Whether you’re still in your honeymoon period or you’ve been together for years, here are tips for adding some romance into your everyday life.
From creamy avocados to bitter chocolate and nutty ants, here’s our rundown of the world’s best aphrodisiacs.
Whether you’re still in your honeymoon period or you’ve been together for years, here are tips for adding some romance into your everyday life.
1. Oysters
Edible aphrodisiacs like oysters have been used since ancient times, believed to help amp up libido, lust and even fertility.
In 2005, the oyster as aphrodisiac got a big boost as many consumer publications reported that bivalve mollusks (which include clams, oysters, mussels and scallops) had been found to have desire-inducing properties.
Even 18th-century lover boy, Casanova, saw the importance of oysters and used to breakfast on about 50 oysters.
2. Chocolate
Many people have heard that chocolate is for lovers. But it's not just because women love chocolate and get excited about opening a red, heart-shaped box. There's a biological basis for chocolate's sexy effects. Dark chocolate possesses substances that affect our moods, energy, and sexual function.
Scientists ascribe the aphrodisiac qualities of chocolate, if any, to two chemicals it contains. One, tryptophan, is a building block of serotonin, a brain chemical involved in sexual arousal. The other, phenylethylamine, a stimulant related to amphetamine, is released in the brain when people fall in love.
3. Avocado
The Aztec word for avocado is "ahuacatl," which means "testicle." But besides the sex-thetic appeal, avocados also contain high levels of folic acid, vitamin B9 (provides the body with more energy) and vitamin B6 (which helps increase testosterone production).
4. Honey
TBT to ancient Greece, when Hippocrates used to prescribe honey for sexual vigour. It contains boron, which helps regulate hormone levels and nitric oxide (which helps increase blood flow during arousal). Nitric oxide also helps open up blood vessels involved in creating erections and clitoral engorgement.
5. Bananas
Bananas contain bromelain enzyme believed to increase a man’s sex drive as well as high levels of potassium, riboflavin, and vitamin B2 (super important to keep your energy levels up while you bone).
6. Red Wine
Not only can it help you get in the mood, the resveratrol in red wine is a powerful antioxidant, which, again, helps decrease inflammation and helps quite literally get your blood pumping.
7. Watermelon
Watermelon is high in citrulline, a phytonutrient that increases the amount of nitric acid in the body, which in turn increases blood flow, blood vessel relaxation, and sexual arousal.