A Matter of Plumbing

Erections are all about hydraulics. They involve biological plumbing or, more specifically, blood vessels, and pressure that's regulated by chemicals like nitric oxide instead of turn-off valves. If you increase the integrity and health of the blood vessels and turn up pressure by increasing nitric oxide, you maximize erections.

Curcumin is probably the only known compound that accomplishes both these things. First, it improves nearly every aspect of arterial health, and if your arteries (along with the rest of your cardiovascular system) are clean and functioning at 100%, it's only logical that you'll have stronger erections.

Here are just some of the cardiovascular benefits attributed to curcumin:

• Prevention of arteriosclerosis
• Raising of HDL
• Lowering of total cholesterol
• Protecting arteries against homocysteine, a factor in cardiovascular disease
• Lowering trigycerides
• Protecting arteries against high blood pressure
• Lowering of fibrinogen, a chemical that increases clotting. Reducing it is a key factor in preventing heart attack or stroke.

It's all well and good to have clear pipes, but erections need something else: nitric oxide. The chemical relaxes the blood vessels leading to the penis so they can carry even more blood, and small doses of curcumin (80 mg. a day) have been shown to increase the amount of nitric oxide in plasma.

Of course, there are other supplements (and certainly plenty of drugs like Viagra) that increase nitric oxide more efficiently than curcumin, but very few, if any, have the dual function of cleaning out the arteries and relaxing them.

A Reproductive Health All-Star

Curcumin's effects on sexual functioning don't end with hydraulics, though. The compound has also been found to have the following effects on the male reproductive system:

• Slightly elevated testosterone levels
• Improved sperm quality
• Protection of testicular function from alcohol consumption

It's pretty clear that curcumin should be in every male's medicine cabinet.