10 Sensual Aphrodisiacs And How They Got Their Reputations

Oysters, avocados, chocolate, honey: We’ve all heard that certain foods are supposed to arouse your passions when you eat them. What’s less known is the history and folklore behind these foods, which explain just how they came to be known as tools for the love-struck.

10 Oysters

The famous lover Casanova reportedly started each day with 50 oysters to prepare himself for the afternoon’s exertions. Oysters were also said to be present at the equally famous Roman orgies, and Roman doctors even prescribed them as a cure for impotence. Part of the reason for their association with love is their distinctly labial appearance, but the association also comes from the animal’s reproductive cycle.

[amazon asin=B0032ZB03G&template=*lrc ad (left)]Oysters release a flood of reproductive material directly into the water. This allows fertilization to occur externally, but people picturing the lumpy little creatures reproducing fire-hose style imagined an exhibition of great sexual prowess. And well before we knew just how oysters reproduce, they were closely associated with Aphrodite, the goddess of love and desire. All shellfish were sacred animals to her; she was said to have been born inside a clam shell, and the pearl was her sacred stone.

9 Avocado

The avocado was a favorite of Louis XIV, who swore by its ability to refresh his libido. The fruit has a creamy, soft texture and produces a sensual feeling when you eat it. But there’s another, bigger reason for the association.[amazon asin=B001G0MG2I&template=*lrc ad (right)]

Avocados hang on the trees in pairs, and they look so much like a certain body part that the Aztec word for avocado was ahuacatl, which also meant “testicle.” When the Spanish encountered Aztec culture, the avocado already had a well-established reputation as one of the fruits of love.

The fruit migrated north, and farmers had to market it to an American audience. They chose a new name to make it easier to pronounce and get rid of the connotation; the avocado’s previous alternate name, the “alligator pear,” wasn’t much more appetizing than “testicle.” The name changed to “avocado,” but its status as an aphrodisiac stuck.

[amazon asin=B000BBS94C&template=*lrc ad (left)]8 Almonds

Popular wedding favors include small bundles of candy-coated almonds, and that’s not just because they’re so tasty. The nuts have long been held to be an aphrodisiac, a belief that dates as far back as ancient Greece. Greek couples were blessed with almonds to help ensure a fruitful union, and a superstition said that should an unwed girl place almonds under her pillow, she would dream of her future husband.

In Morocco, the almond is used to transfer a bride’s good fortune to future generations, distributed to children after a couple’s wedding night. And in India, giving almonds to a member of the opposite sex is a clear proposition.

The association between almonds and fertility goes back to the Bible. Numbers 17:1–8 tells the story of rods given to the children of Israel. Aaron, who received the rod for the house of Levi, knew his line would continue when his rod budded, blossomed, and bore almonds. Almonds are also mentioned elsewhere in the Old Testament, with less explicit allusions to reproduction. One reference comes in Jeremiah 1:11. When God asks Jeremiah what he sees before him, he replies that he sees the fruits of the almond tree.

Read the rest of the article

The Best of Debra Kelly