Why Viagra Won't Fix Your Sex Life

Another random link. Thanks!

My penis begs to differ... and do other things.

Keiji said:

http://www.menshealth.com/health/er...=10155873712435207&adbpl=fb&adbpr=56916320206

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A lot of men are taking Viagra for psychological problems and sexual performance anxiety, not because there is anything physically wrong with their penis. It's more that they feel under stress, pressure, or they aren't sexually comfortable with the woman they are with.

When something is actually going wrong with your penis, where it's a physically based problem, the issue can be your cardiovascular system or health in general. That is being overweight, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart problems, related diabetes problems, low testosterone, etc... A man should look at his diet, exercise, and general health.

If you also look at how the penis gets erect, you will find there are some natural alternatives to Viagra.

1. Horny Goat Weed

Active ingredient- icariin

Icariin works exactly in the same way as Viagra, but it's NATURAL, and weaker. Icariin is also good for your liver, where Viagra can have some bad side effects.

To have the same effect of 25mg of Viagra, you need 1,000mg of Icariin. But not too much a problem, because the equivalent cost is the same. The only other issue is finding Icariin pills at 20% or higher and are real, as some Chinese companies/importers sell fakes (among other fake herbs and products).

You must often take several Icariin pills to have a Viagra-like effect; some guys don't know that, so think it doesn't work because dose was too low (there's a lot of debate about it). It takes the equivalent of 1,000mg of Icariin or higher to have a Viagra-like effect.

2. L-citrulline

Increases nitric-oxide levels, which the body uses to create erections.

3. Garlic

"Thins blood" and increases blood circulation to the extremities, making attaining erections easier.

4. Blueberries

Increases blood circulation to the extremities, making attaining erections easier.

5. Lycopene

Improves cardiovascular health and condition of blood vessels.

6. Vitamin C

Used to increase sperm production, which after a point, the brain signals increased frequency and tendency to become erect.

7. Zinc

Used to increase sperm production, which after a point, the brain signals increased frequency and tendency to become erect.

Solong said:

3. Garlic

"Thins blood" and increases blood circulation to the extremities, making attaining erections easier.

5. Lycopene

Improves cardiovascular health and condition of blood vessels.

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The combination of garlic and lycopene (tomatoes) is a major contributor as to why historically Italian men were known as insatiable lovers.

Sudsy said:

The combination of garlic and lycopene (tomatoes) is a major contributor as to why historically Italian men were known as insatiable lovers.

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And all this time I thought that it was Italian women!

-Ww

Wwanderer said:

And all this time I thought that it was Italian women!

-Ww

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Garlic and lycopene have the same effects on women too.

Presumably also a reason why Italian is a popular dinner date choice of fare.

Sudsy said:

Garlic and lycopene have the same effects on women too.

Presumably also a reason why Italian is a popular dinner date choice of fare.

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We are who we eat!

-Ww

Wwanderer said:

We are who we eat!

-Ww

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Fish with garlic and tomatoes.....hmmmmm

just4fun said:

Fish with garlic and tomatoes.....hmmmmm

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Sounds better as "Pesce alla pomodori e aglio"

Sounds like a good menu for this evening....

Sudsy said:

The combination of garlic and lycopene (tomatoes) is a major contributor as to why historically Italian men were known as insatiable lovers.

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I don't know about all that cheese used in Italian recipes though. Seems counter-productive.

A lot of other countries use garlic and tomatoes, so it's also relative to how good a diet that a guy is eating overall. Mcdonalds and greasy fast foods won't be helping the cause.

Sudsy said:

Garlic and lycopene have the same effects on women too.

Presumably also a reason why Italian is a popular dinner date choice of fare.

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Actually, that's more difficult to determine. The physiology of how a penis and vagina works are different. What works for a penis, won't work for women, as they don't have one.

Viagra and natural alternatives listed, work by having a direct effect on the penis. It makes becoming erect easier. The brain activates the penis by direct visual stimulus or sexual thoughts, and if it's easier to get an erection, it will more likely happen.

Garlic, lycopene, and the others would be helpful for a woman's overall health, but when it comes to sex, women appear to be more greatly affected by their mood, hormones, inhibitions, and views about sex. For quick and timely effect, a woman's mental state most often has to be altered.

For many women, the problem is more strongly psychological, where they have a massive amount of sexual inhibitions, fears, negativity towards sex, and/or even negativity towards men.

A toxic mixture in attitude and bad thinking, combined with bad physical condition or insecurities about her body, can lead to very low sexual desire. The battle for women is more mental than physical.

