A South African lady took to the streets of X, formerly known as Twitter before rebranding, and sparked a debate out of a topic that many usually wouldn’t touch on.
According to her perspective, many South African people drink alcohol almost every weekend and it’s not a good thing particularly for men. She is convinced that partners of men who drink too much alcohol usually don’t do the right thing in bed.
There’s some truth in her statement. Alcohol interferes with the signals between the brain and private parts.
Drinking too much alcohol can make it difficult to get or maintain an erection. This is called erectile dysfunction (ED). Alcohol interferes with the messengers in the brain that tells the male private part to fill with blood. This may be because alcohol reduces testosterone production. Testosterone is the hormone that controls male performance. ED is usually a temporary problem.
According to health experts, long-term drinking can damage the nervous system, which can lead to erectile dysfunction. Nerve damage caused by excessive drinking is called alcoholic neuropathy.
Alcoholic neuropathy occurs due to vitamin B deficiency due to alcohol consumption. Alcohol reduces the absorption of B vitamins from the intestines and reduces B vitamins in the liver. This kind of depletion of vitamin B can cause nerve damage in the central nervous system (CNS), which is bad news for erections because the CNS is responsible for carrying signals from the brain to the nervous system, to the autonomic process that causes erections.
Additionally, research shows that damage to erectile function caused by long-term alcohol consumption may be irreversible after a certain level. But do not despair. If you want your male privates to look their best, the answer is simple. Quit drinking (or at least drink within limits). Exerxising is another step you can take to maintain normal erectile function.