Does consuming saturated fat contribute to ED?

I've seen conflicting data on this. We all now know that consuming saturated fat doesn't contribute to CVD, but what about ED?

Most of what I find on saturated fat discusses CVD and, maybe as a side note, mentions ED. I'm interested in what effect consuming saturated fat has on ED only.

Anyone have any info on this?

Interesting study. It seems that we excrete more testosterone and estradiol on a high fat diet. Men also had higher testosterone and lower estradiol in the blood when they were on a high fat low carb diet. Sex hormone binding globulin was higher in the high fat diet since insulin is lower when we avoid carbs.
The study needs to be redone to include more than 43 men since some values showed a trend towards a difference but not statistically enough due to the low subject number. I also wonder how they measured diet adherence.



Effects of dietary fat and fiber on plasma and urine androgens and estrogens in men: a controlled feeding study.

J F Dorgan,



We conducted a controlled feeding study to evaluate the effects of fat and fiber consumption on plasma and urine sex hormones in men. The study had a crossover design and included 43 healthy men aged 19-56 y. Men were initially randomly assigned to either a low-fat, high-fiber or high-fat, low-fiber diet for 10 wk and after a 2-wk washout period crossed over to the other diet. The energy content of diets was varied to maintain constant body weight but averaged approximately 13.3 MJ (3170 kcal)/d on both diets. The low-fat diet provided 18.8% of energy from fat with a ratio of polyunsaturated to saturated fat (P:S) of 1.3, whereas the high-fat diet provided 41.0% of energy from fat with a P:S of 0.6. Total dietary fiber consumption from the low- and high-fat diets averaged 4.6 and 2.0 g.MJ-1.d-1, respectively. Mean plasma concentrations of total and sex-hormone-binding-globulin (SHBG)-bound testosterone were 13% and 15% higher, respectively, on the high-fat, low-fiber diet and the difference from the low-fat, high-fiber diet was significant for the SHBG-bound fraction (P = 0.04). Men's daily urinary excretion of testosterone also was 13% higher with the high-fat, low-fiber diet than with the low-fat, high-fiber diet (P = 0.01). Conversely, their urinary excretion of estradiol and estrone and their 2-hydroxy metabolites were 12-28% lower with the high-fat, low-fiber diet (P < or = 0.01). Results of this study suggest that diet may alter endogenous sex hormone metabolism in men.

Here is the full PDF of the paper:
http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/64/6/850.full.pdf

Adherence to Mediterranean Diet and Erectile Dysfunction in Men with Type 2 Diabetes.

Giugliano F, Maiorino MI, Bellastella G, Autorino R, De Sio M, Giugliano D, and Esposito K. Adherence to Mediterranean diet and erectile dysfunction in men with type 2 diabetes. J Sex Med 2010;7:1911&#8211;1917.

Introduction. There are no reported studies assessing the relation between diet and erectile dysfunction (ED) in men with diabetes. Aim. In the present study, we explored the relation between consumption of a Mediterranean-type diet and ED in a population of type 2 diabetic men. Methods. Patients with type 2 diabetes were enrolled if they had a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes for at least six months but less than 10 years, age 35&#8211;70 years, body mass index (BMI) of 24 or higher, HbA1c of 6.5% or higher, treatment with diet or oral drugs. All diabetic patients were invited to complete a food-frequency questionnaire and self-report measures of sexual function. A total of 555 (90.8%) of the 611 diabetic men completed both questionnaires and were analyzed in the present study. Main Outcome Measures. Adherence to a Mediterranean diet was assessed by a 9-point scale that incorporated the salient characteristics of this diet (range of scores, 0&#8211;9, with higher scores indicating greater adherence). ED was assessed with the International Index of Erectile Function-5. Results. Diabetic men with the highest scores (6&#8211;9) had lower BMI, waist circumference, and waist-to-hip ratio, a lower prevalence of obesity and metabolic syndrome, a higher level of physical activity, and better glucose and lipid profiles than the diabetic men who scored <3 points on the scale. The proportion of sexually active men showed a significant increase across tertiles of adherence to Mediterranean diet (from 65.1% to 74.4%, P = 0.01). Moreover, men with the highest score of adherence were more likely to have a lower prevalence of global ED (51.9% vs. 62%, P = 0.01) and severe ED (16.5% vs. 26.4%, P = 0.01) as compared with low adherers. Conclusions. In men with type 2 diabetes, greater adherence to Mediterranean diet is associated with a lower prevalence of ED.

Men with high LDL and low HDL may have more issues with erectile function since this lipid unbalance can create more problems with reduction of vascular blood flow to the penis. Having said that, high fat low carb diets have shown improvements in lipid profiles (as long as carbs are not in the mix!) due to the fast reduction in weight (It seems that after weight is lost, saturated fat may actually increase LDL).

So if one is already lean and additional weight loss is unnecessary - perhaps even detrimental, you want to stay away from saturated fat? My BMI is 21.1 - I'm 143 pounds at 5'9".