The big day is coming up, and if you’re one of the lucky ones, you’ll also have a big night (wink, wink). LOL!
Here are 10 aphrodisiacs to give you a little extra boost with that special someone (compiled by Huffpo):
Oysters
Oysters’ aphrodisiac fame comes from their suggestive shape and briny flavor. Rumor has it that Casanova, the great 18th century Venetian lover, used to dine on 50 oysters a day.
Chocolate
Chocolate’s reputation as romantic fuel can be traced all the way back to the Aztecs, but it truly ran wild in eighteenth-century Western Europe. Autobiographies of the Marquis de Sade reveal that the salacious noble distributed chocolates laced with Spanish fly at his infamous balls, in order to inconspicuously arouse his guests.
Anise
Roman doctors prescribed anise — which does actually have a narcotic effect when eaten in large doses — as both an aphrodisiac and an antidote to poison.
Avocado
While its smooth flesh is undoubtedly sensual, avocado’s aphrodisiac status derives primarily from its resemblance to male sexual organs as the fruit hangs on the tree. (The Aztec word for testicles is ahuacatl.)
Saffron
In ancient Persia, women in wedding parties sprinkled saffron on the marital beds of newlyweds to encourage sexual activity and fertility.
Basil
In Moldavian folklore, if a man accepts a sprig of basil from a woman, he is destined to fall in love with her.
Hot Peppers
The sixteenth-century Jesuit priest José de Acosta wrote a pamphlet warning Spanish explorers in Mexico and Peru not to eat the local chili peppers, describing in detail their effect in provoking lustful thoughts. The capsaicin in hot peppers can raise the heart rate, a feeling that mimics sexual arousal.
Nutmeg
Practitioners of Unani, a traditional medicine popular in India, prescribe nutmeg as a sexual stimulant.
Honey
Honey was a primary ingredient in many ancient Egyptian cures for sterility and impotence.
Truffles
Famous for their musky, earthy aroma, today, truffles are considered an amorous ingredient as much for their luxuriousness as their sexual connotations. Accounts of the life of Madame de Pompadour, King Louis IV’s lover, describe her adherence to a diet of vanilla, truffles, and celery; she believed that it would provide her with the sexual stamina needed to satisfy the king.
[Image via AP Images.]
