‘Fetch me that flower, the herb I show’d thee once; The juice of it on sleeping eyelids laid Will make man or woman madly dote Upon the next live creature that it sees.’
Oberon, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
POTENT OR PLACEBO EFFECT?
Throughout history, aphrodisiacs, with their natural and physical properties pertaining to sex, have been used as sexual enhancers, inadequacy remedies and to encourage fertility. The promotion and sale of these love-makers, including scents, foods and drugs, is a multibillion — dollar industry, though modern science says there is little evidence to support most claims of libido-boosting properties. Despite this, lovers everywhere have always been attracted to these arousal aids, which often prove successful with the help of the most powerful aphrodisiac there is — the mind.
‘There is no aphrodisiac like innocence.’
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Jean Baudrillard, French philosopher
‘There is no scientific proof that any over-the-counter aphrodisiacs
work to treat sexual dysfunction.’ US Food and Drug Administration