Dr. Robert Fried talks about “Great Food, Great Sex”

Another friend and “Future of Breathing” presenter has released a book. Bob Fried, consummate physiological renaissance man, has co-authored a fascinating book called “Great Food, Great Sex.” Personally, I prefer the original title “Eat Your Way to Better Sex,” but his agent nixed the idea, fearing a backlash from the red states.
Below, you will find a great explanation of some of the key points in his book, which is based on serious science, and speaks to more than sexual performance. His proposed diet also has profound implications for blood pressure and general cardiovascular health. I, for one, am going to protect my blood vessels by loading up on my greens-and-beans, arginine rich meats and fish and antioxidant fruits and vegetables – expect a report on the side-effects in a future post.
P.S. If you’re in the NYC area, you can attend an event with Dr. Fried sponsored by the 92nd Street “Y” on Wed, Jun 21, 2006, at 12:00pm-1:00pm.

From: Robert Fried, Ph.D.

Y’all may wonder how we got the nerve (chutzpah) to write a book on food and sex, so I thought I’d explain it to you:

In 1998, the Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to three Americans who discovered that blood vessels are principally under the control of a curious gas molecule made by the body, in the body, nitric oxide (NO). No one imagined that, as we all assumed that blood vessels were under the control of so-called action hormones including noradrenaline. In fact, prescription antihypertensive beta-blocker meds reduce the action of noradrenaline, thus lowering blood pressure. But, we now know that action hormones only modulate blood vessels and that NO is the basic control mechanism that dilates blood vessels increasing blood flow when and where needed….click “Read more!” to view the rest of this post.

At that time also, Pfizer, well aware of the research on NO, discovered that they had developed a compound–later termed VIAGRA–that extended the duration of the action of NO on body blood vessels–dilating them– and intended to market it as an antihypertensive. But they noted that it resulted in erection in men at the same time that it reduced their blood pressure. In other words, VIAGRA dilated more than coronary arteries.
How does the body make NO? It turns out that it comes mostly from one of the principal amino acids found in all proteins: L-arginine. L-arginine rich foods include meats, fish and legumes. In addition, the body can make nitric oxide directly from green vegetables because they are rich in nitrate compounds that can be made to yield NO.

I (Fried) experimented with arginine supplement readily available in health food stores in the early 1990s reasoning that one alternative to VIAGRA that prolongs the action of NO is to supply more NO to the body. As you know, this worked and resulted in THE ARGININE SOLUTION and then VasoRect, an arginine-based supplement product. By then, tens of thousands of articles had been published on the cardiovascular and erectile benefits of arginine-derived NO.

In the mid- 1990s also, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) conducted a series of clinical trials of a nutrition plan intended to raise NO availability for heart patients. Anything that raises NO production will lower blood pressure, lower heart rate and the work of the heart, and will increase sexual energy. This does not mean libido (sexual desire) but performance. NO has no effect on sexual desire, only on performance.

So, GREAT FOOD, GREAT SEX explains all that, and most of the recipes are from the NHLBI clinical trials (reprinted in the book with their permission). Thus, we have the only sex nutrition book proven by the US government to support cardiovascular and heart action and at the same time it raises NO production for increased sexual performance. So, as you can see, it is very scientific, not whimsical, nor is it prurient in intent or content.

Edlen-Nezin joined the project several years ago contributing also her vast knowledge about- and experience with special-populations nutrition. Together, we formulated the three-food factors for sexual vitality:

The three food factors are “greens-and-beans” (nitrogen rich and arginine rich foods such as vegetables and legumes that yield NO), arginine rich meats and fish that yield NO, and powerful antioxidant foods (fruits, vegetables, etc) to protect blood vessels.

This book is about a Nobel-Prize winning discovery that we have applied to enhancing cardiovascular and heart health and sexual vitality for a lifetime.