Soda contains no nutritional value and provides loads of sugar in the form of high-fructose corn syrup. Although drinking soda now and then won’t damage your health, consuming it every day might have different effects. Drinking too much soda can increase your risk for developing health conditions such as diabetes and obesity, which may lead to erectile dysfunction.
Erectile Dysfunction
Erectile dysfunction, or impotence, is the inability to get and maintain an erection during sexual activity on an ongoing basis. Impotence can lead to stress, anxiety, relationship problems and low self-esteem. Common causes of erectile dysfunction include diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure and metabolic syndrome, according to the Mayo Clinic website.
Type 2 Diabetes
Consuming soft drinks such as soda may increase your risk of developing type 2 diabetes, which is a risk factor for erectile dysfunction. Scientists at the University of Minnesota discovered that participants consuming two or more soft drinks per week were more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those who rarely consumed soft drinks, according to research reported in the December 2009 issue of the “American Journal of Epidemiology.”
Obesity
Obesity can impair blood vessel dysfunction and decrease blood flow to your penis. This in turn makes it difficult to get and keep an erection. Researchers at Louisiana State University performed a review of the scientific studies regarding the impact of soft drink consumption on obesity risk. They concluded that increasing soft drink consumption increases your risk of being overweight and obese. It may also lead to elevated triglycerides, a type of fat in the blood. The findings were reported in the February 2010 issue of “Current Opinion Lipidology.”
Metabolic Syndrome
Metabolic syndrome is a group of risk factors for heart disease. These include high bad LDL cholesterol, hypertension, low good HDL cholesterol, impaired fasting glucose and high triglycerides. All of these risk factors can cause inflammation of your blood vessels, which in turn inhibits blood flow to your penis and prevents you from achieving an erection. Framingham Heart Study scientists discovered that men and women consuming one soft drink per day or more were significantly more likely to develop metabolic syndrome compared with those consuming less than one soft drink per day, according to research published in the July 2007 issue of “Circulation.”
References
- Mayo Clinic; Erectile Dysfunction; January 2010
- "American Journal of Epidemiology"; Soft Drink and Juice Consumption and Risk of Physician-diagnosed Incident Type 2 Diabetes; A.O. Odegaard et al.; February 2010
- "Current Opinion In Lipidology"; Soft Drink Consumption and Obesity: It is All About Fructose; G.A. Bray et al.; February 2010
- "Circulation"; Soft Drink Consumption and Risk of Developing Cardiometabolic Risk Factors and the Metabolic Syndrome in Middle-Aged Adults in the Community; R. Dhingra et al.; July 2007
