As a chemist and scientific researcher, I'd like to provide a useful resource, summarizing some of the foods that greatly benefit male sexuality. As one who also does not like people to be taken advantage of through buying expensive nutrient preparations, medications, etc., I choose to promote the most natural and financially inexpensive foods/products. Men are losing lots of money by falling suckers to the many sharks out there peddling products for male sexuality. Sure some of them work, but at what price is reasonable, and are there less expensive and natural alternatives? As I put in my book, sometimes just adding a couple of items together then touting that the ingredient list has more than one item, it's like a marketing tool that captures the consumer. It's not so difficult to source out a couple of ingredients and then combining them yourself, thereby saving maybe 5 or 10 times the cost! You shouldn't have to spend more than $10-20 or so per month on all the foods or food components that I am listing here. And this does not mean this would be extra beyond your normal food budget as these would be incorporated into your diet, displacing other foods. Perhaps another $10 or so per month would be needed if choosing to buy some herbal-type products. Unless you are absolutely loaded, try to spend the least you can to get the greatest bang for your buck! So here we go:
Watermelon: Contains relatively high concentrations of the non-essential amino acid, citrulline. Citrulline is an arginine precursor which increases nitric oxide levels in the penis. The nitric oxide relaxes smooth muscle (blood vessels) which enables greater blood flow. The rind is a far better source than the flesh and the yellow and orange flesh provide more than the red flesh watermelon. In addition, watermelon is a very good source of lycopene.
Gac: A semi-spherical fruit grown in Vietnam about the size of an apple. Contains the highest natural source of lycopene. Also contains significant amounts of beta-carotene. Probable cancer inhibitor.
Tomatoes (also tomato juice, paste, and catsup): A very good source of lycopene but on the order of 20 to 100 times less in concentration than in the extraordinarily high concentration of gac. Still, typical tomato preparations are on par with watermelon for lycopene but about half or less than that of watermelon for raw tomatoes.
Pumpkin seeds: Contains Vitamins B,C,D,E, and K as well as an excellent source of zinc (seminal fluid promoter), also containing arginine. Vitamin C helps in several ways: skin flexibility, general antioxidant which is becoming more crucial in this life of increasing free radical exposure, and in thinning seminal fluid.
Peanuts: Good source of arginine though a little less than what is found in pumpkin seeds. Also a good source of niacin (helps to lower plasma cholesterol levels that may be responsible for ED-erectile dysfunction in addition to increasing blood flow).
Chili peppers: Highest concentration naturally available for Vitamin C.
Component food sources:
Citrulline: Watermelon as mentioned above, found in lower concentration in similar foods including squash and cucumber. Not very widespread in nature.
Lycopene: Extraordinary concentration in Gac, followed by common tomato preparations of juice, paste, and catsup, watermelon, then raw tomato in order of concentration.
Arginine: Found in various seeds and nuts particularly sesame seeds, egg whites, cod fish and more.
Niacin: Yeast, various brans, various fish, liver, paprika, peanuts, and chicken.
Vitamin C: Besides popularly known to be in oranges, on a concentration basis, chili peppers are at the top of the list.
Now there are also known herbs that are shown to be quite beneficial, particularly fenugreek, saw palmetto, maca, and epimedium (horny goat weed).
Fenugreek increases testosterone in the body, but the effects would be almost nonexistent unless taken as an extract (more concentrated form). When buying fenugreek extract, make certain there is some standardization such as noting a minimum percentage of saponins.
Saw Palmetto is useful in reducing the size of the prostate gland. Similar to fenugreek, ingesting saw palmetto as a non-concentrated herb would hardly produce any effect which points to an extract form would be more sensible. However, be careful of products that cost an arm and a leg - it shouldn't cost $50 for a small bottle of an extract form!
As far as maca and horny goat weed, I would suggest NOT buying these in a prepared pilled form as unethical companies want to charge you many times what the ingredients cost them. Instead, you can locate these in an herb shop and you could then encapsulate on your own or alternatively besides storing in a larger container, also have a smaller vial filled which you could then sprinkle on foods to be able to control the dosage. For example, if you buy 4 ounces of Maca, you might also have a 10mL vial filled for which you could lightly sprinkle on a food or put into a drink such as a shake. Being you would be handling a small vial, you could have a good idea how much of the vial you are using to be safely controlling the amount ingested at any one time. I am purposely not going to provide typical amounts of these or other substances that are not well characterized for ingestion as I prefer you find these out on your own and consult with "professionals" if needed. I do not want to be sued for giving such advice, LOL.
There are some other herbs that are known to be of great benefit for those suffering but their costs are exceedingly high. I will state one such as Tongkat Ali. Besides the price, there is no current uniformity of the extracts so it would be difficult to not only make good price comparisons, but while there is a lack of extract standardization, buying from the same source at two different times might provide a big difference in active components.
And then there's an herbal-like product named Yohimbe. Yohimbe is a tree grown in Africa, for which the yohimbine is extracted from the bark. Though I believe this does work, the safety factor of effective dose to a toxic dose would preclude me in promoting this. Unless you know well what you are doing with yohimbine, I strongly suggest avoiding it, except possibly if you are using some low strength standardized product and you do not take more than the suggested amount.
I did quite a lot of research on some of the major chemical components of Tongkat Ali as well as Yohimbe (containing yohimbine). Beyond stating their efficacy quality, in-depth scientific-related information would be extraneous here.
There are then also the dubious substances including:
Oysters
Ginseng
Tribulus terrestris (goathead, among other names - not to be confused with horny goat weed)
I wouldn't recommend against taking ginseng and secondarily in regards to tribulus terrestris but the data is not strong enough to warrant obsessing over these substances. As far as oysters are concerned, I do suggest people in avoiding since shellfish are the scrubbers of the ocean and accordingly are not the safest foods - there are plenty of other foods to choose from.
As far as buying individual nutrient components, zinc is relatively cheap, and so is niacin and even Vitamin C. Arginine is a little more expensive and citrulline is several times more expensive than arginine. I regularly powder Vitamin C on some foods since I know I am not getting my fill from oranges being food prices are so high partly based on Ben Bernanke of the Federal Reserve Bank forcing inflation. You could do the same, if you use care as I do. I use a 5mL vial for sprinkling Vitamin C on foods to the extent that I might empty the vial in a month 3 weeks, thereby assuring I am regulating how much I ingest. Because of the price of citrulline, I'd think you'd be far better off eating watermelon.
**I just recently purchased a watermelon to re-investigate the taste and texture of the white watermelon rind: It actually tastes fine, though not very sweet. It may be a psychological thing or partially physical with the taste buds being overwhelmed with sugar IF first eating the sweeter portion of the watermelon and then eating the rind. And so I tried the following method and seems wonderful!: Cut away the watermelon skin then cut away the white rind, leaving a small amount of the sweeter inner portion and eat it just like that. It is slightly sweet, sort of crunchy though easily masticated. You will realize it's not that bad tasting, in fact, I'd say it's many times easier and palatable to eat than raw celery. After you are done munching on the nutritive rind, then you spoil yourself with the high sugar content of the sweet inner portion. PROBLEM SOLVED! No need to cut the rind and put it in a blender or go through any special treatment.
Here are the low-price brands that I found through my research:
Vitamin C, free-flowing: NOW Foods
Niacin Powder: Life-Extension
Arginine, free-base, crystalline: NOW Foods
Fenugreek extract, minimum 50% saponins: Big Bulk Supplements
