Great Sex, Naturally (27 page)

Your greatest aphrodisiac, however, as we said in the Introduction to this book, is love. Aphrodisiacs are most effectively used in that context, rather than to enhance sexuality for its own sake. By using them to explore new erotic landscapes, you can deepen, enrich, and enliven a love relationship. And according to some tantric teachings, expanding your capacity for erotic sensation can build another kind of love—by heightening a sense of unity with the divine.

Aphrodisiacs, after all, are named after the goddess of love. In Greek mythology, Aphrodite emerged from the foam of the sea and was carried ashore by a vulva-shaped shell. She wore a girdle with magical powers; it was believed that any woman who donned Aphrodite’s girdle would arouse love in others. In Roman mythology she was identified with Venus—the goddess of love and beauty and the mother of Cupid, the god of erotic love.

Aphrodisiacs have been used by lovers worldwide since prehistoric times. As Christian Rätsch, author of
Plants of Love
, points out, archaeological evidence suggests they were used even by Neanderthal cave dwellers. Modern research has confirmed the effects of many aphrodisiacs—some contain active ingredients that induce sensations similar to those you experience when you’re in love—but others may involve complex biochemical or psychological factors that elude scientific understanding. Of course, love is always unique and personal, and intimacy and pleasure highly individualistic; a sex-enhancer that works well for one couple may do less for another. To paraphrase a line written by Vatsyayana in the Kama Sutra, the classic ancient Sanskrit sex manual, the methods that lovers use to arouse each other’s passion during a loving union are so mysterious as to be as indefinable as dreams.

The aphrodisiacs you’ll explore in the pages ahead include some of the world’s oldest and best-kept secrets for enhancing your sexuality naturally, and the most effective methods known to be safe when used appropriately. You may think of aphrodisiacs as substances taken shortly before lovemaking to ignite your sexual energy, but we’ll examine them in a more inclusive sense here; some enhance your sexuality in less direct ways, yet have powerful long-term effects. You’ll discover aphrodisiacs from the East and others from the West, some with ancient roots and others that are relatively new. You’ll also learn about aphrodisiacs with familiar-sounding names and others you may not recognize. Many were so prized by our ancestors that they were passed down from one generation to the next for centuries, or even millennia.

You can enhance your sexuality with aphrodisiacs at any age, and they’re likely to be especially effective if you’re in your 30s or older. Beginning in your mid-30s, as your hormone levels subside, you may naturally experience a lessening of your libido. Perhaps you increasingly tend to sublimate your sexual energy into your career, family, or other responsibilities, and like countless other women feel you need something “extra”—some gentle, nurturing assistance—to fan the flames of passion. Why not treat yourself to some natural sex-enhancers? If not now, when?

Herbal Aphrodisiacs: Pleasure’s Hidden Treasures

Herbal aphrodisiacs are the earth’s medicinal gifts to your libido, and you have a cornucopia to choose from. It’s surprising that many are still relatively unknown in the West—especially when you consider how successfully they’ve stood the test of time.

Herbal aphrodisiacs work in a wide variety of ways. Some may increase your levels of “feel-good” brain chemicals known as neurotransmitters, which can positively affect your moods, sexual vitality, and receptiveness to pleasure. In other cases, they directly affect your sexuality by stimulating nerves in your genitals, or they support your adrenal glands, lifting your libido by helping you better cope with stress. And some herbal aphrodisiacs can assist you through the stages of arousal and orgasm, or help you hold your sexual energy at a higher plateau for longer periods of time, allowing you a whole new experience of your sexuality.

Many herbal aphrodisiacs additionally boost your libido by increasing your level of nitric oxide (NO). When you have ample NO in your body, there is increased blood flow to all your tissues because it dilates your blood vessels—including those that supply your vagina and vulva. This not only enhances your sexual response, but also brings numerous health benefits to your sexual organs. In
The Secret Pleasures of Menopause
, Dr. Christiane Northrup calls NO “the spark of life,” describing it as “the actual molecule that determines physical, emotional, spiritual, and sexual wellness in menopausal women (and everyone else).” The bottom line: you can give a resounding
yes
to NO.

