The rumour of coffee making your sex life better has set the internet alight, but how true is it?
The rumour of coffee making your sex life better has set the internet alight, but how true is it?
We’ve all heard the rumour. If you want to make your sex life better, the answer lies in the bean. No, not that kind of magic bean, but rather magic coffee beans.
That’s right, a new theory about sex and coffee has gone viral, resulting in many thoughts, feelings and vibrators being thrown out the window.
But before you turn on your trusty buzz-buzz toy, I’ve done the digging, I’ve trolled the internet and I’ve got the answer on whether this rumour is the real deal, or if it’s about as true as when Chad told you he really was “studying” with Sarah.
It all began with Dr Karan Rajan, a surgeon for England’s National Health Service (NHS) and a popular educator on social media.
Taking to TikTok, Rajan revealed to his 5.2 million followers (and basically everyone else who came across his video on the app) that consuming coffee before engaging in the “horizontal bedsheet tango” can intensify your big O - AKA your orgasm.
The mind-blowing theory was enough to have hundreds of eager lovers throw their copy of the Kama Sutra in the bin, and for some, it proved to be a more iconic duo than Samantha Jones and her Sex And The City comeback. But for others, it was about as exciting as getting socks for Christmas.
One woman who put the theory to the test shared her PG-rated review on the video streaming platform. After sculling back three shots of espresso, she returned to the video dishevelled and said, “That was wild.”
Meanwhile, another user of the app took to the comment section, saying it would never work for her because coffee intensified her experience “on the toilet”, and honestly, this girl gets it, because she had plenty of users agreeing.
But, as Mum always said, you can’t believe everything you read on the internet, which is perhaps why Rajan took matters into his own hands and went on to explain the science behind the theory.
In a video that has been viewed more than 2.2m times, the doctor said low doses of coffee have “mainly a vasoconstrictor effect”, meaning it narrows blood vessels. However, high doses of the popular drink have a “vasodilator effect”, meaning it widens the blood vessels and improves blood flow.
Can coffee really improve your sex life? TikTok thinks so. Photo / 123RF
“Arousal and orgasms are largely based on the amount of blood flowing to your crown jewels: the better your circulation, the more flow to your erectile tissue - thus, the more likely you are to reach states of arousal that set the stage for a great orgasm,” he told followers.
Meaning more coffee equates to more blood flow - and this, friends, is where the magic happens.
Referring to Southwestern University’s 2006 study, Rajan explains the sexual behaviour of female rats is affected by moderate doses of caffeine. It’s a fact that has been expanded on by many sexologists and sexuality coaches, including Pallavi Barnwal, who told Cosmopolitan caffeine can cause a mild increase in the hormone dopamine, which has a positive impact on libido.
However, that alone doesn’t mean your orgasms will be better, as sexologist and certified intuitive eating counsellor Satori Madrone told Bustle magazine, confessing, “[Sex drive] is complex, and includes desire and the subjective experience as well”, not just physical arousal or stamina.
That leaves us to conclude that ultimately, it comes down to the individual female and what they prefer. So, what about men?
Thanks to the buzz of the rumour, many other studies regarding the trend have emerged, revealing that coffee before sex could be beneficial for men as well as women.
Whether coffee improves your sex life or makes little difference is entirely dependent on the person. Photo / 123RF
The Independent cited a study by the University of Texas Health Science Centre that found men - especially those over 20 years old - who consume two to three cups of coffee per day were less likely to experience erectile dysfunction compared to those who avoided caffeine altogether.
They stated two cups might be the limit, as the researchers also found the result dipped slightly to 39 per cent for men drinking three a day.
So while it seems this rumour is one that depends entirely on the person and can result in many “it works” and “it doesn’t work” answers, you know what, we’ll take it. It’s almost Christmas, and like the All Blacks, we deserve a win this weekend.
Lillie Rohan is an Auckland-based reporter covering lifestyle and entertainment stories who joined the Herald in 2020. She specialises in all things relationships and dating, great Taylor Swift ticket wars and TV shows you simply cannot miss out on.
