New York, May 21 (IANS): Two to three cups of coffee a day can help you rev up your sex life, interesting research has found.

According to researchers from the University of Texas, men who drink two to three cups of coffee a day are less likely to have erectile dysfunction (ED).

"We saw a reduction in the prevalence of ED with men who were obese, overweight and hypertensive. That was not true of men with diabetes.

"Diabetes is one of the strongest risk factors for ED so this was not surprising," explained David S Lopez, lead author and assistant professor at the University of Texas Health Science Centre at Houston (UTHealth).

The results found that men who consumed between 85 and 170 milligrams of caffeine a day were 42 percent less likely to report ED.

Those who drank between 171 and 303 milligrams of caffeine a day were 39 percent less likely to report ED compared to those who drank zero to seven milligrams a day.

This trend was also true among overweight, obese and hypertensive men.

Caffeine triggers a series of pharmacological effects that lead to the relaxation of the penile helicine arteries and the cavernous smooth muscle that lines cavernosal spaces, thus increasing penile blood flow.

Data for the study came from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and ED was assessed by a single question during a computer-assisted interview.

Caffeine sources in the study included coffee, tea, soda and sports drinks.

The study appeared in the journal PLOS ONE.