Home Remedies for ED: Lifestyle Changes Help, Most Supplements Do Not

Some home remedies for ED do work, but they are mostly lifestyle changes rather than herbs or pills. Losing excess weight, moving more, stopping smoking, drinking less and doing pelvic floor exercises all have trial support. Most supplements have weak evidence, and some "natural" products contain hidden prescription drugs.

Lifestyle changes have the best support#

An erection depends on blood flow, nerves, hormones and mood. Anything that looks after your heart and blood vessels can help. These are the targets worth aiming for:

• Weight: a BMI under 25 and a waist under 94cm (about 37 inches). Above 102cm (40 inches) the risk is higher.
• Exercise: 150 minutes of moderate activity a week, such as brisk walking or cycling. Trials in men with ED have tended to run for 3 to 6 months.
• Alcohol: no more than 14 units a week, spread over several days. That is about 6 pints of 4% beer.
• Smoking: stopping helps blood vessels recover. The NHS Stop Smoking Service can help.
• Sleep: snoring, daytime tiredness or stopped breathing at night can point to sleep apnoea, which is linked to ED.

Expect weeks to months, not days. If nothing has changed after 3 months of steady effort, that tells you something too.

Pelvic floor exercises#

A UK trial of 55 men with ED had them do pelvic floor exercises for 3 months. About 4 in 10 regained normal erections and a further 1 in 3 improved. The men had physiotherapist coaching, so results at home may be smaller.

A common routine is to squeeze the muscles you would use to stop urinating mid-flow. Hold for 5 seconds, relax for 5, and repeat 10 times. Do this 3 times a day.

Supplements and herbs, one by one#

• Red ginseng: weak to moderate. A systematic review found some benefit, but the trials were small and poor quality.
• L-arginine: weak. In one trial of 50 men, 5g a day for 6 weeks helped about 3 in 10, compared with about 1 in 10 on placebo. Larger trials are lacking.
• Pomegranate juice: none shown. A small crossover trial of 53 men found no clear benefit over placebo.
• Yohimbe: not recommended. It can raise blood pressure and heart rate, and cause anxiety. It also interacts with antidepressants and blood pressure medicines.
• Acupuncture, DHEA and horny goat weed: too little good evidence to recommend.

In the UK, food supplements are not licensed medicines. Traditional herbal products can carry a THR registration, but that checks safety and quality, not that the product works for ED.

The risk with "herbal Viagra"#

The MHRA has repeatedly found products sold online as natural ED remedies that contain undeclared sildenafil or tadalafil. You cannot tell the dose, and you may not know you are taking a prescription drug.

This matters if you take nitrates for angina or alpha-blockers for blood pressure or prostate problems. Combined with these, ED drugs can cause a sudden, dangerous drop in blood pressure. Our guide to Kamagra oral jelly explains why unlicensed products are a gamble.

If you want a medicine, buy from a pharmacy listed on the GPhC register. Check the registration number and logo on the site.

Deciding what to try first#

Lifestyle changes are a reasonable first step if your ED came on gradually and you feel otherwise well. Still talk to a GP or pharmacist if you have any of the following:

• Sudden onset ED
• Chest pain or breathlessness
• Diabetes
• Medicines that can cause ED, such as some antidepressants, beta-blockers and finasteride

ED can be an early warning of heart disease, so an NHS Health Check or blood pressure and cholesterol test is worth having.

Stress, anxiety and low mood can cause or worsen ED. If you still get firm erections in the morning or when alone, the cause may be mostly psychological. CBT or psychosexual counselling can help, and a GP can refer you.

If lifestyle changes are not enough, treatment is available. Viagra Connect (sildenafil 50mg) can be bought from a pharmacy after a short consultation. A GP can prescribe sildenafil or tadalafil, and on the NHS this is allowed in some cases, such as diabetes or severe distress caused by ED. You can read about the options on Totiva's ED treatment page.