Alcohol And Sex: 4 Reasons Why It’s So Bad For You

Drinking alcohol excessively affects many aspects of your life. It’s even going to have an impact on sex, your ability to perform and to get satisfaction from intimacy.

Alcoholic beverages have both physiological and psychological effects when it comes to having good sex. If you need a few reasons to cut down on the booze, the following article will come in handy.

Alcohol And Your Erection

Most people have experienced this at least once in their youth. Being very drunk makes it quite difficult (nearly impossible) to get an erection and perform in the bedroom.

The link between alcohol and erectile dysfunction is a well-established one.

It’s interesting to point out that moderate alcohol consumption has a positive impact on getting an erection. Drinking to excess on a regular basis (chronic alcohol consumption), however, has a negative impact on a man’s potency.

Erectile dysfunction and heart disease come with similar cardiovascular risk factors. Excessive alcohol consumption has a cytotoxic effect, it destroys the immune system and has a general negative effect on health. Researchers have concluded that this general negative effect could be the one that increases the risk of impotence in chronic drinkers.

A study was carried out in 2007 and the results were presented in the Indian Journal of Psychiatry. The researchers worked with 100 male subjects who admitted alcohol dependence and were accepted in a treatment center.

A sexual dysfunction checklist was used to assess the performance of these men. Seventy-two percent of the study participants experienced at least one kind of sexual dysfunction. The most common problems were premature ejaculation, erectile dysfunction and low libido.

Risky Sexual Behavior

Alcohol messes with the perception and the rational thinking of people. It contributes to a difficulty that people experience when it comes to making logical decisions in terms of self-preservation.

This is one of the reasons why individuals who drink are more likely to engage in risky sexual practices.

People who are drunk tend to have unprotected sex more often than the individuals who don’t consume alcohol prior to intimate encounters. As a result, guys who drink and have sex are more likely to get a sexually transmitted disease (STD) or pass one on to a partner.

Some STDs are simply unpleasant while others can be life-threatening.

A study has found out that an increase in blood alcohol level of 0.1 milligrams per milliliter contributed to a five percent higher risk of engaging in unsafe sex. Researchers have concluded that since drinking is such a major factor, information about it should be included in anti-HIV campaigns.

Low Sex Drive

As already mentioned in the first part of the article, alcohol contributes to various types of sexual dysfunctions. Low libido ranks among the most common ones.

Researchers have found out that excessive alcohol consumption inhibits the production of testosterone in men. Testosterone is the primary male sexual hormone. It has a massive impact on libido, which is why guys that suffer from low testosterone also tend to have a low sex drive.

Excessive alcohol consumption leads to a loss of sexual desire in yet another, indirect way.

Men who drink a lot tend to find it more difficult to get aroused. They also find less pleasurable and they find it much more difficult to orgasm. All of these ways in which pleasure decreases can contribute to a guy not wanting to put in the effort and have sex at all.

Alcohol is a depressant – a fact that so many people fail realizing. It affects mood in a negative way, it causes a toxic buildup and it makes people feel ill or lacking energy. Obviously, it will be difficult to get aroused when experiencing all of these negative things.

Excessive Aggression

When people lose their inhibitions, they become more likely to act in wild, instinctive ways.

Many guys become abusive or violent only after they drink. The very same could apply to sexual violence or aggression that both partners haven’t agreed upon.

Drinking to an excess and having sex could hurt a partner and it could also have grave consequences for the aggressor.

All of this being said does not mean that enjoying a glass of wine during a date is a bad thing. Still, you need to know what your limits are. Too much alcohol could ruin the evening, it could ruin your sex life and even contribute to getting a life-threatening disease.

Enjoy a beer or another beverage in order to break the ice and feel a bit more comfortable. There’s a reason why alcohol is called a social lubricant. Still, know when it’s time to stop. Having good sex or building a meaningful relationship is definitely much more important than boozing it out.