As they increase your NO level, many herbal aphrodisiacs can further help recharge your sexual energy by decreasing inflammation throughout your body, stimulating your overall well-being, and accelerating your flow of chi. As you discovered earlier in this book, if your chi is stagnant or not moving freely, you’re vulnerable to various physical and emotional setbacks that ultimately lower your libido.

Some of the best herbal aphrodisiacs, including some effective NO boosters, have a long history in traditional Chinese medicine. Over the course of many centuries, Chinese physicians perfected herbal formulas (blends of herbs and natural substances) renowned for their effects on libido and sexual performance. Before you use them to boost your sexual energy, however, it helps to gain some insight into their place in Chinese medicine.

Ancient Chinese physicians understood the close links between sexual energy, overall health, and what we call lifestyle choices. In the West, people sometimes perceive sexual energy as if it should always be there, but Chinese medicine teaches that your sexual health depends critically on cultivating strong chi, and that your vitality ultimately governs your libido. As previous chapters have explored, you have to make countless lifestyle choices over the course of many months and years in order to claim your health, which includes your sexual health.

Some Chinese aphrodisiacs work by not only enhancing your sexuality but also strengthening your chi, boosting your well-being, improving your immunity, helping your body heal, and potentially increasing your longevity. They may not give you immediate results, but by gradually shifting the inner “chemistry” of your health over time, they bring about long-lasting transformations in your libido. One of their secrets is that they don’t work alone; the context of your lifestyle is everything. The correlation between your overall health and the effectiveness of aphrodisiacs is never so clear as with certain Chinese herbal formulas. They can significantly enhance your sexuality—but only as long as you consistently safeguard your health. With some Chinese formulas, life is fair: those who make the best lifestyle choices end up having more fun!

Another secret to many Chinese aphrodisiacs (and some non-Chinese ones, too) is balance: along with all the other factors that support your health, you need to balance your yin and yang energies. Strengthening only one or the other ultimately throws off your equilibrium, exhausts your energy, and diminishes your libido. This is why taking higher amounts of certain Chinese aphrodisiacs doesn’t always mean increased sexual energy and can even have the opposite effect. Some Chinese herbal formulas support your yin energy, and some support your yang energy. Others, well known for their dualistic properties, support
both
simultaneously; they contain compounds that can, paradoxically, both relax and stimulate your nervous system.

This is especially important for your sexuality, because women typically benefit most from aphrodisiacs that are both yin and yang, taken for an extended time to gently nourish their sexual energy. (Men can benefit from these, too, but often respond well to mainly yang aphrodisiacs taken for a shorter duration to stimulate bursts of sexual energy.) As a woman, you have sexual energy that is a composite of many forces you need to balance in your life. Your sexual response requires some yang, stimulating energy, but you also need to feel yin, relaxed, receptive, loved, and loving.

Let’s look at the “top 12” herbal aphrodisiacs, beginning with some Chinese classics. They aren’t listed here in order of importance or effectiveness; their benefits vary from one person to the next, so you may need to experiment to discover which suit you best.

1.
Chinese ginseng.
One of the best-known herbal aphrodisiacs, Chinese ginseng (also called
Panax ginseng
or
Korean ginseng
) is legendary for its ability to increase sexual energy, stamina, and vitality. Although the herb is especially effective for men, it can enhance your sexuality, too—not as a short-term sexual stimulant but as part of an herbal formula to gradually build your libido over time. Chinese ginseng is known as a “sexual tonic” because of its long-term toning and modulating effects on your sexual chi and nervous system. It can support your libido if you feel tired, yet help you relax if you feel tense. As you found earlier in this book, it can also be warming, nurturing, and circulation-promoting for your entire pelvic region, and you can use it to treat or prevent vaginal dryness or atrophy of your vulvar and vaginal tissues.

