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Have you heard of the garlic benefits for sex? This is one of the many benefits that you can get from ingesting 2 cloves of this herb per day.
Garlic is dubbed as a natural antibiotic. Studies show that it is effective against bacteria and other microbes.
Note however, that it is not the only natural antibiotic out there. Oregano, thyme, myrrh, and honey also have antibiotic properties as well. That means they can inhibit the growth as well as kill bacteria.
What Makes Garlic Different?
What makes garlic different from other options is that it can help improve men’s sex lives. It may help you increase libido, improve sexual performance, and it may help relieve erectile dysfunction symptoms.
Garlic is packed with nutrients but it only has a few calories. 3 grams of garlic (i.e. a single clove) contains the following nutrients:
Apart from that, it also contains vitamin B1, iron, phosphorus, potassium, copper, and calcium. In fact, one single clove of garlic contains pretty much every nutrient the body needs—though most of them are in trace amounts.
Garlic is also an immune system booster. In one study, participants were given garlic supplements for 12 weeks.
The other test subjects were given a placebo. The results of that study suggest that garlic is able to reduce infection for 63% of the study participants.
Symptoms of the infection like cold, for instance, were reduced to 1.5 days instead of the usual 5 day period. That is a 70% reduction compared to those who used a placebo.
In another study, test subjects who had flu symptoms were given 2.56 grams of garlic extract each day. Take note that the researchers used aged garlic extracts.
This is a rather high dose given the type of extract that was used. The results of this experiment showed that taking garlic extract may reduce the number of days that you will get sick by 61%.
Apart from reducing the severity of common colds and other sicknesses, there is a bigger reason why you may want to add a couple of cloves to your daily diet. That reason is that it may help you with your performance in bed.
Garlic Benefits for Sex
Apart from making you feel better, which help you stay in the mood for an intimate encounter; it can bring several essential benefits to help you maintain your manly prowess.
Adding 2 cloves of garlic in your diet each day may help you:
Let us look into these benefits one by one.
1. Improve Blood Flow to Essential Nether Parts
Hypertension is a condition that does not exhibit any kind of symptom. Nevertheless, it has a very powerful impact on a man’s sex life.
It’s not that you can get a heart attack if you have sex when you have high blood pressure. However, the amount of pleasure that you can get from intercourse will be reduced if you have hypertension.
Remember that high blood pressure can impact the sex lives of both men and women. The men may suffer more from it than women though and for a variety of reasons.
For instance, the lining on the blood vessels can harden and narrow overtime due to hypertension. This condition is called atherosclerosis, a condition that is more common in men than in women.
When the blood vessels harden and narrow, it limits the amount of blood that flows through them. This results in less blood flow to the groin especially to the penis.
That condition can impact the quality of a man’s erections. Researchers say that atherosclerosis is directly correlated to erectile dysfunction.
Studies suggest that taking garlic supplements regularly can have a significant impact on a man’s blood pressure. In one study, men who supplemented with garlic experienced a reduction in their blood pressure.
In another study, it was found that garlic can be just as effective as the drug Atenolol when it comes to reducing blood pressure in men. The subjects of the study were given 600 to 1,500 mg of garlic extract over 24 weeks and it gave very favorable results.
By reducing blood pressure, blood flow to the penis improves and that also improves the quality and strength of man’s erections.
2. Increase Testosterone Levels
Garlic contains selenium, which is known to increase testosterone levels. Testosterone is also known as the male hormone and is essential if you want to improve sexual activity.
Increasing testosterone levels with selenium may be beneficial especially for men who are experiencing issues with infertility by enhancing the quality of their semen.
For example, according to one study, 468 men increased their selenium intake for 26 weeks. The results showed that their sperm quality, sperm count, and testosterone production increased.
According to another study, combined with vitamin E, increasing selenium levels may increase sperm motility up to 53%. Apart from that, 11% of the men who participated in that experiment got their partners pregnant, which is a sure sign that they became more fertile.
However, this comes with a little bit of a caveat. Before you get more garlic into your diet and supplement with more vitamin E since it may increase your risk for cancer and negatively impact sperm motility.
