Stuff You Should Know - How Aphrodisiacs Work

Episode Date: March 12, 2009

For thousands of years humankind has pursued the enhancement of sexual pleasure and performance through a plethora of medicines and practices -- but how many aphrodisiacs actually work? Listen and find out in this podcast from HowStuffWorks.com. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The war on drugs is the excuse our government uses to get away with absolutely insane stuff stuff that'll piss you off The cops are they just like looting? Have they just like pillaging they just have way better names for what they call like what we would call a jack move or be in Rob they call civil acid Be sure to listen to the war on drugs on the iHeart radio app apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast Bridgewater the hit fiction podcast is back a supernatural thriller presented in immersive 3d by neural audio the Bridgewater Triangle there is some kind of mystical force in this region that attracts monsters and paranormal activity There's something beyond our understanding going on here starring supernaturals Misha Collins the walking deads Melissa Ponsio and rogue ones Alan Tudyk

Written by Lauren shippen and created by me Aaron Mankey listen to Bridgewater on the iHeart radio app or wherever you get your podcasts Brought to you by the reinvented 2012 Camry. It's ready. Are you? Welcome to stuff. You should know from house of works calm Hey and welcome to the podcast I'm Josh Clark. There's Chuck Bryant. Welcome yourself buddy. Welcome Josh Thank you Chuck sure that felt pretty good actually did it just try it try it welcome yourself Welcome Chuck. How do you feel relaxed good? Yeah, it has a nice effect It does you know it doesn't have a nice effect Depends what you're talking about

Okay, well, I'll just tell you okay Spanish fly, but it turns out I did a little research on this I Found out that Spanish flies not even a fly. It's a type of beetle true and the active ingredient It's actually crushed up dried and crushed up beetles powdered correct sure it's a powder and the reason they powder the beetles Is because they're trying to get to this this acid that the beetle emits when it's Scared right when it's threatened and this acid actually you know has long been thought to Create amorousness in people but that's bunk correct. I can tell you the reason they they they thought they were aroused They're actually confusing

Euro genital tract irritation this stuff actually burns from the inside out Wow Yeah, and it can actually cause kidney damage, and I think convulsions of death no Spanish fly You should never take this for any reason no so of course, you know as I as you know I'd like to do lots of research. It's like my thing it is right I started researching aphrodisiacs in general true and here we are at this podcast nice intro there Thank you. I believe the word comes from the Greek goddess of love aphrodite. Is that right? Yeah? That's what I hear sure and an aphrodisiac By definition is an element that evokes or stimulates sexual desire

Yeah We should probably make the distinction because I think a lot of people think aphrodisiacs Are our performance sexual performance enhancing compound or what right not true at all like Avagra would definitely not be considered an aphrodisiac No, no, so but nor would Spanish fly right correct. Well, let's talk about sexual arousal Chuck Okay, all right. Let's just keep it cool Chuck if I had a dime for every time you told me that I would be cool Let's talk about sexual arousal keeping cool. Okay, got you so medically speaking sexual arousal

Begins when we take in something through one of our senses right that that we find sexually stimulating right? Yes, and then all of a sudden the limbic lobe kicks in right that's where it all starts This is part of the brain's reward center and it's activated and it says hey I am sexually stimulated so I'm gonna send a neurological signal through the nervous system down to the blood vessels in the pelvic area Yeah, and it says open sesame and the blood vessels open and all this blood comes rushing in and Even better because this wouldn't do a whole lot the blood vessels close Behind this this influx of blood so the door shuts essentially. Yes keeping the blood well, not trapped but

Well, yeah, I think trapped is fine. Okay, I guess that just has a negative implication Right. Well, whether whether it's trapped or not what you got is an erect penis, right and an erection in women as well Yeah, I was surprised to find this as well the clitoris actually goes undergoes a very similar process and There you have it. So all of a sudden you are turned on and basically ready for sex But that's not it. There's there's other physiological responses going on when you're when you're sexually aroused, right? It's what I'm told. Can you fill me in on this? I certainly can. Well, your heart rate increases, right? And pleasure producing chemicals like norepinephrine and dopamine are suddenly released into the brain and it's it's go time That's right. Yeah, so that that's sexual arousal

