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Sex & Women [1] Sex MD [2]

How to Keep Your Private Parts

Healthy
Take these steps now to guarantee optimum performance when you're 80
By The Editors of Men's Health [3], Photography
By Thinkstock [4] Saturday, November 14, 2015, 8:29 am

All health issues have effects on your penis, says Steven Lamm, M.D.,
an assistant professor at the New York University School of Medicine and
the author of The Hardness Factor: How to Achieve Your Best Health
and Sexual Fitness at Any Age.
A 50-year-old man who is healthy is probably performing as well sexually
as an out-of-shape 30-year-old who smokes and drinks, Dr. Lamm says.

While healthy blood flow is essential to rock-hard erections, other physical

and mental health factors play a role in good penis functionality.
If youre stressed out from work or poor relationships, suffering from
depression, addicted to alcohol or drugs, or woefully overweight and out
of shape, that miraculous mechanical wonder between your legs wont
work as well as it could.
Related: How to Pleasure a Womanthe complete guide to becoming a
master lover! [5]
Fortunately, theres much you can do to keep your member in good
standing so you can still have sex well into your 80sand maybe even
beyond. Hows that for incentive to shape up? Do your private parts a
favor.
1. Lose the Belly
Eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly to achieve ideal body weight and
eliminate the fat around your gut. Abdominal fat blocks the testosterone
that should be available to you, which in turn affects sexual functioning. A
fat gut is a bad marker for overall healthincluding your sexual health.
Your penis is a barometer for your heart and artery health or a canary in
the coal mine that can warn you of impending trouble. Thats because a
penile artery is quite a bit narrower than a coronary artery. If plaque and
artery hardening is starting to occur, itll often show up first by affecting
your erection.
For a complete diet and exercise program that will banish your belly fat,
check out Lose Your Spare Tire [6].
2. Quit Smoking
Smoking just clenches down on your blood vessels and prevents them
from being reactive, says Dr. Lamm.
Nicotine restricts penile blood flow and weakens erections. It contributes
to plaque buildup in the arteries, making smokers twice as likely to
experience erectile dysfunction.
(Need help kicking ash? Learn how to Quit Smoking for Good [7].)

3. Take a Walk Every Day

When you exercise, blood flow increasesblood rushes through the
endothelial cells (the lining of the blood vessels) and stimulates them to
make more nitric oxide, a key chemical involved in producing erections.
The healthier a man is, the more nitric oxide he produces, and the harder
his erection is, says Dr. Lamm.
Also, exercise has been shown to be as effective as medication in
reducing symptoms of mild depression, another downer for penis
performance.
4. Do a Ball Check
Testicular cancer strikes nearly 8,000 men a year, mostly young men
between the ages of 15 and 40. When caught early enough, testicular
cancer can be cured more than 95 percent of the time.
Left undetected, though, and it can spread to other parts of the body.
Check in with your boys once a month.
Heres the play-by-play from Mens Health urology advisor Larry Lipshultz,
M.D., chief of the division of male reproductive medicine at Baylor College
of Medicine:
Step 1. Take a hot bath or shower. Warm water relaxes the muscles that
pull the testicles up into your scrotum, allowing you to handle them more
easily.
Step 2. Cup your scrotum. Feel both testicles at once. They may not be
identical, but there shouldn't be any dramatic difference in size.
Step 3. Gently examine each testicle individually with both hands. Place
your index and middle fingers underneath and your thumbs on top of a
testicle. Roll the testicle between your fingers around the entire surface
for about 30 seconds using light pressure. Feel for lumps or bumps. Each
testicle should feel smooth like a peeled hard boiled egg.
If you think you felt something, dont panic. A lot of men mistake the
epididymis, a soft tube located in the back of each testicle, for a bump. If
youre unsure or if you feel any other bumps, consult your doctor.

