“I have seen claims on social media saying that semen retention can boost your testosterone levels, cure erectile dysfunction, make you more manly, make you stronger, cure depression, make you more successful, clear your skin,” says Ashley Winter, a urologist who has been publicly critical of nofap ideas.

“And there is no medical evidence that it does any of those things,” she says, adding that in many male adults, abstaining from ejaculation will merely result in “nocturnal emissions,” or wet dreams.

Why would your body respond to a perceived glut of mating (your body cannot tell the difference between intercourse and masturbation) with erectile disfunction? That would be a negative response spiral that would ensure extinction. It’s actually the other way around: if functions of your body aren’t getting used, they get cannibalized to save energy. This is why people with penises get erections at night: your body is ensuring it still works. Same reason why nocturnal emissions happen. Your body will ensure you can successfully mate even if you aren’t mating on a regular basis.