Culinary Aphrodisiacs: What Works, What Works Badly

As Valentines Day approaches, the New York Times offers some advice that could be useful, or not. Writer Sarah Kershaw takes the search for culinary aphrodisiacs to medical researchers and food studies scientists and comes away a big picture answer: of all the senses, only smell bypasses the conscious parts of the brain and goes directly to the limbic system, the region responsible for basic memory, motivation and emotion. That’s one reason there is a strong connection between scent, emotion, and sexual attraction. On the more practical level, readers hoping for what the Times describes as a “satisfying conclusion” to a Valentines dinner should steer clear of cherries, whose smell, the Times reports, “caused a sharp drop in excitation among women, as did the smell of meat cooked over charcoal.” What scents work in a good way? The paper cites one experiment that correlated penile and vaginal blood flow with various smells. Men responded to the scent of doughnuts mingled with licorice. For women, the Times reports, first place for most arousing was a tie between baby powder and the combination of Good & Plenty candy with cucumber. Coming in second was a combination of Good & Plenty and banana nut bread. Food for thought there.

Read more in the New York Times.