RELATED VIDEO:
5. Go to Bed Earlier
Testosterone levels peak in the morning for men. So irregular sleep
patterns, or getting fewer than 7 hours of sleep, can affect the quality of
your sleep and your sexual health.
Poor sleep is also associated with many health issues that contribute
to sexual problems including high blood pressure, sleep apnea, and
diabetes.
Sleepiness is a national problem. A study of 8,000 adults by researchers
from Stanford University found that 1 in 5 Americans suffers from chronic
excessive sleepiness.
(Score more shuteye with these 5 Ways to Sleep Better Every Night [8].)
6. Eat More Fish
The omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA are good for heart and penis
health. But toxins like PCBs and dioxins in some fish can hit you below
the belt by reducing your sperm count and lowering testosterone.
Try to avoid large bluefish, striped bass, and farmed salmon. PCBs and
dioxins accumulate in the fatty tissues of those fish more so than in
younger, smaller fish or species such as wild salmon, skipjack tuna, or
sea bass.
7. Pop Supplemental Insurance
If you arent eating two to three servings of fatty fish per week, take
two omega-3 fatty-acid supplements daily, totaling at least 300 milligrams
(mg) of DHA and 400 mg of EPA as a kind of insurance policy.
And consider taking the antioxidants pycnogenol (80 mg) and Larginine (3 grams) daily. Theyll shield your endothelium from harm and
facilitate the use of nitric oxide.
(And for more smart manhood-saving strategies, follow these 8 Ways to
Protect Your Erection [9].)
8. Drink Moderately

A glass of red wine may fuel the libido, but a full bottle may screw with
your penis-brain circuitry and eliminate any chance of getting an erection.
Clinical studies have shown that alcohol acts as a depressant in the brain,
dulling anxiety and inhibitions about sex, but larger amounts can have the
opposite effect.
In one study, men with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.06 and
0.09 had trouble ejaculating while masturbating. Another study measured
penile swelling in response to erotic stimulation. Those men who had
three or more mixed drinks within 2 hours couldnt get it up.
Over time, chronic use of alcohol can cause hormonal and brain chemical
changes that stifle sexual functioning. Alcoholism has also been linked to
gyneocomastia and shrinkage of the penis and testicles.
9. Relax and Unwind
In men especially, stress can trigger the fight-or-flight response.
When that happens, your nervous system floods your body with stress
hormones like adrenaline. Adrenaline spurs the heart to beat faster and
your blood vessels to constrict so that blood is directed to where its
needed most to deal with the crisisyour muscles, not your penis.
It doesnt have to be an urgent stress to cause problems. Chronic lowlevel stress, like a difficult boss, looming deadlines, and fear of financial
ruin can interfere with erections and sex drive. Fortunately, exercise,
sleep, and a healthy diet can help to ease the stress response.
Tags: sex [10]masturbation [11]stds [12]sexual health [13]STD [14]penis [15]
Source URL: http://www.menshealth.com/sex-women/keep-privates-healthy
Links:
[1] http://www.menshealth.com/sex-women
[2] http://www.menshealth.com/tags/sex-md
[3] http://www.menshealth.com/author/editors-mens-health
[4] http://www.menshealth.com/author/thinkstock
[5] https://www.rodaleu.com/courses/how-to-pleasure-a-woman?
utm_source=MensHealth&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=privateparts-healthy
[6] https://www.rodaleu.com/courses/lose-your-spare-tire?
utm_source=menshealth.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=priv

ate-parts-healthy
[7] http://www.menshealth.com/health/why-its-so-damn-hard-quit-smoking
[8] http://www.menshealth.com/health/5-ways-to-sleep-better
[9] http://www.menshealth.com/health/8-ways-protect-your-erection
[10] http://www.menshealth.com/tags/sex
[11] http://www.menshealth.com/tags/masturbation
[12] http://www.menshealth.com/tags/stds
[13] http://www.menshealth.com/tags/sexual-health
[14] http://www.menshealth.com/tags/std
[15] http://www.menshealth.com/tags/penis