TARRAGONA, Spain — Countless supplements and drugs claim to hold the key to sexual satisfaction and performance, but a new study out of Spain is suggesting that the answer may have been under our noses all along — nuts.
No, not those nuts. Researchers from the Universitat Rovira i Virgili and the Pere Virgili Health Research Institute have found that eating 60 grams of certain nuts per day may improve sexual function in men who follow a Western diet.
The experiment was conducted as part of the larger FERTINUTS project, which had already performed a previous study that found regular consumption of certain nuts improved semen quality.
In total, 83 men were studied, all of whom followed a diet high in animal fat, but low in fruits and vegetables, commonly referred to as a Western diet. Study subjects were divided into two groups; one group that continued to follow their usual diet, and a second group that incorporated 60 grams of walnuts, hazelnuts and almonds into their meals. After 14 weeks, each participant filled out a questionnaire on their recent sexual experiences.
The results show that adding these nuts to one’s diet can improve sexual satisfaction among men, including orgasm intensity. “Our study suggests that compliance with a healthy diet supplemented with mixed nuts may help to improve erectile and sexual desire,” the authors write.
Researchers caution that additional studies are necessary to confirm their findings, as well as to determine how exactly nuts influence sexual performance in men.
The study is published in the scientific journal Nutrients.