And For an aphrodisiac to work it would have to produce sexual arousal, right? Right, and it could do this in one of two ways. Correct through the mind like basically recreating that or stimulating that, right? Absolutely and For instance something that might increase blood flow to your sex organs. It might simulate feelings of intercourse So that has the effect of creating desire, right? Okay, or it can also just go straight to the horse's mouth, right? So to speak. Go ahead. Well, it can it can create increased circulation Increased circulatory flow in the genitals and right that's actually a chemical physical reaction that takes place, right? The problem is is as far as our beloved FDA

Food and Drug Administration sure. Yeah, thank you. Thank you for that I was trying to come up with a peanut butter salmonella joke, but couldn't maybe too soon actually. Yeah Um, they they they don't recognize any compound any any chemical at all As an aphrodisiac, right? I mean they've done studies over the years plenty of them But they can't absolutely say with certainty that one thing is an aphrodisiac or not because the libido is A hard to define and B even harder to study. Well, I was also interested to find out

Um, we're not entirely certain how testosterone and estrogen factor into this It turns out that you know, we know that testosterone has an impact on sexual arousal because men who? Have trouble getting sexual or men who have low testosterone production have trouble getting sexually aroused So we know it factors in right just don't quite know where and testosterone, you know You usually associate estrogen with women Um, but testosterone has an effect on their sexual arousal as well women who? participated in a 2000 study at the University of Utrecht

They gave them testosterone sublingually and they found that genital arousal Increased dramatically really in women with low libido. Yeah interesting So they it didn't they didn't report an increase in sexual arousal, but you know by extension you could say, you know, right? Well, I do know that testosterone therapy is something that men undergo that have a low libido. Yes, whether it's a cream or I think they have injections Or if they like to get in bar fights, right? That's why they do that, too. Yes, Josh In 1968 five black girls dressed in oversized military fatigues were picked up by the police in Montgomery, Alabama I was tired and just didn't want to take it anymore The girls had run away from a reform school called the Alabama Industrial School for Negro children

And they were determined to tell someone about the abuse. They'd suffered there Picture the worst Environment for children that you possibly can I believe Mt. May for pattern after slavery I don't understand why I had to go through what I was going through and for what I'm writer and reporter Josie Duffy Rice and in a new podcast I investigate how this reform school went from being a safe haven for black kids to a Nightmare and how those five black girls changed everything All that on unreformed Listen to unreformed on the I heart radio app Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts

Hey, I'm Lance Bass host of the new I heart podcast frosted tips with Lance Bass The hardest thing can be knowing who to turn to when questions arise or times get tough or you're at the end of the road Okay, I see what you're doing. Do you ever think to yourself? What advice would Lance Bass and my favorite boy bands give me in this situation if you do you've come to the right place? Because I'm here to help this. I promise you. Oh god. Seriously. I swear and you won't have to send an SOS because I'll be there for you. Oh man. And so my husband Michael Um, hey, that's me. Yeah, we know that Michael and a different hot sexy teen crush boy bander each week to guide you through life Step by step not another one. Uh-huh kids relationships life in general can get messy

You may be thinking this is the story of my life. Just stop now. If so, tell everybody Yeah, everybody about my new podcast and make sure to listen So we'll never ever have to say bye bye bye Listen to frosted tips with Lance Bass on the iHeart radio app Apple podcast or wherever you listen to podcasts Okay, so the FDA doesn't recognize anything But there's still plenty of people out there who think certain foods certain extracts plants are Aphrodisiacs and this is this is nothing new like some of these these ideas go really far back. How far back?

Well, it turns out that the Persians were fairly randy folks Um, and and we're talking ancient Persia. I believe Pre-Kama Sutra, which came out in Oh, I don't know. I'm just gonna go ahead and invite some viewer mail and say the sixth century AD All right, sure. So the the Persians were they had one belief that honey It was an Aphrodisiac. Yeah, and apparently it has no No active ingredient in it whatsoever that could produce an Aphrodisiac effect, right? Um, but there is an interesting little tidbit in there, isn't there? I think you're about the honeymoon. Yes

Yes, they would drink honey for a month after they got married and that was called the honeymoon Which later became honeymoon. Is that right? Yeah, and if you go by the lunar calendar is the ancient Persians did then a moon I'm from full moon to full moon is a month. So yeah, honeymoon it even further back. I think Ancient Rome. Yeah. Well, that's not further back. It's about the same time Yeah, they they were big into Aphrodisiacs I think one of their favorites was oysters, right? Yeah oysters Usually tops a list when people are gonna make a top-ten list of Aphrodisiacs people always put oysters at the top

