Can Beer Boost Libido?

It's a well-known fact that having too much to drink can damage a man's ability to perform in the bedroom. Obviously, getting drunk isn't good for your health or for your sex life. So, how can beer possibly boost libido? The answer lies in the nutritional and antioxidant content of beer and drinking moderately.

Some lab tests done on rats have found that alcohol increases testosterone circulation in the brain,and this effect might extend to humans. Aside from the alcohol content of beer, the grains and hops used to make it provide a unique nutritional profile. Many people aren't aware of the vitamins and minerals present in beer, due to the fact that in the United States, nutrition charts on beer containers are not required by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau.

Important Ingredients of Beer

An 11-ounce can of beer contains small but significant amounts of many different vitamins and minerals. Some of these include:

• Five percent of the daily value (DV) of riboflavin. Getting enough riboflavin in your diet has the indirect effect of ensuring your blood is rich in oxygen. This could improve your stamina for the sometimes-demanding physical exertion of sex.
• Nine percent DV of niacin. Consuming lots of niacin could improve erectile dysfunction, especially if you have high cholesterol.
• Five percent DV of folate. Folate is necessary for the production of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that can affect your sex drive. Therefore, getting enough of this B-vitamin could increase your libido. Other B-vitamins will have a similar effect, including choline, pantothenic acid, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12, all of which are also present in beer in trace amounts.
• Five percent DV of magnesium. Studies have found that magnesium increases testosterone. This effect is even greater for people who exercise. Since higher testosterone generally means a higher sex drive, getting enough magnesium can be beneficial.

If you're interested in reaping the sexual benefits of beer, it's better to choose a darker beer. Darker beers have more iron than pale beers. Iron can help overall circulation, theoretically making it easier to get an erection.

Other Health Benefits of Beer

Alcohol has a bad reputation when it comes to its effects on our health. While this bad reputation isn't completely undeserved—heavy drinking can cause liver problems, dementia, seizures, depression, gout, high blood pressure, nerve damage and pancreatitis—people shouldn't turn their nose up at moderate drinking. The U.S. Department of Health defines moderate alcohol consumption as up to one drink per day for women and up to two drinks per day for men (men's higher body weight and faster metabolism mean they can handle more alcohol).

Studies Show Favorable Effects

Can beer boost libido? Some evidence suggests yes. There are many additional proven health benefits of drinking a moderate amount of beer, such as:

• Researchers in Finland found that having one serving of beer per day decreases your risk of kidney stones by 40 percent.
• One study from Italy that looked at 200,000 people discovered that those who drank one pint of beer per day had a 31 percent lower risk of heart disease. This effect is believed to come from the antioxidants in beer. However, drinking larger amounts of beer actually increased the risk of heart disease. For many reasons, it's crucial to keep alcohol consumption moderate.
• Canadian researchers found that one serving of beer daily increases antioxidant activity that can help prevent cataracts. Again, higher alcohol consumption produces the opposite effect.
• Researchers from Stritch School of Medicine—the medical school affiliated with Loyola University Chicago—analyzed several different studies and found that people who drank a moderate amount of beer on a regular basis were 23 percent less likely to develop dementia and other forms of age-related cognitive impairment, including Alzheimer's disease. It is believed that this is because of the silicon content of beer; silicon can protect the brain from the harmful effects of aluminum, which is one possible cause of Alzheimer's.
• A study conducted at Harvard University in 2011 looked at data from 38,000 middle-aged men and found that men who had one or two beers per day had a 25 percent lower risk of developing type II diabetes.

You may be wondering if you can get these same health benefits from other types of alcoholic beverages. The answer? Not necessarily. Harvard researchers discovered that moderate beer drinkers have a lower risk of developing high blood pressure, but that the same benefits did not apply to those who prefer wine or spirits.