Consequently, alcohol (red wine is nice) would have a more direct sexual arousal affect on women, because it lowers inhibitions and fears. This includes drugs that lower inhibitions, but that clearly is extremely problematic from a legal standpoint. So alcohol is among the best mood relaxer for women, and even that has a cloud of legal issues around it.

Hypnosis and positive thinking techniques can work on women, but that too is complicated and a mix bag of results. The woman, herself, has to help the process along and that leads to even more mixed and partial results.

Hormones, like increasing her testosterone levels, by artificial drugs or by natural exercise, can affect and boost a women's sexual desire. And for artificial hormones like steroids, have to be careful of too much, and masculinizing the woman. But those take time, weeks and months, not something quick or within a day.

The new "female viagra" pill, flibanserin, works very differently than male Viagra. It works by changing female brain chemistry, thus increasing the desire for sex. Even that drug has very mixed results and is no where near as effective as Viagra on men.

To me, viagra is like an athlete taking steroids.

Solong said:

Actually, that's more difficult to determine. The physiology of how a penis and vagina works are different. What works for a penis, won't work for women, as they don't have one.

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You do realise that a clitoris is essentially a vestigial penis*, right?

Anything that increases blood flow and improves circulation is excellent for the libido, in either biological sex.

*(to be more correct, the penis is actually an overgrown clit, as we all start off female...)

Sudsy said:

You do realise that a clitoris is essentially a vestigial penis*, right?

Anything that increases blood flow and improves circulation is excellent for the libido, in either biological sex.

*(to be more correct, the penis is actually an overgrown clit, as we all start off female...)

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Actually, no, as you can't equate or treat the penis and clitoris as the same. And you can't ignore the vagina, when talking about sexual response and desire in women.

The penis and clitoris have some huge anatomical differences and are affected by hormones and enzymes differently.

You might be confusing that the clitoris is analogous to the penis, meaning there is a relationship between the two, not that they are or act functionally the same or are affected by drugs, enzymes, vitamins, or hormones in the same way.

For this reason Viagra does not work on women nor does it have same affect as it does on men.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-l.../expert-answers/viagra-for-women/faq-20057960

Flibanserin, the newly FDA approved "female viagra" is a very different drug that works in a different way from male Viagra. For women, their thinking or altering their inhibitions has shown to have a greater immediate affect on their sexual desire.

The key here would be on what has the fastest affect on helping sex happen, for the perspective sexes. With males, if his penis is erect, he can have sex (even if begrudgingly). With women, her mental state and mood, can act as such huge inhibitors that she has no desire for sex. It's not that she can't have sex, like a flaccid penis on a man, but that she doesn't want to have sex (low to no sexual libido or massive inhibitions/psychological issues).

To date, things like wine (alcohol), mind altering drugs, and money have been stronger aphrodisiacs for women than vitamins and any known legal herbs (though their's an argument for marijuana).

Tribulus terrestris

Probably the best bet of a legal herb to affect sexual desire in women. It can change how androgen receptors in a woman's brain works, making her more responsive to her own testosterone. Testosterone has long been known to boost female sex drive, but instead of giving her artificial steroids (female exercising boost testosterone too), you have her react more strongly to her own testosterone.

Problem is, it takes days to weeks of constantly taking it to work and the effect to become noticeable. And good luck with getting women to take it, probably better off with a bottle of wine or throwing some cash at her.

I had been talking about diet, and specifically garlic and lycopene's effect on libido due to their effect on vascular health - which is well established in both sexes - but since you decided to redirect to viagra, you might be interested in the recent study that shows the effects of viagra on women: they became more easily aroused, achieved orgasm more easily, and were more lubricated during sexual activity.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14634409

The upshot is that increasing bloodflow to the genital area is a sexual plus, regardless of gender.

And yes, I do realise that a clitoris and a penis are not functionally identical - though you seem to have some difficulty understanding that they are structurally similar in many respects, and they are very much affected by certain medications in physiologically similar ways.

Sudsy said:

I had been talking about diet, and specifically garlic and lycopene's effect on libido due to their effect on vascular health - which is well established in both sexes - but since you decided to redirect to viagra, you might be interested in the recent study that shows the effects of viagra on women: they became more easily aroused, achieved orgasm more easily, and were more lubricated during sexual activity.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14634409

The upshot is that increasing bloodflow to the genital area is a sexual plus, regardless of gender.

And yes, I do realise that a clitoris and a penis are not functionally identical - though you seem to have some difficulty understanding that they are structurally similar in many respects, and they are very much affected by certain medications in physiologically similar ways.

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You do realize that the FDA has never approved Viagra for women, and mainly because it proved ineffective overall.

