A dozen oysters, chocolate-covered strawberries, champagne; these are just a few items many consider “food aphrodisiacs,” food that gets you in the most amorous of moods.

But is food a true aphrodisiac or just something made up in our minds?

Blogger Oliver Thring takes a look at different categories of food that might be considered as aphrodisiacs.

First there are “foods and substances that simply look funny.” That includes things such as carrots, salamis, cucumbers, figs and oysters.

Next, are “difficult, unusual or interesting foods” such as the Filipino dish of balut (a boiled, fertilized chicken or duck egg) or fugu (blowfish).

Finally, the more classical aphrodisiacs, “foods that connote wealth, luxury and sexual languor.” Thring includes truffles, foie gras and champagne as part of this category.

There have been numerous studies on the validity of whether these foods and many other ingredients have any effect on libido. But as Thring says, “of all the ludicrous number of foods cited by one desperate anecdotalist or another as foolproof aphrodisiacs, not one has any lasting evidence to support it.”

Click here for the article.

• Tag: aphrodisiacs, champagne, food, oysters, Valentine's Day