9 Powerful ways coffee can boost libido and sex

Wouldn’t it be great if our favorite drink could boost libido, while also having lots of benefits?

Such as boosting sexual desire, motivation, drive, energy, testosterone, dopamine, erections, etc, etc.

Sounds great right? Go get yourself another cup of joe before reading further.

I’m going to discuss with you 9 reasons why coffee has a strong effect on male libido and might be great for your sex life.

#1 Coffee improves mood, which enhances libido

Coffee has been shown to enhance mood and reduce depression. I don’t know about you, but it’s much easier to have high libido if you’re in a good mood.

The way coffee enhances mood is mainly by increasing dopamine and noradrenaline.

You might be familiar with serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor (SNRIs) drugs for depression. They increase the amount of noradrenaline in synapsis, which has anti-depressant effects.

Drugs that increase dopamine or active dopamine receptors, such as methylphenidate (Ritalin), Selegiline, apomorphine, bromocriptine, etc., also have mood-uplifting effects.

Caffeine has also been shown to increase the dopamine receptors D2 and D3 in the striatum. The area of the brain involved in arousal (R). Libido is a state of arousal. Healthy arousal will help to boost libido.

At low doses, caffeine improves hedonic tone (feeling pleasant) and reduces anxiety, while at high doses, there is an increase in tense arousal, including anxiety, nervousness, and jitteriness (R). Everyone has to find their sweet spot for caffeine intake.

Interestingly, 100mg of caffeine 2 hours before sex has been shown to enhance erections, while helping you last longer as well.

Related article:

• The ultimate guide to fixing premature ejaculation

#2 Coffee boosts energy

Libido is energy. How horny are you when you’re tired and fatigued? Not much right?

We all know that coffee gives us energy and reduces mental fatigue (R). That’s why almost 80% of the population needs their morning coffee to get them going.

The way coffee helps give us energy is by increasing dopamine, noradrenaline, and brain energy production while lowering serotonin (R).

Yes, excess serotonin causes a low sex drive. One of the most common side effects of SSRI anti-depressants is low libido.

Serotonin is also involved in fatigue and caffeine has been shown to reduce serotonin production and availability and prevent fatigue (R).

Higher dopamine and noradrenaline and lower serotonin are the perfect blend for high libido.

#3 Coffee and erections

Caffeine consumers tend to have a lower risk of erectile dysfunction (ED) compared to non-caffeine drinkers.

According to this study, men who consumed 85-170 mg/day and 171-303 mg/day of caffeine daily were less likely to report ED compared to men who consumed 0-7 mg/day. 2-3 daily cups of coffee (170-375 mg caffeine) reduced the odds of ED. This reduction was mainly seen among overweight/obese and hypertensive, but not among diabetic men.

A 2018 study found no significant differences in ED in men who drank ≥4 cups per day compared to non-coffee drinkers (R).

At worse, coffee doesn’t help with erections, but at best, it might help.

There are a way mechanisms that coffee can help. These include:

• Coffee, regardless of the amount of caffeine, has many anti-oxidants that can help to improve the health of your blood vessels.
• Caffeine promotes eNOS, which promotes NO production (R). This improves vasodilation and blood flow.
• Up-regulating cavernous cGMP, which promotes vasodilation (R).
• Caffeine is a natural non-selective PDE inhibitor. Drugs like Viagra or Cialis are PDE5 inhibitors, which potentiate the effect of NO. Caffeine can do the same.
• Promoting the relaxation of the cavernous smooth muscle, which is essential for better erections (R)

In summary, nitric oxide (NO) promotes cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) production. Phosphodiesterase (PDE) breaks down cGMP, thus reducing the effectiveness of NO.

Caffeine increases both NO and cGMP, while inhibiting PDE. This will allow for better and stronger erections.

Also keep in mind that too much coffee will increase noradrenaline too much, which can cause anxiety, jitteriness, cold hands and feet, frequent urination, and vasoconstriction. All of which will kill your libido.

This could mean that 1 person might get all the benefits of caffeine from a cup of tea, whereas another can enjoy a double espresso for the same benefits. The right amount of coffee can help to boost erectile function and enhance sexual performance.

#4 Coffee and libido

Libido is controlled in a complex way by the autonomic nervous system (part of the central nervous system), of which there are two parts; sympathetic and parasympathetic.

The sympathetic nervous system promotes energy levels, motivation, drive, libido, and sexual desire, but too much can contribute to anxiety and erectile dysfunction.

The parasympathetic nervous system helps you stay calm and get great erections, but too much activation can make you feel too laid back (kills libido) and delay ejaculation too much.

Coffee stimulates the sympathetic nervous system and promotes the release of dopamine and noradrenaline.

Yohimbine, a very common sexual stimulant, also increases noradrenaline. Yohimbine stimulates penile erection via autonomic activation and can reverse the sexual inhibition that follows sexual exhaustion in male rats (R).

Lastly, coffee also increases glutamate, which some people rank as the king of libido. Glutamate is also involved in arousal, focus, and libido (R).

If you do feel a good boost in libido from coffee, but it makes you feel too stimulated, then take theanine and taurine with it. I prefer a 2:1 ratio of theanine to coffee and about 2g of taurine. Taurine also helps with erections and delays ejaculation a bit.

Stack:

• 100mg caffeine
• 200mg theanine
• 2g taurine

#5 Coffee and endurance capacity

Coffee helps with endurance capacity and reduces sensitivity to pain. Why is this important? Well, sex is also an endurance act, depending on how long you do it.

