Succulent Summer: Season's Sexiest Foods

Summer is a treat for all five senses - fragrant flowers to smell and admire, songbirds crooning in our ears, less clothing to hinder our sense of touch - and last but certainly not least, tasty foods that we’ve waited all year for like ripe peaches, tangy cherries and fresh artichokes.

This summer, take advantage of the booming organic produce business in your community. Nothing tastes sweeter than a pesticide-free tomato freshly picked from a vine less than fifty miles away. Head to your local farmer’s market this weekend and let your appetite guide you toward the season’s bounty of pleasures.

And speaking of pleasure, many fruits and vegetables are chock full of vitamins and minerals that can improve your energy, circulation and sex life!

Lighter Meals, Better Sex Life

The great thing about light meals is that they do more than complement this season’s hot weather - they’re also great for your sex life. As much as steak and lobster are associated with romantic restaurant dates, they also usually come with pools of butter and piles of mashed potatoes, which are more likely to cause snoozing on the couch than increased libido.

Why not plan a lover’s menu to pump you both full of vim and vigor?

Start with a basil and tomato salad. The Puritans banned tomatoes as being forbidden ‘fruit’ thought to be a potent sexual stimulant, and fresh basil awakens the senses, increases blood flow and relieves fatigue. Add a soft buffalo mozzarella cheese for a Caprese version.

For a main, try a light fish like sole or halibut in a fresh ginger and orange glaze. Ginger is an age-old aphrodisiac that increases blood flow to the genitalia of both men and women, and its slightly spicy flavor complements fresh vegetables like asparagus, whose potassium and phosphorous-rich spears increase hormone production. Instead of a white starch, try pureed carrots, which satisfy the palate and give your sex drive a boost with vitamin A.

For dessert, drizzle some dark chocolate over sautéed bananas, which contain bufotenine, a chemical that acts on the brain to increase happiness, self-confidence, & sex drive. Also, chocolate contains phytosteral that mimics human sex hormones.

Then after you’ve had your second dessert (hint, hint), come back to the kitchen for a snack of guacamole with whole grain nacho chips. Avocados were thought by the Aztecs to be so sexually potent that virgins were forbidden to hold them, let alone eat them.