If your beau’s been having issues in the performance department, don’t fret: A recent study suggests drinking coffee could throw him a bone (almost literally!).

In the U.S., an estimated 30 million dudes struggle with erectile dysfunction (ED), which is essentially the inability to hold an erection long enough for satisfying sex. Preventative measures include things like eating right, exercising on the regular—and now, drinking coffee.

According to a recent study published in the journal Plos One, men who drank the equivalent caffeine level of two to three cups of coffee daily were roughly 40 percent less likely to experience ED. Researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) found that caffeine may (ironically) calm the penile muscles, helping improve blood flow to the region.

“It is counterintuitive since caffeine usually has the opposite effect on smooth muscle in blood vessels, causing them to contract rather than relax,” Dr. Robert Mordkin, chief of urology and director of robotic surgery at Virginia Hospital Center said to Men’s Journal. “It’s intriguing data.”

The study reviewed data from 3,724 men and included four different caffeine sources: coffee, soda (regular and low-cal), tea, and energy and sports drinks. Men who consumed between 85 and 170 milligrams of caffeine daily were 42 percent less likely to experience ED, while those who drank between 171 and 303 milligrams of caffeine daily were 39 percent less likely, compared to men who drank zero to seven milligrams a day.

This trend stayed true among overweight, obese, and hypertensive men, but unfortunately had no impact on men with diabetes. “Diabetes is one of the strongest risk factors for ED, so this was not surprising,” lead study author and UTHealth assistant professor David S. Lopez said in a statement. (Sorry boys.)

But before you hoover that RedBull, keep in mind the study only focuses on caffeine and not the sugar and other icky additives typically found in caffeinated drinks. “Besides caffeine, energy drinks and soda have other ingredients we don’t know too much about,” Lopez said to HuffPost. “We do know a lot about sugar—it’s strongly linked with diabetes and obesity. There are other drinks that are sugar-free, but some of those ingredients are associated with cancer.”

Long story short: If you want your next romp in the sack to be a little more Armagedditon and a little less Disappointing Miss Daisy, stick to black coffee, which has been linked to plenty of other health benefits already—not that we need another reason to enjoy drinking coffee, but whatev.

Come on, spill the beans (pun totally intended): Has drinking coffee given your sex life a boost?

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Drinking coffee image via Shutterstock

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A recent study has revealed watching porn isn’t the bedroom buzzkiller many of us have been led to believe. (Can I get an Amen?)

Yes, watching porn can create problems in a relationship—especially if he doesn’t so much dabble as he does cause himself carpal tunnel with a side of chafing—but problems in the bedroom? Not so much, say researchers.

A recent study from UCLA and Concordia University has found watching porn doesn’t equal bad news for your sex life after all, but may in fact be linked to enhanced male sexual responsiveness. (Phew.)

The study, published in the journal Sexual Medicine, studied 280 male participants who watch porn from zero to 25 hours a week. (Yep, hours.) The men also completed a questionnaire that measures levels of sexual desire. One-hundred and twenty-seven of the participants had regular partners and completed the International Index of Erectile Function—a questionnaire that rates their experience with erectile function.

Finally, they watched a video of a man and woman having sex and reported their level of arousal. “Many clinicians claim that watching erotica makes men unable to respond sexually to ‘normal’ sexual situations with a partner,” UCLA neuroscientist and study co-author Nicole Prause said in a statement. “That was not the case in our sample.”

Researchers found no relationship between watching porn and post-porn ED in men who are sexually active, and in fact suggest the opposite: That watching porn leaves men more sensitized to legit sexual encounters. “When we analyzed data from prior studies, we found that the men who had watched more sex films at home were more aroused when they watched sex films in the lab,” said Prause.

ED, therefore, is not a result of your guy rubbing one out (make that several) to Bonnie Rotten, but is likely caused by the usual suspects such as performance anxiety, poor health or a side-effect of substance abuse.

The study also put the kibosh on the widely-thought belief that watching porn causes addiction and ruins relationships. “The study participants represent a good cross-section of men that view porn on a regular basis,” Jim Pfaus, Concordia professor and study co-author said in a statement. “The fact that doing so increased their arousal to the erotic stimuli should cause clinicians and sex therapists to rethink their attributions.”

So the next time you catch him fisting his mister with your favorite moisturizer, try not to harbor any hard feelings (sorry, had to). His porn habits won’t get in the way of your nookie. If anything, it’ll make sexy time even more fun—especially if he learns a few new tricks along the way.

How has his watching porn impacted your sex life?

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Image: Kissing photo via Shutterstock

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The latest erectile dysfunction drug could be genetically modified spider venom.

Erectile dysfunction impacts an estimated 30 million American men and that number is growing. Why do more and more men have difficulty getting and staying in the mood, if you know what I mean? Well, it’s partially because getting an erection often has a lot to do with your overall health. ED is caused by a number of factors including heart disease, obesity, certain prescription drugs, sleep problems, and alcohol use as well as stress. And the more that men are hit with chronic illness as they age, the less likely they are to be able to bump and grind.

That’s why ED has opened up the dams to a rush of pharmaceutical wealth. From Cialis to Viagra the market is huge and as more men fall into this category, the cash flow increases. Enter genetically modified spider venom, the newest addition to the world of erectile dysfunction drugs.

Let’s get down to the nitty gritty: ED is caused by a lack of blood flow to the penis. Most prescription ED drugs are phosphodiesterase inhibitors, which relax the muscles allowing blood to flow more freely. The erection lasts as long as the blood and the erection valves stay open. That’s where the Brazilian wandering spider comes into the picture.

It’s the world’s most venomous spider and all five species are found in Brazil and throughout Latin America. The mega-spiders have a leg span reaching six inches and while 90 percent of their bites don’t cause a medical emergency, they’re famous for one particular malady. They can cause priapism, when blood pools in the penis, a positive when it comes to erection.

Since it isn’t exactly realistic to track down entire populations of the venomous spiders for use in an ED drug, scientists are using genetically modified spider cells to replicate the venom. Although we’re still years from the spider venom hitting the market.

According to Wired:

A synthetic way to make lots of a biological product already exists for drug creation. By harnessing genetically modified bacteria, we now grow insulin, tissue plasminogen activator, and human growth hormone in commercial quantities. GMO drug production is not new.

In 2014, researchers successfully created a recombinant baculovirus with the PnTx2-6 gene. They then used this to infect a culture of caterpillar cells which produced the spider toxin.

While from a distance it may seem like a lot of effort for an ED drug, there’s big money in it considering that sales for Cialis and Viagra alone reached $4 billion last year. And if you watch any television show with an older audience, then you know how big the market is. It seems every other commercial is aimed at those with ED. But would ED sufferers be willing to take a genetically modified spider venom as an erectile dysfunction drug? That remains to be seen.

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Image of a Brazilian wandering spider from Shuttershock

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