#6 Coffee and focus

If you can’t stay focused and alert, it is hard to be present and enjoy something. This can lead to loss of interest and subsequently your erection.

#7 Coffee and testosterone

Coffee might help to slightly increase testosterone, which will have a positive effect on libido and sexual function.

Coffee intake on testosterone

According to this study, drinking 5 cups of coffee daily increased total testosterone and decreased total and free estradiol (R). However, this was only for 4 weeks. By week 8, testosterone was more or less at the same level it was when they just started. Testosterone went from 387.9 to 546.2ng/dl and then 403.8ng/dl after 4 and 8 weeks respectively.

Free testosterone went from 8 to 11.7ng/dl and then 8ng/dl after 4 and 8 weeks respectively.

Estrogen levels went from 24 to 22.5pg/ml and then 25.2pg/ml after 4 and 8 weeks respectively.

So, basically, most of the boost was seen after 4 weeks, which then went away after 8 weeks.

Decaffeinated coffee didn’t boost testosterone.

Caffeine intake on testosterone

Lopez et al in 2019 looked at surveys done in 1999-2004 and 2011-2012 and didn’t find a positive or negative effect of caffeine intake on testosterone. These surveys included 2581 men who consumed between 0 and >451 mg/day of caffeine.

Interestingly, Glover et al, in a recent study, looked at the 2013–2014 NHANES survey which included 372 adult men. Contrary to Lopez et al, they found an inverse correlation between caffeine and testosterone (R).

You can see testosterone drop as people consumed more caffeine.

I should point out that this an only a survey study and not a double-blind placebo controlled study. Also, they looked at caffeine intake, which included energy drinks, supplements, coffee, tea, etc.

On 1 side we have a study with over 2500 people showing that caffeine doesn’t lower testosterone and on the other side we have a study with under 400 people showing that caffeine lowers testosterone.

This data is not going to stop me from my morning cup of coffee or energy drinks.

Why caffeine might lower testosterone

One of the main mechanisms of caffeine is that it inhibits adrenaline receptors. Adenosine receptors are found in the testes, and the study above speculates that inhibition of adenosine receptors might affect testosterone production.

In addition to caffeine, the metabolically active products of caffeine metabolism including theophylline and theobromine of the xanthine class have been shown to have direct effects on gonadotropin-induced steroidogenesis (R). However, the dose that might lower testosterone levels is likely too high to negatively affect humans.

400mg caffeine supplementation on sex hormones

In this study, researchers gave men 200mg caffeine x2 daily (400mg total) for 7 days and checked their DHEA, androstenedione, and melatonin (R). Androstenedione is the direct precursor to testosterone and in general, an increase in androstenedione will lead to higher testosterone.

After 7 days, neither DHEA or androstenedione increased or decreased. The study does have limitations since they didn’t look at 5-alpha reduced steroids, such as androsterone or DHT, which might have increased.

It’s highly unlikely that caffeine will lower testosterone and it’s more likely that good-quality coffee will help to increase testosterone.

#8 Coffee/caffeine can help to reverse sexual dysfunction

One of the prominent side effects of SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) is sexual dysfunction; low libido, fatigue, erectile dysfunction, orgasm dysfunction, etc.

The stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system by caffeine has been shown to reverse the sexual side effects induced by SSRIs (in rats) (R).

And again, as mentioned above, caffeine helps to lower excess serotonin, thus reducing fatigue and boosting libido (R).

#9 Coffee can help manage stress

Coffee can actually have anti-stress effects (R). How do you feel when you drink a good cup of coffee? Pretty good right? Feeling good is a great way to be more stress resilient.

Most people would think that caffeine worsens stress because it stimulates the adrenal glands to release cortisol (a stress hormone) and adrenaline. But the good news is that coffee consumption can improve your stress levels.

Green coffee extract helps to lower cortisol, reduce blood pressure and improve blood vessel health (R).

Even if coffee increases cortisol slightly, that’s actually a good thing when it comes to libido. Becoming aroused has been shown to increase both testosterone and cortisol. Coffee can help to boost dopamine and perhaps cortisol, which can help to boost libido.

Common Causes of Erectile Dysfunction

The most common causes of erectile dysfunction include:

• Obesity
• Diabetes
• Sleep apnea
• Gut inflammation
• Prostatitis
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Nutritional deficiencies
• etc.

Can energy drinks have the same effect as coffee on male libido?

Coffee contains hundreds of beneficial compounds, and caffeine is just one of those. Above in the ED section, caffeine specifically has many benefits for boosting libido and erections. Namely boosting dopamine and noradrenaline and increasing NO.

So caffeine-containing soft drinks might have some of the same benefits as coffee.

Energy drinks, such as Monster, also contain taurine and panax ginseng, which can also help to boost libido and erections.

Don’t expect that the effects of coffee or caffeine will be as potent as Melanotan 2 or PT-141. It’s likely to be a lot milder.

Side effects of too much coffee

Despite coffee having benefits, it can also have side effects.

Some of the adverse effects of high caffeine consumption including restlessness, insomnia, dehydration, high blood pressure (in sensitive individuals) and cardiac abnormalities (rapid heart rate) are well-documented. Too much coffee for me makes me feel hypoglycemic and it even boosts my hunger instead of lowering it.

Summary: the effects of coffee on male libido

There is no strong evidence that coffee might improve sexual health, but the research suggests that coffee might help with firmer erections while boosting libido.

I still enjoy 1 cup of coffee each day, and have an energy drink most days (just because I like the taste).