Sexual health hack: Garlic

The idea that garlic is healthy and good for you is taken for granted. Garlic is best known as a pungent spice used in Asian and Italian cuisine, but it’s also renowned for its ability to lower cholesterol ¹ and blood pressure ² : two issues that affect many people that haven’t taken control of their health.

However, even if you are already healthy, did you know that garlic could also help give you a little erectile boost when you need it?

The hack: A crushed clove of garlic before bed

I can’t recall where I saw this one (probably on some natural remedy site) but I’ve done this in the past and have been doing this one more recently. So don’t give me credit for this.

What I do is I take a clove of fresh, raw garlic and crush it and cut a few slices into it. After that I let it sit for about 10 minutes. The crushing and resting allows the garlic to form allicin, one of its most potent natural compounds that forms when exposed to the air. ³

Then I take the crushed clove with a bit of water like a pill. If it’s a large clove you may want to cut it into smaller pieces. I’ve had a mostly-intact huge chunk of garlic that got stuck on the way down and it’s not pleasant.

The following morning I typically wake up at “full mast,” if you catch my drift. The only drawback I see here are potential garlic breath and body odor, but this is mostly a non-issue to me.

Be aware that some people can get a stomachache from this. You might want to eat a little before you try it.

How does this work?

I did a quick Google, and unlike my first suspicions, it doesn’t seem that garlic affects testosterone levels in any significant way.

Instead, it appears the compounds found naturally in garlic greatly improve nitric oxide levels in the body ⁴, not unlike citrulline. On top of that, the hydrogen sulfide found in garlic is a natural vasodilator not unlike nitric oxide. ⁵Note that it may take at least an hour for the effects to kick in.

What if I don’t like raw garlic?

Generally I think fresh, raw garlic is best. However, some people just don’t like to eat garlic or smell like it. To people who don’t eat garlic, garlic-eaters just smell like garlic. If you hang around other garlic-eaters, this shouldn’t be an issue.

Nature’s Way makes a series of odorless garlic supplements that I’ve taken before. Their Garlicin CF variety in particular has zinc, vitamin C and echinacea and is intended if you have cold or flu (hence the CF), but I’ve taken it to good results while perfectly healthy.

Cooking? Always crush your garlic in advance

In general, if you want to reap the health benefits of garlic, you should crush it before cooking and let it rest for at least 10 minutes. If you cook your own food often, you should start with chopping up the garlic first and letting it sit while you work on the rest of the meal before cooking. The allicin that forms from crushing the garlic tends to survive cooking better than the inactive versions of the compounds in uncrushed raw garlic. ⁶

Add vitamin C

The wizards at Peak Testosterone forum have found that 2 grams vitamin C coupled with garlic may greatly increase the effect. ⁷

Conclusion

This is a free little tip that anyone can use — no supplements required. And if for some reason you don’t want to eat raw garlic, you can take a supplement of it. Let me know if it works for you.