I’ve read porn stars eat broccoli to increase their loads. Any truth to that? Are there other foods you can eat for that effect? — William F., Charleston, S.C.
I have done a lot of research on ways to increase the volume of semen during ejaculation (just for educational purposes, of course), and it’s amazing to me that no one is publishing any studies on this in the medical literature. I found a single study that showed that chronic use of sildenafil (the active ingredient in Viagra) seems to cause an increase in volume of ejaculate. Other than that, the literature is silent on this subject.
Broccoli may indeed increase your “ropes.” There’s no way to tell if it would work on the general public, however, without doing a special kind of study called the “double blind, placebo controlled trial.” To answer a medical question like “does broccoli increase splooge volume,” you’d have to choose two groups of people who are matched in every way imaginable. You’d then give one group broccoli in capsules (so they didn’t know what they were taking), and give the other group an inert substance in identical capsules. The key to a successful study is that neither the researchers nor the patients know which one they’re taking. You’d then have them masturbate into a cup and measure the volume of the ejaculate. Maybe you’d have them do it 10 times and average the volume. After all this was done, you’d “decode” the study and find out who took placebo and who took broccoli. If the broccoli group had a statistically higher amount of jizz than the placebo group, then you’ve gone a long way toward proving your hypothesis.
The funny thing about studies like this is that there will usually be a strong “placebo effect,” meaning that the group taking the fake pills noticed an increase in their eruption, too. If people believe there will be a positive effect from a treatment, very often there will be a positive effect even if the treatment is a sham. The placebo effect is not a function of people lying or being fooled, but rather a very powerful effect that has to be subtracted out of every single medical study we do.
The porn stars you’ve heard of may have discovered the secret to voluminous ejaculatory discharge, or they may simply be experiencing the placebo effect. The truth is out there — someone just needs to do the study to find out.
Dr. Steve is The Opie & Anthony Show’s resident medical expert and the host of his own Sirius XM Radio program, Weird Medicine.