There are numerous reasons why Flibanserin was approved for women, while Viagra (which men take) was not. Understanding why, is the answer to your position on this, it goes into why women are different sexually.

Solong said:

You do realize that the FDA has never approved Viagra for women, and mainly because it proved ineffective overall.

There are numerous reasons why Flibanserin was approved for women, while Viagra (which men take) was not. Understanding why, is the answer to your position on this, it goes into why women are different sexually.

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The two drugs are different beasts - Sildenafil Nitrate induces localised physiological effects (increasing pleasure) and Flibanserin is a form of antidepressant that affects the central nervous system (increasing desire).

The FDA has never explicitly approved Viagra as a treatment for sexual dysfunction in women because Pfizer has never submitted it for review as such, the potential market seen as unlikely to justify the cost of the reviews. If you read the study I linked above it doesn't increase desire, the most common female issue, it increases physical responsiveness, showing more promise for recreational usage than therapeutic. Interestingly, studies involving sexual desire/performance enhancers for women have an unusual difficulty in that the majority of women in studies tend to respond to the placebos - even just the idea that they are doing something to improve their sexual health has an profoundly marked psychological effect.

In any event, we are clearly having two different conversations here. You keep trying to force my earlier comments back into a discussion about viagra, when my original discourse was on the effects of certain aspects of diet on overall sexual health and function. Focus less on your apparent need to be seen as right, and open your mind to the idea that there are many things that can positively affect libido and sexual performance in both men and women. There is no one catch-all answer, and there are many effective therapies - from cardio exercise to medications to diet.

I touched on tomatoes and garlic above. Other foods that are good for the libido:

Strawberries - promote vascular health, and look sexy when being eaten
Chocolate - contains methylxanthines that improve libido and overall emotional receptiveness - and you can dip strawberries in it
Avocado - rich in vitamin E, promiting stamina and improved recovery times from physical activity
Almonds - High in zinc and vitamin E, zinc aiding in production of testosterone
Sesame seeds and sesame oil - zinc again
Watermelon - another lycopene heavy food, with the added bonus of juices running down faces, inviting to be licked off

Unsurprisingly, alcohol is both one of the best AND worst "foods" for sex - in moderate quantities it enhances desire and lowers inhibitions, in larger quantities it actually dampens desire, reduces sensitivity, and any of us that drink have experienced a case of whiskey dick at some point.

A fun one: Kellogg's All-Bran is another zinc heavy food that increases testosterone production. It was one of numerous foods, ironically, developed by Dr. Kellogg in an attempt to suppress sexual urges.

Alcohol is a like a dual edge sword that can have a very negative effect on the penis and cardiovascular health, particularly on men, and even more so if he is a smoker. In older men, being a heavy drinker is associated with erectile dysfunction.

1 or 2 drinks, might relax you a bit, but most guys find it hard to stop. While for women, things work a bit differently, lots of alcohol can eliminate their inhibitions and negativity towards sex. So several drinks for her, might be great for sex. But, there is a legal cloud about this and some women can't handle alcohol well, as in puking or negative personality changes as if turning into a gremlin.

Watermelon contains large amounts of L-citrulline too.

However, taking L-citrulline in pill form at 3,000mg and higher has a more immediate and measured effect in increasing the frequency and likelihood of erection. Especially with garlic at 2,000mg or higher. The combo can have a very strong effect within 3 hours and last for 12 hours.

Solong said:

negative personality changes as if turning into a gremlin.

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Now THAT is gold.

Saw this treatment the other day: Electro Shock Wave Therapy for Erectile Dysfunction

Just interjecting in this debate which seems to be "Viagra vs natural " kind of discussion.
Of course, if your diet, exercise, life style can avoid leading you to erectile dysfunction, that is preferable. But when you are already a bit old, have already some diabetes, and just need a good erection in the coming hours because you have a date for that evening, I am not sure eating garlic and tomatoes will help much, while viagra does work within one hour...

But like any effective drug, viagra have "undesirably" side effects, which are randomly occurring, meaning that some people have some, others have others, and others have none... In my case, which somewhat defies the purpose, it makes ejaculation more difficult. But on balance, with viagra, I can have a relatively secure erection, while without, I find it difficult to sustain it, while still managing to achieve ejaculation... To each his own, but as often, the reality is not just black and white

Use Chinese Goji Tea. Drink every morning for 4 to 6 days and seems to work well. Boil and let steep properly overnight with the right flowers , roots, and dates it tastes pretty good too.
https://www.google.com/search?q=chi...ved=0ahUKEwj1xYzQlJPLAhXGLqYKHTxIB8cQ_AUIBygC

Eat well. Do some running/jogging, stop masturbating and cut the stress will help a lot...