Scientists have found that Mediterranean diet is linked to improved cardiovascular performance in people who suffer from erectile dysfunction.
According to research, erectile dysfunction patients, who didn't consume diet, which included fruits, vegetables, nuts, olive oil, cereals, meat, fish, dairy products and wine, suffered more vascular and cardiac damage.
Dr Athanasios Angelis conducted a study on 75 men with erectile dysfunction, aged 56 years on average, who attended the Department of Cardiology at Hippokration Hospital in Athens, Greece. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet was assessed with the Med-Diet Score1 which ranks patients as high (30-55), intermediate (21-29) or low (0-20).
The researchers found that a lower Med-Diet Score correlated with significantly worse vascular and heart function. These patients had greater IMT and aortic stiffness as well as higher left ventricular mass and more profound diastolic dysfunction.
Dr Angelis said that their findings suggested that adopting the Mediterranean diet could improve the cardiovascular risk profile of patients with erectile dysfunction and may reduce their chances of having a heart attack or stroke.
He added that really simple changes in the diet may help a lot, like using olive oil which contains monounsaturated fat. Sometimes it gets difficult to adopt something if it's considered a part of a prescription, but the Mediterranean diet was not a prescription, but a healthy lifestyle.
The research was presented at EuroEcho-Imaging 2014.