Modern research, providing ample support for ancient findings, shows that Chinese ginseng contains compounds that can mimic your sex hormones, as well as stimulate your body to secrete hormones. It also contains
ginsenosides
—compounds that can increase your physical and mental efficiency, but without the stimulating effects of caffeine. In addition, research shows that Chinese ginseng can improve athletic performance, alleviate stress, reduce fatigue, and prevent neurological disease.

Chinese ginseng helps your body adapt to stress through its effects on your adrenal glands. An article in the journal
Medical Hypotheses
described how it affects enzymes that influence your adrenal stress response; some of these enzymes break adrenal stress hormones down into inactive compounds, and others have additional stress-relieving effects. The net result: your body has greater energy reserves—including those you need for flowing, abundant sexual chi.

Chinese ginseng is well known in Chinese medicine as a powerful herb for creating yang energy. It’s usually prescribed to women combined with other herbs because it may be too yang by itself for some women to take long-term. If taken alone by menopausal women, for example, it often increases hot flashes. (On the other hand, one study found that taking the herb by itself prevented vaginal atrophy and dryness in menopausal women.)

For nourishing sexual chi, the recommended dose of Chinese ginseng for women, if taken by itself, is 200 mg, containing 7 percent ginsenosides, two to three times daily. (The dose for men is higher, as you’ll see later in this book.) Avoid taking it too late in the day, which could cause insomnia, and refrain from taking it if you’re pregnant or lactating, on blood-thinning medications, or have hypertension.

2.
Cordyceps.
A rare mushroom, cordyceps has been prized for at least a thousand years in Chinese medicine. It’s the Shangri-la of aphrodisiacs; somehow, its wonders remained little known in the West until relatively recently. Naturopathic physicians and other alternative practitioners first began to “discover”—or rediscover—its benefits in the 1980s. Interest surged in 1993 when a group of Chinese runners broke several world records, and their coach attributed their performances in part to cordyceps.

In traditional Chinese medicine, cordyceps is considered a “potent sexual tonic.” It has a unique ability to build your sexual energy over time by enhancing both your yin and yang energies, making it an ideal aphrodisiac for women. In addition to elevating libido, it’s also used to increase energy and endurance, relieve fatigue, and treat sexual dysfunction. Modern research confirms that cordyceps has antioxidant properties, can improve your immunity, increases blood flow to your organs, and can help your body work more efficiently by boosting your lungs’ oxygen uptake (the amount of oxygen you use) during exercise.

In Chinese medical formulas, cordyceps is often combined with other ingredients to enhance sexual response. Taken as a single herb, the recommended dose is 500 mg two to three times daily. The best type of cordyceps is the pill form; look for pills made by a hot-water extraction process that pulls out the herb’s most active constituents. (see
Appendix C
.)

To enhance your libido and strengthen your chi, cordyceps should be taken daily for at least three to six months. The container label may recommend taking it on an empty stomach. This works for most people, but some experience mild digestive discomfort, so you may prefer taking it with food. Cordyceps is generally very safe and well tolerated, but refrain from taking it if you’re nursing, pregnant, or running a fever.

3.
Rehmannia.
The root of the rehmannia plant, native to Asia, has an extensive history of medicinal and aphrodisiac use in Chinese culture. It’s usually prescribed not as an individual herb but blended with other ingredients, often in herbal formulas that have aphrodisiac effects. It’s a superb herb for nurturing your yin energy—particularly appropriate for female sexual energy—and creating balance if you’re also taking herbs that stimulate your yang energy. Rehmannia is said to enhance your libido by drawing chi and vital energy into your sexual and reproductive organs, and is described as “food for your kidneys,” with the potential to rejuvenate your energy, strengthen your chi, and increase your longevity.

Rehmannia has also traditionally been used for treating menopausal symptoms, which makes it an especially good libido-enhancer for women in midlife. Modern research hasn’t determined exactly how rehmannia works, but it appears to provide support for your adrenal glands—which, as you discovered in
Chapter 4
, are crucial for your sexual energy—and help you adapt to stress. According to some sources, rehmannia additionally contains a compound that may increase your body’s production of sex hormones.