Sure, and one of the reasons those a few reasons one of the reasons is is loaded with zinc and Zinc if you don't have enough zinc as a man then your sperm count and your fertility are affected gotcha And it also has a bunch of iron and an iron deficiency could lead you to be too tired Which doesn't usually lend itself to to love making no does it work? Yeah, and a final reason and I think this might segue over to something else is that a lot of Aphrodisiacs are fallacies That is they resemble a a sex organ which one well an oyster is has been Said that it resembles the female sex organ sure. Yeah

And I know another one on the list was avocados or supposedly an aphrodisiac Yeah, it's my favorite. Yeah, because they in fact I think that's known as the testicle tree in ancient Rome because they resemble the man's testicles as text as text Yeah, okay. Yeah, they grow in pairs in their wrinkly and that people considered avocados Aphrodisiacs right and that's a common theme. I know you know It's something that just resembles a sex organ sure, you know carrots Yeah cucumbers bananas a bananas figs figs are said to resemble the female genitalia interesting. Um, so

Yeah, all these things have long been considered across cultures sometimes to be aphrodisiacs, right? It's hard for me to Think that our ancient brothers and sisters were very smart when you hear about things like this No, they were fairly superstitious folk. Yeah, I mean it just sounds silly at this point, you know avocados look like testicles So if I eat them that will make me virile Well, you even even more direct than that like not they would also eat things that didn't just remind them of sex organs They would actually eat sex organs of other animals. Yeah, that's the one. I was a little blown away by so like it makes you wonder Like how many countless and usually it was an animal that was known for its prolific Copulation maybe right or the tiger really your strength sure so yeah, it makes you wonder how many

Countless tiger and rabbit and bowl penises were eaten over the years, you know, right and still it goes on today There's actually again non FDA approved drugs outside of the US that still grind up these things I don't think anybody's dining on them any longer. No, but um, yeah, I know ginseng was one of your favorites, right? Yeah, there I guess we should say that there are some things out there that could conceivably Could be aphrodisiacs. They could produce sexual arousal, right? Right. They actually affect affect you chemically But yeah, they have they don't know if it's enough to actually I think that's where the gray area Exactly like it's there, but could it really have any, you know, noticeable effect And one of those is ginseng and there was a study that they they they I don't remember who conducted it, but they

Tested men they gave them ginseng and then they tested them using the mean international index of erectile function and It was shown to increase scores. So enough said ginseng works. There you have it. Yeah, it's a mood booster, too, right? Yeah, I think it's an energy booster. Well, you know that ginseng up stuff, right? Which is actually pretty tasty is it a lot of the aphrodisiacs They say it may not be a direct like chemical correlation to your, you know, pelvic region But it'll do things like give you energy and it's sort of a to b to c if it gives you energy Then you're more likely to be aroused and in the mood for intercourse

Whereas if something saps your energy, you're gonna be, you know, like if you eat a lasagna by yourself It's probably not gonna inspire you right to unless you're Henry the eighth or something. I guess right well Yeah, and you make a valid point It's just that science hates it when you jump from a to c exactly, you know Even if there is a direct correlation or even causation that they really like to get that be in place first, you know, right? But yeah, so in ginseng's not the only one. There's there's other like you said oysters are full of zinc and iron and other stuff And chocolate actually which is always associated with love and romance sure that it actually has phenyl ethyl mean and

and Serotonin so these things are actually an abundant supply and we can ingest these things our body produces these naturally, right? But we can ingest them and react to them conceivably It makes you wonder how much chocolate you'd have to eat to really get off like perhaps like several Goblets full Josh, I think you're talking about monazuma who was the Aztec ruler who? Reportedly it would drink like 50 goblets of chocolate a day. Yeah to increase his sexual desire I cannot believe he died from being murdered and beheaded right and then you know exploding right death by chocolate Oh, yeah, nicely done. So in 1968 five black girls dressed in oversized military

Fatigues were picked up by the police in Montgomery, Alabama I was tired and just didn't want to take it anymore The girls had run away from a reform school called the Alabama industrial school for Negro children And they were determined to tell someone about the abuse. They'd suffered there Picture the worst environment for children that you possibly can I believe Mount Megs was patterned after sleep I don't understand why I had to go through what I was going through and for what I'm writer and reporter Josie Duffy Rice and in a new podcast I investigate how this reform school went from being a safe haven for black kids to a nightmare and

