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Gardening boosts men's sex lives, claims study
telegraph.co.uk
By Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent
Last Updated: 4:59PM GMT 15 Jan 2009
Gardening really can help you make the earth move, according to a new study which found it improves men's sex lives.
As little as 30 minutes a week tending the garden or allotment can dramatically improve men's performance in bed, according to the experts in the field.
Digging, weeding or mowing the lawn for half an hour reduced men's risk of failing to live up to expectations in bed by more than a third, the survey found.
The same study showed other forms of moderate exercise, such as dancing and cycling, could have similar benefits.
Men who spend even more time in the vegetable patch can more than halve their risk of impotence, researchers at the Medical University of Vienna found in their study.
"Erectile function can be maintained even by low, regular physical activity," concludes the report. "Energy expenditure of as little as 1,000 calories a week reduces the risk. Doctors should use these findings to encourage their patients to do more physical training and adopt a healthier lifestyle."
Impotence is thought to affect one in ten men in Britain at some stage in their life.
Around 30 per cent of cases are due to psychological factors, such as depression or pressure at work.
But the remaining 70 per cent have some underlying physical cause, such as diabetes or high blood pressure.
Some doctors believe it is an early sign of heart disease as reduced blood flow to the genitals is a sign of clogged arteries.
Two-thirds of sufferers become depressed.
Although a healthy lifestyle is known to help combat impotence, until now there has no clear indication just how much is needed.
The latest study, published in the journal European Urology, shows men do not have to be keep-fit fanatics to reap the benefits and need to burn just 1,000 calories a week.
This equates to gardening for 30 to 45 minutes, dancing for half an hour, cycling four miles in 15 minutes or jogging 1.5 miles in the same time.
This reduced impotence by around 38 per cent, the research showed.
Men who burned off up to 4,000 kilocalories a week saw their impotence risk drop almost 52 per cent.
Gardening programmes and presenters such as Alan Titchmarsh and Charlie Dimmock have created a surge in the popularity of gardening.
There has been a huge growth in the popularity of allotments and the move towards organic food has made growing your own vegetables fashionably.
Some people have become so obsessed about their garden that there are worries that people are getting addicted to the pursuit just like they would to gambling or drugs.
The findings by scientists at Bremen University in Germany are controversial, as many experts refuse to believe that behaviour, rather than chemicals, can be addictive.
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Originally Posted by Hawkr
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I admire germanics for their close relationship with the earth and I've seen it is common for men to engage in gardening. 
), nor does 'masculine' type of gardening include tree planting. 'Real men' can grow herbs, plant cacti, prune bushes and even care for bulbs and flowers without becoming gay. 
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