Close Please enter your Username and Password
Reset Password
If you've forgotten your password, you can enter your email address below. An email will then be sent with a link to set up a new password.
Cancel
Reset Link Sent
Password reset link sent to
Check your email and enter the confirmation code:
Don't see the email?
  • Resend Confirmation Link
  • Start Over
Close
If you have any questions, please contact Customer Service
My Magazine > Editors Archive > Advice > The Love Drugs (I)
The Love Drugs (I)   by Maris Lemieux

Member Votes

3 votes
4 votes
9 votes
14 votes
55 votes
Don't like So so Good Very Good Excellent
Members can vote on this response!

Editor Article Search

Text:  

Aphrodisiacs -- Spanish Fly, Jimson Weed, Mandrake -- a few drops and your mate's all over you, or a few drops and you're fired up like a hot rod on nitro. But not so fast. Most of the more legendary horniness-helpers are actually hazardous to your health -- and in a fast-acting way. True to the rumors, Spanish fly (made of yummy crushed up beetle parts) is likely to make a lady "hot" and give a guy an erection -- but her heat will make peeing painful and his erection will be more like priapism with the bonus sensation of acid burn from bladder to bulb. You are so not having fun on Spanish Fly that sex is the furthest thing from your mind. Mark Spanish Fly off your list. The forked root of the Mandrake also has a fine reputation, going back to the days of sympathetic magic. As the theory went, if it looks like a man and it forks like a man, then it will make you virile like a man. Well, wrong. Mandrake is a poison once used as a narcotic during primitive surgeries, and it has hallucinogenic potential in its bag of tricks. About the only person who'd find Mandrake a sex enhancement would be someone whose love machine peaks while they're tripping and delirious. But even this rare person would have to deal with the tricky issue of getting the dosage right -- that would be to make sure that their best lay wasn't their last. In fact most of the legendary sex potions and love drugs are actually poisons, irritants, or other nasty business whose only success has been in their users' minds.

That is not to say that there are no aphrodisiacs. And the good news is that you don't have to bury a salamander until the new moon and clip its toenails to make these potions. You can find most of them at the health food store. Not only are there aphrodisiacal herbs, vitamins and nutrients, but there are aphrodisiacal properties in many aromas which you can find in concentrated oils at just about any health food store. And there are even certain foods that, while they may not make a blushing violet into a roaring tiger, they can sure enhance the mood.

Recently, we've also learned that human pheromones work a lot the same way as insect and animal pheromones -- they're very alluring and have a tendency to arouse. Pheromones are detected by a sensor that is part of the nasal system (VNO, vomeronasal organ), but is independent of smell. So, you can't "smell" pheromones, but somewhere, some part of you knows when they're in the neighborhood. Now, as visually-oriented humans, we don't rely as heavily on our pheromones to tell us who and when we should mate as, say, bees do. But pheromone power is always at work in its own little world. And studies are still trying to figure out that world.

Pheremones hang out in human sweat, for example. So though sweat may not be the first attractant you'd want to have going for you, it could be hard at work carrying your secret come-on to everyone around you. Pheromones are also highly present in skin and hair, so if you're on a mate hunt and you want to your pheromones to fly free, you should wear loose clothing, keep your hair a bit longer, and let it loose. So far studies present a scattered picture of which pheromones (male or female) have which effects on which sex. Some studies suggest that the mere presence of any pheromones makes everyone calm. There are theories that say you are attracted to a mate based on their "pheromone print" which is most likely complementary to your own. So, put all that mixed information together and experiment for yourself.

Of course, when people consider aphrodisiacs, they're often hoping for a quick burst of uncontrollable appetite that comes on them or their lover shortly after consumption. Scientific studies have shown that at least a few substances work this way -- but the degree to which you feel the effects is tempered quite a bit by your state of health, sensitivity, and the amount of food in your stomach. If you're a big person, you you live on glazed donuts, and you just happen to have a dumped a dozen of them into your stomach before taking your aphrodisiac, you may be hard pressed to notice its effects, especially aphrodisiacs that come in tea bags (infusion).

The other type of aphrodisiac is one that sort of perks up your whole system, or the aspects of your system that contribute to a good healthy sex drive and soundly functioning equipment. These would be taken regularly over long periods of time, and it would take a while to see the effects, but your sex life would gradually become more vital.

Basically, the aphrodisiacs presented in this series have earned their success by the fact that they support the vital functioning of body systems necessary for a good sex life. The biggie is blood flow.

Take the friendly herb Ginko, which you can get in 60mg capsules, or grow on a tree in your yard (though you need about 50 pounds of leaves and an elaborate two-week lab session to make a pound of good stuff). Stimulating blood flow is the number one skill in Ginko's job description. And everyone knows that good blood flow equals horny campers and healthy erections. You can take it on a regular basis and let it spruce your overall sexual vitality, or you can double up on the dose and try it as a love booster to rev yourself or your lover up for a hot night of sex. If taken over a long period of time, Ginko helps your body make more of the pleasure chemicals in the brain -- dopamine and adrenaline. And as herbal additives go, Ginko is fairly benign in the side effects department. Though its ability to thin out blood makes it incompatible with aspirin, MOA inhibitor anti-depressants, blood thinners, and people who have hemorrhaging issues, Ginko boasts many positive effects. They include an ability to boost short-term memory and to minimize chronic vertigo, headaches, and ringing in the ears. If you're looking for a healthy aphrodisiac Ginko is a good place to start. For a one-shot love booster, try about 3 of the 60 mg capsules about an hour before sex (or your best guess as to when an hour before sex will be). And be sure to eat lightly -- don't overstuff, but don't run on empty, either. Feel free to experiment a bit.

As a scent, jasmine is does particularly well arousing the male of the species. You can buy jasmine in the form of an essential oil at your health food store, and inhale it in an aroma therapy session. What's even nicer is if you mix it in with a massage oil and give your man a good rub, it will make him alert, boost his morale, and possibly other nifty effects. There are reports that jasmine therapy can rejuvenate tired, dry skin, and ease prostate problems. If the scent brings a man's sex drive to life, the massage won't hurt either.

There's a host of other things you can try, teas especially for enhancing women's sex drive, herbs and vitamins for overcoming impotence, scents to attract and arouse. Next week, look forward to hearing more about these wonderful aphrodisiacal miracles of nature in Part II of "The Love Drugs."