Caffeine, which is found in coffee and tea, is consumed by more than 85% of adults and the study was intended to investigate the association of caffeine intake and the risk of erectile dysfunction.
The study found men who had had high intakes of caffeine (85 to 303 mg) were about 40% less likely to report suffering erectile dysfunction, compared with men who had 0 to 7 mg of caffeine per day.
An inverse association between caffeine intake and risk of erectile dysfunction was also found among overnight/obese and hypertensive men, but not men with diabetes mellitus.
The data for the study came from 3742 men aged 20 years or older enrolled in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).
The study concluded that "Caffeine intake reduced the odds of prevalent ED, especially an intake equivalent to approximately 2-3 daily cups of coffee (170-375 mg/day)."
It was unclear whether or not drinking tea, which like coffee contains caffeine could also reduce the risk of erectile dysfunction.
Coffee could provide a number of other health benefits including reduction of liver diseases, according to previous studies.