And how those five black girls changed everything All that on unreformed Listen to unreformed on the I heart radio app Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts Hey, I'm Lance Bass host of the new I heart podcast frosted tips with Lance Bass The hardest thing can be knowing who to turn to when questions arise or times get tough or you're at the end of the road Ah, okay. I see what you're doing. Do you ever think to yourself? What advice would Lance Bass and my favorite boy bands? Give me in this situation if you do you've come to the right place because I'm here to help this I promise you oh god seriously

I swear and you won't have to send an SOS because I'll be there for you Oh, man, and so my husband Michael. Um, hey, that's me. Yep We know that Michael and a different hot sexy teen crush boy band or each week to guide you through life step by step Oh, not another one kids relationships life in general can get messy You may be thinking this is the story of my life. Just stop now. If so tell everybody ya Everybody about my new podcast and make sure to listen so we'll never ever have to say bye bye bye Listen to frosted tips with Lance Bass on the I heart radio app Apple podcast or wherever you listen to podcasts Ah, should we talk about smell? I think we should because I got to tell you if I put stock into any

Aphrodisiac it would have to be it would have to have something to do with smell. Yeah, it's not always food It's not always taste. I know they say that like music and exercise can be aphrodisiac sure well. Yeah, I can tell you that swimming just the release of endorphins actually is it definitely increases Interest interesting. Yeah, is that sterile enough of a word? It is very very well done there Josh If we're talking smell Dr. Hirsch dr. Allen Hirsch of the smell and taste treatment and research center in Chicago Yeah, that's a good center. Yeah, he did a study that looked at different smells And as we were talking about the other day you like to say he he spent a career

Wafting smells under men's noses to see what stimulated them and measuring their penises and that's right at the same time And he found some interesting things cheese pizza for instance increased blood flow to the penis by 5% Buttered popcorn by 9% and then the one that really shocked me Lavender and then pumpkin pie. Yeah, actually increased blood flow by 40 percent, which that's pretty big Yeah, you could overcome a lot of sluggishness with with that much blood infusion, right? But that kind of to me and Thanksgiving was when you pumpkin pie a lot of times that flies right in the face of Eating turkey and watching football and stuffing your belly and actually pumpkin pie didn't just have an effect on men Had a big effect on women right but the topper the biggest

The biggest one actually is a combination of sense that aroused women is a combination of the horrid and discussing Black licorice flavor good and plenty Candies mixed with cucumber smell. Yeah, it drives the women baddie, right? So long story short. I keep those things in my glove compartment. You have a cucumber garden in your yard Yes, actually it's growing in my backseat. Wow. That's I have nothing else to say I don't think there is anything else to say, but I do actually I do have more to say okay Let's hit pheromones up real quick. Oh, yeah, this is you're all over this so pheromones basically have long been Identified as like a way that maybe we attract one another right? Remember that awesome study. You told me about I can't remember what podcast

It was but they they had women Wearing shirts for like a week and then they had guys smell the shirts right to determine their level of attraction by smell Right. Yeah, and it was right on the money. Yeah Well, if it was right on the money, then they really lucked out because you need a a a a certain extra sensory organ that not all of us humans have a Vemuron nasal organ never heard of it. Okay. Well, basically, it's like It's like an addition to our to our olfactory nerve Our nose is basically right and we can pick out packets of information

from pheromones. I Don't know if we can necessarily that's never been proven, but in the animal kingdom. It's very prevalent Ah, so and and they pheromones are produced and emitted through urine, right? Right, so if your dog sprays somewhere and then another dog comes along and just can't stop sniffing Oh, yeah, what that other dogs doing is actually determining the health of the the urinating dogs immune system really and Also determining if it would be a good match to produce offspring because apparently ultimately what you want when you Mate with another person as far as animalistically speaking, right?

