Whether you’re rushing out the door to get to work in the morning or, like me, just don’t really feel peckish ’til about midday, it looks like lots of us in the UK regularly skip breakfast.
But apparently, missing your morning meal can affect more than just the Richter scale of your AM stomach rumbles.
Abbas Kanani, superintendent pharmacist of Chemist Click, suggests that skipping breakfast can have a serious impact on male fertility. Here’s what we found out.
Passing up the odd bowl of cornflakes is probably fine
Though eating enough throughout the day is a vital part of maintaining your overall health (yes, that includes your sexual health), Kanani reckons it’s fine to miss the odd breakfast or two.
As he says, “occasional fasting or skipping a meal is unlikely to cause erectile dysfunction (ED) on its own”.
Instead, the issue arises when people regularly under-eat. Kanani says that “chronic or severe dietary restrictions could potentially contribute to ED by affecting hormonal and metabolic balance”.
In other words, if you’re not meeting your caloric needs, you might just be affecting your performance in the bedroom.
So, why does this happen?
As we mentioned before, your body needs a certain amount of calories to survive. And if you regularly eat less than you ought to, parts of your body begin to shut down.
Kanani says that for some men, their sexual health is the first to suffer from under-nutrition.
Seeing as calorie restriction affects testosterone levels, it makes sense that it can lead to issues in the bedroom – the hormone is key to a healthy sex life.
And not getting enough calories can also affect your blood sugar levels, which can impact your mojo when either heightened or lowered.
As Kanani says, both lowered blood sugar and decreased testosterone levels are “key contributors for impotence”, which is projected to affect 320 million men by 2025.
OK, so what can you do?
Thankfully, the solution is pretty simple. If your breakfast habits are affecting your performance in the bedroom, it’s worth trying to up your calorie levels – especially if you’re noticing other signs of malnourishment, like low mood, feeling constantly cold, and struggling to concentrate.
And if you struggle to whip up much of an appetite, pros recommend:
- Sticking to the foods you love.
- Eating small, manageable meals throughout the day.
- Focusing on nutrient-dense foods, like fruit, vegetables and healthy fats.
- And setting yourself reminders to eat, if needed.