Nitric Oxide: A Sexual Health Booster

Q: When you talk about sexual health, one of the things you talk about is nitric oxide. Can you explain how that fits into the whole picture?

A: Yes. Nitric oxide, the Silent Thriller, as my presentation is called. Nitric oxide, again, when it comes to the overall act of sex, both before, during, and after, everything in between, nitric oxide is one of the key components for the ability to have sex, which is the erection, whether it's clitoral erection and/or penile erection. So what happens is, in a long story short, nitric oxide is what made Viagra such an amazing product, and made it a billion-dollar product, OK, because nitric oxide is able to... It actually allows the blood vessels to relax, open up. That also relaxes the muscles on the clitoris as well as the actual penis, which blood then fills up and becomes erect. An erection is pivotal, again, for both the act of sex and the ability to ejaculate. So, I mean, a lot of people don't understand that women also have that ability as well, to become sexually aroused. So nitric oxide is the unique molecule that not too many people know about, but they know we need arginine for this, but arginine is what makes nitric oxide possible, so it's kind of an up-and-coming type of trick, if you will, for some physicians, but then, overall, it's great for cardiovascular health, diabetes, everything like that as well, so it's a two-four effect.

Q: So is that something that you recommend that maybe people try, either via supplement, or should they seek professional help for that?

A: Well, I mean, again, there's so many different angles when it comes to nitric oxide put in the sexual scene. I mean, sexual dysfunction can be anywhere from psychosomatic to hormonal to medications and everything, but vascular is one of the number one reasons for it. Nitric oxide's ability to work on the vascular system is exponentially proven through many different studies and all that, so I definitely think it's a great way to start in, to try and figure out what it is, and then if it's not working or there's something else that's going on, you should definitely seek professional help.

Q: Are there certain foods that can boost levels of nitric oxide or that can help with sexual function?

A: Oh yeah, definitely. Anything high in protein. Again, arginine. It's a fantastic... I mean, they have it in supplement powders and everything like that. Again, arginine is found in meat, dairy products, various vegetables, and all that, but again, it's a very, very important amino acid that helps actually stimulate the nitric oxide cycle. So again, you know, balanced diets, for any type of dysfunction, any type of enhancement wanted, really help out in setting the base.