A Dish Named Desire

The thousand-year search for aphrodisiac foods.

Imagine it. Every time you want to spice up your sex life, all you need do is to get busy in the kitchen. A few choice ingredients set out on a plate, maybe blended together, maybe not. Whatever, it’s more like taking a few pills, than eating a meal. And then, voila, just a while later, you begin noticing the effects – soaring arousal for both you and your partner. And all of this comes courtesy of no more than some savvy food shopping. 

Somehow it seems like a pipe dream. But is it? We all know people who swear by certain foodstuffs, and perhaps we can even list a few aphrodisiac foods ourselves. But deep down we know they probably don’t work that reliably and we probably can’t be bothered to research them – or, hopefully, we just don’t need to. But many others are still busy looking for a fix to up their libido. That supposedly simple search for those elusive kitchen ingredients is still on-going. In fact it’s been going on for centuries and centuries. We know for a fact that the Ancient Romans were also busy grinding up spices, eating ridiculous amounts of certain fruits and promoting certain foods over others – all in a giddy search for increased potency, desire and just plain enjoyment. 

Let’s face it, they – and everyone else who’s ever tried – have failed to find even one magic food that stands out from all others for guaranteeing arousal just after it’s been digested. Yet the research goes on, mostly not on a particularly scientific basis, yet with enduring zest. So surely, there are some discoveries to report? Indeed there are. Though it’s not that instant fix that so many of us would like to find. But certain natural foodstuffs can aid in increasing desire. 

Now that you're in Thailand, here’s a further incentive to go for spicy foods: fiery peppers contain capsaicin, a chemical that increases circulation and stimulates nerve endings sparking arousal. It’s easy to imagine that’s what happens with these hot, hot peppers but did you know that asparagus and avocados are also brilliant when it comes to mood boosting? Both of these green vegetables contain much-needed vitamin E, which in turn enables your body to produce sex hormones such as testosterone, oestrogen, and progesterone.

Oysters meanwhile, are commonly associated with arousal. Why? Because they're full of zinc, which increases testosterone. Watermelons contain nitrous oxide, a substance that makes blood vessels relax, thereby providing more arousal, while bananas are great for muscle strength and will provide a boost for stamina. Vanilla is said to be a mild nerve stimulant, and some people like to chew on a vanilla pod or two before hopping into bed. 

Chocolate is beginning, once again, to figure prominently as a health tonic. Phenyl ethylamine is a mood enhancer contained in chocolate, which produces dopamine, which in turn is responsible for moods. The more dopamine is released, the better we feel. But, it turns out, there’s not that much phenyl ethylamine in chocolate. 

Pumpkin, flaxseeds, salmon and walnuts are also important for the diet in that they contain omega-3 fatty acids. Fatty? Acids? It hardly sounds like a good combination for arousal, does it? But over time, these acids will boost your system, and your sex life will be all the better for it. You can of course always revert to drugs and strange natural products. Alcohol and marijuana are considered top of the list, simply because they take away inhibitions. Then there’s bark and beetles to chew on. Cantharides are crumbled pieces of the blister beetle. The name comes from the blisters that humans get when they touch the beetle, and eating it is considered very dangerous. Yohimbine is the bark of the yohimbe tree, which is an age old means to boost sexual powers, though you have to take it in such quantity that it becomes toxic. A bark ‘n beetles soiree sounds like it could be a medical emergency in the making rather than an exciting time between the sheets. 

There’s no real verdict yet on aphrodisiac foods. But what about their opposites – anaphrodisiacs? The word simply means anything that causes desire to decrease. There's a good case for concentrating on these rather than aphrodisiacs, because once you take away all that flattens your sexual response, you’ve effectively brought it more centre stage. Crisps, beer and cigarettes have never been associated with high performance sex; neither have TV and a sedentary lifestyle. If you can avoid fried foods, trans fats, sugar – all the usual suspects that you know about already – then you’ll be better off when you want to feel intimate. Let there be arousal between you rather than doughnuts. 

But you can always hope for the best and spend months on Google, and maybe you'll come across some highly obscure nut, fruit, seed or insect that you’ve never heard of and which will completely turn around even the unhappiest of sex lives. The search continues after all!