Walnuts, almonds, and hazelnuts are tested for erectile and sexual function, sperm count, and sperm quality.
In 2013, I posted a video based on a study that found that men with erectile dysfunction who ate 100 grams of pistachios (more than three handfuls) a day for three weeks “had a significant improvement in erectile function.” It’s always nice to see a whole food intervention have clinical results, and I was interested in revisiting the topic and seeing what has been published since then.
Even if you ignore all the lab animal studies about hazelnuts improving rat testicular function—in fact, there is a study titled “Hazelnut Use Improves Testicular Antioxidant Activity and Sperm Quality in Young and Old Male Rats”—you never know what you’ll find when you search the medical literature on nuts and sex work. I found a “hex nut strangulation case” where someone put one in his penis “for sexual pleasure” but couldn’t get it out. (I think other types of nuts can sometimes make things worse.) They tried the Dundee method, which involves creating 20 drill holes to reduce pressure, but that didn’t work, so they tried a diamond disc cutter. It slipped a few times, but the hex nut was successfully removed. All’s well that ends well.
That made me curious. Apparently, penile impingement is so common that there is an entire measurement system that emergency room doctors can use, as you can see here and at 1:21 in my video. Mixed Nuts Tested for Erectile Dysfunction. If a drill is not available, surgeons advise, “a hammer and chisel may be used to remove the nuts.”
Practice? Oh, they mean teething. The doctors who described one case boasted of a “sharp edge,” but it looks strange to me. You can see for yourself below and at 1:38 for me video.
To “save the penis from fatal consequences” (that’s a strange way to put it), urologists must be aware of all available tools and methods, and if you don’t know how to use a saw, you can always call a local mechanic – but only if “special permission”. [is] taken from the patient”!
But how are you going to remove an iron barbell or an iron sledgehammer? With “heavy duty ventilators provided by the fire department,” requiring six hours of cutting and firefighting coats to protect the patient from sparks. Use whatever is necessary—a hack saw, a “cement saw.” You can even use the silk spinning technique developed by Dong et al.
Get back to work! Eating “at least one serving of vegetables per day and more than two servings of nuts per week was associated with a greater than 50% decrease in the odds of ED” [erectile dysfunction] in a time-limited snapshot study. But such research cannot prove cause and effect. It is similar to finding that men who eat healthy have better sperm motility. Maybe men who eat nuts are just health nuts, and the improvement is due to something else, like exercise. What we need is an intervention hearing.
And there is one: a randomized controlled trial studied “the effect of nut consumption on sperm quality and performance.” Healthy men were fed the standard American diet with or without a combination of nuts—a handful (30 grams) of walnuts and a handful (15 grams) each of almonds and hazelnuts. People in the nut group experienced significant improvements in their total sperm count, strength, motility, and shape, possibly because those in the “nut group showed a significant decrease in SDF”—sperm DNA fragmentation. Peanuts seem to protect their sperm DNA. Too bad the researchers didn’t measure erectile dysfunction in men while they were there. Oh, but they do!
What is the effect of the use of nuts on erectile function and sexual function from that same study? Researchers report that those in the nut group saw a significant increase in orgasmic function and sexual desire, but what about erectile function? Whenever you see this kind of glass-filled reporting, you suspect some kind of industry subsidy, and, indeed, that was the case here; research was funded in part by the International Nut and Dried Fruit Council. Yes, there was a slight increase in orgasmic activity and sexual desire of questionable clinical significance, but there was no improvement in erectile function, sexual satisfaction, or overall satisfaction. As with so many comparisons, even so-called significant findings may not be statistically significant.
But why do the pistachios I mentioned back in 2013 work, while these other nuts don’t? However, the original study was conducted on men mainly aged 40 and 50 who have already suffered from erectile dysfunction for at least one year, while the average age of the participants in the new study was 24. Therefore, some people in recent studies may have started with a near-high rotation, not leaving much room for the nuts to work any magic.
Doctor’s Note
Sorry for that crazy tangent! I wanted to give people a taste of what it would be like to delve deep into the medical literature.
The 2013 video I talked about Pistachio nuts for erectile dysfunction.
What about walnuts for arterial blood flow? Look Walnuts and artery function.
More on fertility and sex work in the related posts below.
