, Do Aphrodisiacs Really Work? I Tried 10 for the Sake of Sexy Science

Alex Testere

“Good food leads to good sex,” said the late culinary icon Anthony Bourdain. I think many, myself included, would agree. Food and sex are two of life’s most beloved pleasures. One of the most classic “would you rather” questions asks if you’d pick food over sex, or vice versa. So, it’s no surprise the two are often intertwined, perhaps most sensually in the form of aphrodisiacs. 

The word aphrodisiac (which stems from Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of sex and love) alone is enough to conjure the erotic. When I hear it, I taste the electric brine of a raw oyster, pomegranates dripping with pink juice, or the velvety feel of dark chocolate on the tongue. In recent years, we’ve associated aphrodisiacs with Valentine’s Day classics: Champagne and seafood, chocolate-dipped strawberries and whipped cream. Some aphrodisiacs, like maca and ginseng, have gained notoriety in the wellness scenes, and now come in the form of $20 smoothies from Erewhon.

But “foods that get you in the mood” have a history as rich as their flavor. While today we like to justify our aphrodisiacs with science-backed research, historians have noted that our ancestors had all sorts of explanations for why certain foods carried a sense of eroticism. 

“I like to divide aphrodisiacs broadly, and into six categories,” says Dr. Ursula Janssen, archaeologist, culinary historian, and author. The first is shape analogy; think foods, like oysters or asparagus that resemble male or female anatomy. The second is high-protein foods, which historically

This Article was originally published on Saveur

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