Perhaps it is difficult to even think of, but a lot of men suffer from erectile or sexual dysfunction. Since a lot of men would not admit the truth in such issues the real figure is higher than the official declared figure of 40%. Reasons for this could range from emotionally destabilizing factors like stress and depression to some inevitable factors like ageing and declining testosterone levels. There are some lifestyle factors though which could be contributing to this also like smoking, drinking and popping some recreational pills.

Anything which hampers blood flow to the penile area can affect erections negatively. It is clearly established that good blood flow is something highly crucial for rock hard erections and as such there exists a direct link between your erections and blood flow.

Smoking is known to cause a phenomenal drop in the number of erections while asleep. When there is such reduction in the number of nightly erections, it is an early sign of something going wrong and that there is not adequate amount of blood flowing which can result in an erection. The cause of this has been identified by the Lahey Hitchcock Medical Center, Burlington, Massachusetts as excessive smoking. It is also proved that even stopping smoking for a day improves nightly erections.

Moreover, teenagers who smoke heavy are likely to have an extremely damaging effect on the quality of semen. Moreover, the concentration of sperm is also affected negatively. This drastically reduces their chance of becoming a father as well as increases the chance of having offspring with genetic disorders due to faulty DNA imbibed from either parent.

Similarly, studies have also demonstrated that heavy drinkers are more affected by erectile dysfunction than casual drinkers. This is due to the fact that alcohol is a performance hinderer and can affect male libido which makes erection a near impossibility.

Thus a balanced and healthy lifestyle is behind the success of your sex life. If you adopt a balanced diet plan with moderate exercising, you could see a dramatic change in your sex drive and overall improvement in health. The good news for sufferers of erectile dysfunction is that there are several herbal remedies available which act as aphrodisiacs and increase blood flow to the penis.