You are looking for somebody with a Compatible but opposite immune system right so that the offspring you produce Has the resistance to the most diseases possible well in the same in humans That's what the original smell study from the other podcast right right? But yeah, the problem is it's not all of us have that Vemuron nasal organ Ah, but there was a study that that what we emit pheromones in our sweat by the way Are urine which is good for us. Yeah, yeah Yeah, it'd be we'd have a different society if that were the case. I think so. Yeah

Well, there was a study. It was a kind of an informal study and these guys sprayed pheromones on one member of a set of twin girls and Popped the two of them side-by-side at a bar on a Saturday night, right and waited to see if there was a difference in Which one was hit on more the one that got the boost of pheromones? Was picked up three times more than her identical yet untreated twin sister So the girl that was laced with pheromones very cool. Yeah, so Uh, pheromones aphrodisiacs, I feel like I've gotten a lot off my chest, right? I know they a lot of people believe in aphrodisiacs But the scientific community

The FDA as you said does not support it and the scientific community thinks there's also a likelihood that it just could be a placebo if you If you think you eat an oyster and you're gonna feel a little more inspired Sexually then you're gonna eat the oyster and feel inspired and hey You know what if that if even if you're just fooling yourself whatever I say that and justifies the means in that case placebo's work Yeah, well good. So Chuck. Thanks for doing that with me. I think it's listener mail time. Hold your horses, Josh Oh, okay. It's not quite time yet. We have to give a little shout out to our blog We have a new blog on the website as you know House of works comm and our blog is called stuff you should know

Appropriately enough and you and I each post once did once a day we we try and scour the news world for interesting tidbits Yeah, that aren't quite up to par for an entire show episode and we want to get fans interacting and kind of chatting about these Yeah, you can you can access that through the home page at howstuffworks.com, right? Yeah, leave comments and anybody who wants to see Chuck in his famous cool guy flat cap There is a fine fine photograph of him on every post actually yours as well Thank you. It's good photo. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, thanks a lot. I appreciate it. So other than the goofy one that was written So what now? Okay. Now is it listener mail time? Yes, let's get on with it Josh I think you're gonna pull the train into limerick Junction. Yeah, I liked I like this trend

We went from high-coos to limericks. I don't know what's next. Uh, I don't know and an epic poem, maybe No, we're gonna get the Iliad from some listener now Just a couple of limericks here Ryan of Victoria, British Columbia Fine Canadian friend. Have you ever been there? No, that's one of my favorite cities on the planet. I've heard it's awesome It is awesome. It's very cool. Everybody's very friendly It's like a tiny city with like mini skyscrapers and everything and this is awesome. It's British Columbia, too So sure nice All right, Ryan has this to say as I wore an uncomfortable sweater

I sat down and wrote you this letter Josh and Chuck love high-coos, but high-coos make me snooze because we all know that limericks are better. Yes That's a good one Ryan. Fantastic. And the final limerick today is from Brendan Franklin of Tucson, Arizona another cool town Yeah, college town the podcasting host Josh and Chuck and the cast that they host sure don't suck They tell me how stuff works and as one of the perks on I'm no longer an ignorant Schmuck nice and Brendan we agree. You're not an ignorant Schmuck. You're not you also may be the first person on the planet ever use Schmuck in a limerick

Oh, no way. No, it's huge in a limerick land. Is it? I'm not very familiar with it I I guess I should say I'm surprised that we haven't gotten any dirty limericks yet though Although now I think we could probably expect true. I'm just happy my name rhymes with Schmuck. Yeah Well, we knew that already. Yes. So if you want to send Chuck and I a limerick not a high-coo Or if you just want to say hi or if you'd like to just congratulate us on making it through how aphrodisiacs work without humiliating ourselves by cracking up You can send us an email to stuff podcast at how stuff works dot com For more on this and thousands of other topics visit how stuff works calm

Brought to you by the reinvented 2012 Camry. It's ready. Are you the war on drugs is the excuse our government uses to get Away with absolutely insane stuff stuff that'll piss you off the cops. Are they just like looting? Are they just like pillaging? They just have way better names for what they call like what we would call a jackmove or being Rob they call civil asset work Be sure to listen to the war on drugs on the iHeart radio app Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast Bridgewater the hit fiction podcast is back a supernatural thriller presented in immersive 3d bineural audio the bridgewater Triangle there is some kind of mystical force in this region that attracts monsters and paranormal activity There's something beyond our understanding going on here starring supernaturals Misha Collins the walking deads Melissa Ponzi and rogue ones Alan Tudyk

written by Lauren shipping and created by me Aaron Mankey listen to bridgewater on the iHeart radio app or wherever you get your podcasts