  Again, you may want to read my link on The Ornish Diet and discuss with your doctor.  (Don't do anything without discussing with your doctor of course.)

The bottom line is that this is another as to how closely the heart and the penis are interrelated.  Heal one and you'll likely heal the other.

REFERENCES:

1) N Engl J Med, 1995 Feb 23, 332(8):481-7, "Beneficial effects of cholesterol-lowering therapy on the coronary endothelium in patients with coronary artery disease"

2) The Journal of Urology, Jul 2004, 172(1):255-258, "IMPROVEMENT IN ERECTILE FUNCTION IN MEN WITH ORGANIC ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION BY CORRECTION OF ELEVATED CHOLESTEROL LEVELS: A CLINICAL OBSERVATION"

3) Am. J. Epidemiol, 1994, 140(10):930-937, "Total Cholesterol and High Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol as Important Predictors of Erectile Dysfunction"