Best practice dictates that you should first consult with your doctor before supplementing with garlic and vitamin E. This is especially true if you have other underlying medical conditions as well.
3. Improves Cholesterol Levels
Do high cholesterol levels have an impact in a man’s sex life? Researchers believe that it can lead to erectile dysfunction even though they may seem to be totally unrelated.
To understand the connection, you should first look into the mechanics behind the production and quality of a man’s erection. There are two ways to induce an erection of the penis:
- Physical stimulation
- Mental stimulation
After stimulation, the body releases chemical compounds that cause the arteries in the penis to relax. This causes more blood to flow into the penis.
This increased blood flow elongates and hardens the penis, and it is called an erection. Erections decrease and subside after a man orgasms or when there is no longer any stimulation being experienced.
LDL or low-density lipoproteins is known as bad cholesterol. This waxy substance contributes to the production of arterial plaque that blocks blood flow and damages the arteries.
When the damage and blockages accumulate overtime, it contributes to erection problems. In severe cases it can even lead to impotence in men.
The good news is that these conditions are reversible. With the help of lifestyle changes and proper diet, you can lower your LDL levels and improve the quality of your erections.
One way to reduce bad cholesterol levels is by adding garlic to your diet. This is one of the significant garlic benefits for sex.
According to some studies, taking garlic supplements can help reduce LDL levels by 10% to 15%.
Note however, that garlic extracts can only reduce bad cholesterol levels but it can’t increase good cholesterol levels (HDL). Another downside of using garlic to treat men’s ED and other sexual dysfunctions is that it doesn’t have any impact on triglyceride levels, which is another potential cause for erectile dysfunction.
4. Potential to Improve Sex Drive and Sexual Performance
Eating garlic may improve a man’s sexual performance in two ways:
- Improves sex drive
- Boosts sexual performance
First off, garlic contains fiber, which helps you reach your recommended fiber intake.
With enough fiber in your bodily systems, it reduces the amount of globulin that tends to bind with the testosterone produced by your body. With more available male hormones, you will have enough to stimulate you to have intercourse.
More fiber equals more testosterone which improves your sex drive. Studies show that lower testosterone levels negatively affect a man’s sex drive.
Apart from improving your fiber intake, the other thing that garlic can help with is by improving a man’s sexual performance. With enough fiber and anti0xidant intake, you can better manage your weight.
When you better manage your weight and reduce your waistline, you can improve your sexual performance. You won’t get tired easily, your core muscles can get stronger, and reduced waistlines mean better performance in bed.
Apart from that, garlic also contains certain antioxidants that are neuro-protective. What this means is that eating enough garlic every day may help prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s and other diseases of the brain.
5. Improves Sexual Stamina
Garlic is one of the oldest performance enhancers. It was used by the Greeks and it was even recommended by Hippocrates, dubbed as the father of western medicine.
According to one study, taking garlic oil regularly for a period of six weeks may improve one’s exercise capacity and reduce peak heart rate by 12%.
Studies show that sexual intercourse can be the equivalent of a mid-level workout. That is the equivalent of 101 kCal per minute among men.
If your overall athletic ability is already low, then even a medium level workout can be a bit challenging for you. You can improve your overall athletic and sexual performance by adding garlic to your daily diet.
There are downsides to this daily garlic habit though. They include the following:
Are There Better Alternatives?
As you can see from the discussion above, the main benefits of adding garlic to your mainly revolve around improving blood circulation and increasing testosterone levels.
Apart from that, there are certain associated side effects when people use garlic incorrectly. It may lead not only to bad breath but certain serious conditions such as cancer and liver damage.
The good news is that there are better and safer alternatives, such as black ginger. Studies show that it can be a potent treatment for erectile dysfunction.
Studies also show that it can help reduce male impotency using only a 90 mg dose per day. In short, black ginger has aphrodisiac properties.
If you want to get the same garlic benefits for sex(and more) but without the potential side effects, then using better botanicals like black ginger may be the better option for you.