Aphrodisiacs have been used, since the night of times, in the whole world, by natural and traditional medicine, in order to prepare potions and other love elixirs to increase the libido and the desire, to
stimulate the virility and the sexual performances of the male and female. It's in Aphrodite, goddess of the love that is at the origin of the word aphrodisiac.
Demonstrating a clear link between a particular food and increased libido is a tough proposition for scientists, however.
Besides the obvious difficulties of designing clinical trials, the fact that foods have multiple effects on the senses and the body makes it difficult to sort out which function of a given food is actually at work.
The way a food looks, smells, tastes or even the way it feels can make it "sexy." In more scientific terms, by helping to produce sex hormones, increasing our energy and improving our mood, certain foods can influence sexual desire.
Foods are thought to be aphrodisiacs for a number of reasons:
Some gain that distinction simply because they remind us of parts of the anatomy (bananas, celery, asparagus, peaches, melons, oysters).
Spicy fare like hot peppers, curries and ginger makes people feel sexy because they cause sweating, increased heart rate and flushing, sensations normally associated with getting it on.
Dishes containing vanilla, licorice or truffles give off a scent that whets the appetite for both food and sex.
Then there are edibles that are rich in nutrients that may improve both desire and performance. Still other foods taste so good that some of us swear they are "as good as" or "better than sex".
This type of "Stimulating Plants" Have Been Used for Ages:
to help infertility and sterility
for purposes of seduction
to improve potency
to spice up your sex life
Overall, those estimulating foods seem to be more the stuff of folklore than of science. But in the realm of food and love, the power of the imagination is not to be ignored—believing something's an aphrodisiac may well make it so. Yet all the oysters in the world cannot take the place of the ultimate aphrodisiac.
As the Roman philosopher Seneca once promised, "I will show you a philter without potions, without herbs, without any witch's incantation...if you wish to be loved, love."
