Uncommon Cold: Male Reproductive Health

Ice baths act like long-term Viagra

This post is an excerpt from my upcoming book ‘Uncommon Cold: The Science & Practice of Deliberate Cold Exposure.’ It blends the experiences of my midlife crisis with the science of ice baths. For step-by-step protocols to use ice baths to reconnect sexually, romantically, and emotionally with your partner, visit https://www.morozkoforge.com/post/ice-bath-romance-sex-love.

Uncommon Cold
CHAPTER 2
Reproductive Health (Men)

Summary

• Blood flow throughout the body, including the penis, is controlled by smooth muscle tissues that surround the blood vessels. When these muscles tense, vasoconstriction shuts off blood flow. When they relax, vasodilation increases blood flow.

• Vasodilation is actuated by production of nitric oxide (NO) in a thin layer of endothelial cells that line blood vessels.

• When mitochondria in the endothelial cells are damaged, they become incapable of producing sufficient nitric oxide for vasodilation. A myriad of vascular disorders, including erectile dysfunction (ED), can result. That's why erectile dysfunction (ED) is considered a clinical marker of metabolic disorder and a harbinger of more serious, life-threatening vascular disease.

• Viagra (sildenafil) induces an erection by temporarily overcoming insulin resistance, boosting nitric oxide production and increasing blood flow to the penis. However, it does nothing to resolve the underlying metabolic origins of erectile dysfunction.

• Deliberate cold exposure is notorious for "shrinking" male genitalia in the short-term, but in the long run an ice bath may be the best thing men can do to improve insulin sensitivity and sexual performance.

Is an ice bath like Viagra?

Nitric oxide produced by endothelial cells causes vasodilation by relaxing smooth muscle tissue surrounding blood vessels. The result is increased blood pressure, engorging the corpus cavernosum and enlarging the penis.

Can men have too much “enhancement?”

Ben Greenfield is one of the few male authors who isn’t bashful about biohacking for male sexual performance. He’s written several articles about using red light, electricity, sound waves, and supplements for improving the frequency and quality of his erections. In his Boundless (Greenfield 2020) book, he describes penis exercises to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles that control the angle of an erection. He’s even injected stem cells into his penis and appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast to talk about it (Greenfield 2018).

And as far as I know, Greenfield is the first person to point out that “cold thermogenesis leads to increased nitric oxide (NO) production — aka Viagra for your body” (Greenfield 2020).

"Cold thermogenesis leads to increased nitric oxide production
— aka Viagra for your body.”

- Ben Greenfield 2020.

You might think that Greenfield’s determination to go to extreme lengths to enhance his sex function might mean that his performance increases are putting a strain on his wife. But Mrs Greenfield says it hasn’t been much of a problem.

“We have sex several times a week instead of our usual one or two,” she said in a 2018 interview (Greenfield 2018).

Most men I know wouldn’t be electrocuting their own balls just to see if they could get it on with their wife an extra once or twice a week. Greenfield is evidently an exception, and that allows him to speak with some authority about the effects of different sexual performance enhancers.

I’ve never tried Viagra, so I can’t make the same comparison to ice baths that Greenfield can — at least not on the basis of my experience.

What I can say is that the science of deliberate cold exposure supports his conclusion. Despite the fact that cold exposure can temporarily shrink male genitalia, both Viagra and the ice bath ultimately boost mitochondria for production of nitric oxide (NO) in the endothelial cells that line the blood vessels. With that extra nitric oxide, the smooth muscles tissues that control blood flow will relax enough to dilate blood vessels and increase blood pressure in the penis.

The result of both Viagra and the ice bath can be improved male sexual function, so in that way Greenfield is correct that an ice bath is like Viagra for the body. But what Greenfield never pointed out was the important differences between the two when it comes to male sexual performance and general vascular health.

That's what this chapter is for.