Does Drinking Milk Help or Hurt Your Sex life?

June 1^st is World Milk Day, and we want to celebrate by looking at whether dairy is adding or subtracting from your sex life.

As always, we look at things from the perspective that a healthy body is a sexually healthy body, so a big part of today’s article will look at the nutritional pros and cons of milk consumption as it relates to both your general and sexual health.

Let’s get started!

Milk Contains Essential Nutrients

The biggest and best thing that milk has going for it is that it’s a good source of three very important nutrients that many Canadians don’t get enough of.

These nutrients are vitamin A, vitamin D and calcium, and there are very few other foods that contain all three together in the same quantities than milk does.

Calcium and vitamin D in particular play an extraordinarily important role in bone health, an absolute necessity in supporting physical strength, development and performance.

Non-dairy alternatives with similar nutrients:  Fortified soy and canned salmon with bones.

Dairy and Digestive Health: Pros and Cons

A big component of a healthy sex life is a healthy digestive tract.

Not necessarily because a healthy digestive system is going to make you an all-star in bed, but more so because of common digestive problems such as gas and bloating.

When it comes to these issues, dairy products can be a double-edged sword.

On the one hand, people living with lactose intolerance may experience unpleasant gas and bloating upon consumption of milk and other dairy products.

But on the other hand, certain types of dairy products, such as yogurt, offer probiotic (healthy) bacteria which can contribute to a healthy digestive tract.

Non-dairy alternatives with protein + probiotics: Tempeh

Is Sexual Performance Tied to Dairy, Saturated Fat & Cholesterol?

The one big knock against dairy is that the higher fat versions (high % MF  milk/yogurt, ice cream, butter, most cheese varieties) contain a little something called saturated fat, which may have some serious negative implications  for sexual performance in the long-term.

Here’s why: Saturated fat, particularly from animal sources, doesn’t really do much for our health and is usually one of the first things a person may be advised to cut back on when managing the caloric intake of their diet.

That matters to you for the simple reason that when heavier people lose weight, they tend to enjoy improved sexual performance and satisfaction (Rowland et al 2017).

The other issue with saturated fat is that it is known to increase LDL or bad cholesterol.

High blood cholesterol levels is one the most common reasons why people in Canada need medication, and also represents a prime risk factor for erectile dysfunction in males.

Probably due to both cholesterol and weight reduction, cutting back on saturated fats is very often associated with an improvement in erectile dysfunction (Esposito et al 2009, Esposito et al 2010) and a diet that is low in saturated fat, but high in specific other foods, is a very effective at reducing cholesterol (Jenkins et al 2005).

Cholesterol-lowering dairy alternatives with similar nutrients: Almonds and other nuts, tofu, fortified soy milk, sweet potato, okra and plant-sterol enriched margarine.

The Sexercise Connection

When it comes to dairy and whether or not it is a “healthy” choice for you, that will really depend on the type you are choosing and what the rest of your diet looks like.

Hopefully today’s article helps put you in a much better position to make that determination.

Healthy eating fuels good sexual performance and makes it easy to enjoy the health benefits of Sexercise that come with regular workouts in and out of the bedroom.

Sources

Rowland DL, McNabney SM, Mann AR. Sexual Function, Obesity, and Weight Loss in Men and Women. Sex Med Rev 2017; 5:323–338. doi.org/10.1016/j.sxmr.2017.03.006

Esposito K, Ciotola M, Giugliano F, Maiorino MI, Autorino R, De Sio M, Giugliano G, Nicoletti G, D’Andrea F, and Giugliano D. Effects of intensive lifestyle changes on erectile dysfunction in men. J Sex Med 2009; 6:243–250. DOI:  10.1111/j.1743-6109.2008.01030.x

Esposito K, Giugliano F, Maiorino MI, and Giugliano D. Dietary factors, Mediterranean diet and erectile dysfunction.  J Sex Med 2010Volume 7, Issue 7, Pages 2338–2345; https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1743-6109.2010.01842.x

Jenkins DA, et al. Direct comparison of a dietary portfolio of cholesterol-lowering foods with a statin in hypercholesterolemic participants. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 81, Issue 2, 1 February 2005, Pages 380–387, https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn.81.2.380