While people often consider erectile dysfunction (ED) in regard to age, stress, and various medical issues like heart disease, obesity is an overlooked possibility that can affect the way you feel physically and mentally, and may even encroach upon your sexual health. This is where the cycle begins: obesity leads to ED, and ED can lead to additional challenges with weight.
The Connection of Obesity with ED
Carrying excess weight, especially in the abdominal region, can be an issue of health and self-image. In fact, fat cells secrete hormones that can reduce testosterone levels. Reduced testosterone can decrease libido, combined with an excess of fat, to decrease the odds of achieving an erection, much less maintaining one. In addition to the direct sex implications, obesity can increase the chances of developing diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol, as well as contributing to arterial plaque build-up. These barriers can impede blood flow to the penis as well, and where there is no flow, there is no erectile function.
The Emotional Rollercoaster
When men have ED and are dealing with obesity, there is an enormous sense of embarrassment or self-consciousness that looms over them. This self-consciousness often leads to them avoiding intimacy all (stress and anxiety eliminate sexual confidence). And guess what happens when you isolate yourself? Stress and anxiety belly up to the bar together. Many, many people with ED and obesity turn to food to deal with stress and anxiety and add even more pounds to their struggle. Horrible to consider that we are trapped in a vicious cycle of increasing stress, increasing ED, increasing isolation, increasing stress, increasing sorrow, increasing weight gain.
Small Changes, Big Results
Here’s the best part. You don’t have to change everything all at once. Even minimal weight loss will decrease ED symptoms by a significant amount. Men who are successful at losing about 5–10% of their body weight will see testosterone rises, improved blood flow, and greater sex confidence. Whatever is possible for you to eat reasonably well, move each day, and let your body sleep actually does help overall health. Improving overall health improves sexual health, so there’s the bonus of attention to your health while focusing on your intimacy.
The Value of Professional Support
While nutrition changes and lifestyle changes are important, sometimes medical support is necessary. Physicians can prescribe multiple ED treatments, offer oral medication, and provide other treatments for the individual. In addition, addressing obesity with the help of a nutritionist or fitness trainer is an effective way to improve these treatments. If you want to further read about this approach, I suggest visiting www.medypharmacy.com.
While changing the pattern of ED and obesity is not easy, it is reasonable to expect that it can happen. It is about developing habits that are good for your body and your security. Over time, health can be restored with balance and intimacy.
FAQs
1. Can losing weight help with erectile dysfunction?
Yes, any amount of weight loss can help improve circulation and hormones, and, in turn, help with ED.
2. Is obesity an issue that affects ED physically or mentally?
It is both! Obesity creates imbalances in the blood flow and hormones that can affect you physically and loss of confidence, and overall stress that will affect you mentally.
3. Will ED drugs work if I am overweight?
Yes, but there are aspects which enable optimizing your results through change of life-style, including diet and exercise.
4. What is step one in halting the obesity and ED cycle?
Start small! It could be regular daily walks, reducing processed food, or visiting your physician. Being consistent matters more than being huge.
5. Does obesity increase the risk of long, term ED?
Yes. Continued obesity can cause chronic health problems that may result in long, term erectile dysfunction.
