Published December 16, 2014 by Lindsey Treffry . Last Updated January 26, 2018.

Most of the dating world knows that vegans have big hearts, but not everyone knows that vegans also have these bedroom benefits:

Your equipment works better.

Ditch the Viagra and extended-hour condoms and go vegan instead. Doctors agree: The best way to prevent artery blockages, improve heart health, and lower blood pressure is to eat a diet high in fiber, including fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. These foods help clear your arteries and get your blood flowing to, well, the important parts.

You’re more fertile.

Want good-quality sperm? Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic say it’s simple: Eat your fruits and veggies, especially tomatoes, which are loaded with sperm-friendly lycopene.

For those looking to reproduce (whether now or down the road), you can feel confident knowing that eating vegan plays an important role in fertility. Several studies indicate that frequent intake of lipophilic foods—i.e., meat and dairy products—can negatively affect sperm quality, whereas fruits and vegetables may maintain or even improve it.

Not only have researchers found that processed-meat intake is related to lower-quality sperm, they’ve also found that infertile men have significantly higher concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyl and other contaminants in their seminal plasma: The highest averages of those concentrations were found in urban fish-eaters.

Plus, eating meat increases the amount of synthetic hormones that you consume. These hormones may contribute to a reduced sperm count and a higher risk of testicular tumors.

You taste better.

Meat and dairy products are distasteful in more ways than one, women insist. Former porn star Annie Sprinkle says vegetarians taste best. Eating fruit and drinking fruit juice a few hours before sex is thought to improve the taste, while cigarettes, alcohol, meat, dairy products, and deep-fried foods make semen less palatable.

And you’ll last longer.

A Danish study tested the stamina of meat-eaters against vegetarians and found that men “peddling on a stationary bicycle until muscle failure lasted an average of 114 minutes on a mixed meat and vegetable diet, 57 minutes on a high-meat diet, and a whopping 167 minutes on a strict vegetarian diet.”

So eat up, protect yourself, and have fun while you’re at it.