This is the first in a series of articles about 'things' that make us more sexually receptive or stimulated.

FOOD as an aphrodisiac

Through the ages, food has been thought to give people special powers, enhance certain senses, change moods, and increase sexual desire. I know that personally, if I'm feeling down, there's nothing like about a pound of chocolate to lift my mood! Food affects us with a combination of various sensuous reactions - the visual satisfaction of the sight of appetizing food, the olfactory stimulation of their pleasing smells and the tactile gratification afforded the oral mechanism by rich, savory dishes. This all tends to bring on a state of general euphoria conducive to sexual expression.

It's documented back into the early Egyptian days of folks using certain foods to make someone more attracted to them. One of their ancient secrets to increase a man's sexual performance was to make a soup from the leg bone of a (humanely, "Halal" slaughtered according to Islam is preferred) cow or sheep. Include fresh onions, garlic, thyme, cayenne and greens. Stew for at least two hours. Effects upon men are immediate and long lasting. Take once a week for sustained, super human benefits. Now who would have thought that?

Spicy Foods are thought to be an aphrodisiac too. Cayenne has many benefits to our systems and one of them is thought to be a sexual stimulant. Not only does it release endorphins into the systems of men and women and build the immune system, but also in men it builds and fans a fire. Loaded with vitamin C, the erotic effects will be most effective shortly after consumption. Cayenne is hot in every way. The more you can stand, the better. The powdered pepper in a soup or sauce that is cooked is best.

Pine seeds appear to have a reputation as an aphrodisiac all around the Mediterranean as well as in the East. Pine nuts can be served as snacks (far better than popcorn during a romantic movie!) and are also a major constituent of some aphrodisiac dishes. Pine nut soup is a favorite and a recipe for it can be found at Here

Grapes and fresh figs, strawberries and raspberries, sorbets and ices are just about the sexiest food you can eat and feed to each other anywhere, anytime. The act of feeding someone, and the oral contact is extremely sensual to both the feeder and the person being fed.

Of course, then there are foods that actually resemble sexual organs, and even certain animal genitalia that are used as sexual stimulants. Seal penises were once big sellers in parts of Indonesia, and lion penises even bigger in Africa. Camels' humps, sea cucumbers (which swell when touched), snakes, eels, carrots, asparagus, mandrake, gingerroot, bananas, and even rhinoceros horns (ground to a powder and then eaten) all resemble the male sex organ and are eaten as an aphrodisiac. Okra is also penis shaped. The fruit pod of a plant native to tropical Africa, Okra is rich in Magnesium, is a natural relaxant and contains Iron, Folates, Zinc and Vitamin B, all food for the sexual glands - and is well known in many countries for its use as an aphrodisiac. To prepare Okra, cut off the stem end and carefully peel the thick skin, so that the whole pod is edible (caution that you don't puncture the pod). Then to every 500g of Okra, put in a bowl: 1 cup of vinegar, leave to soak for 30 minutes, then drain and rinse well. Eat raw or you can fry in olive oil, but you must dry the Okra first. Fry with the lid on, to steam and cook at the same time, regularly turning the Okra till lightly brown. Serve with a little lemon juice - delicious. (They taste like asparagus.) You can buy Okra at any gourmet fruit and vegetable shop

Then there are the 'female' foods, cherries, dates, figs, artichokes, avocados, and oysters Casanova, the legendary lover used oysters, along with chocolate and champagne, in many of sexual conquests. This combination must have been a good one, since two nuns were among his reported conquests!

Other foods historically considered aphrodisiac include sweet potatoes, chilies, vanilla, onions, tomatoes (called "love apples" in the Renaissance), mushrooms, dove brains, tigers' whiskers, goose tongues, pine nuts, goat liver, the musk glands of a deer, and believe it or not — Spam (relished by post-WWII Italians).
Lastly - if you need an antidote .. if any of these concoctions work too well - Italian experiments demonstrate that ordinary liqorice can make men loose their sex drive. The results have been reported in New England Journal of Medicine. (A similar decrease in testosterone production can also be achieved by smoking about 10 marijuana cigarettes per week.)

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