Life

Here's How Beer Makes You Better At Sex

by Pamela J. Hobart

Beer is proof that there are powers that be in the universe that love us and want us to be happy... but in case you needed a little more proof, on top of that there's evidence that beer makes people better at sex. Dr. Kat Van Kirk has written a book called The Married Sex Solution: A Realistic Guide to Saving Your Sex Life (via the New York Post), and it offers the audacious claim, supported by research conducted recently in Italy, that beer can improve your sex life in many ways. Stronger libido, harder erections, better stamina, a more robust stomach — what's not to like?

The obvious limitation of this study and book is that it's focused on men (but there are obviously good second-hand effects on women if men are lasting longer in bed, of course). Though the probiotics and B vitamins in beer would be good for everyone, it's more than a bit of a stretch to suggest that these provide strong reasons to drink more beer since they're easily obtainable from other food sources and supplements (and if you really think that drinking beer can prevent you from having an alcohol-related sour stomach, then lol, think again). Meanwhile, 24 percent of women report that a drink helps them to achieve orgasm, but it doesn't necessarily have to be beer — obviously a single glass of wine is a classic pre-coital choice as well.

Of course, everyone's sex life is different, so you may actually be looking for ways to get him off faster. There are many reasons why guys can't always finish in bed, and even if alcohol isn't the cause in your case, it may not be helping. After all, alcohol may lower inhibitions, but it's long been associated with many negative alcohol-induced sexual effects. I'm a little skeptical about the claim regarding iron in beer boosting blood flow to the penis, too. If you have low iron levels, treating them with oral iron supplements takes weeks or months to show results, so that beer you chugged an hour before sex is unlikely to impact blood flow to your junk (whether you're a man or a woman for that matter).

Finally, apart from whether beer improves the sex itself or not, it's not really as if you can outright encourage a guy to drink more before you hop in the sack. When men do that to women, after all, we label it as predatory, with good reason. So if a couple of beers already happen to be in the cards for your next romantic encounter, cool — but don't press the issue. You might want to try the "50 Shades of Green" libido-boosting beer while you're at it — it should at least be good for a laugh.

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