Interesting Facts: Worldwide Aphrodisiacs

You’ve probably heard of oysters or chocolate serving as the perfect entryway to lovemaking, but all over the world , different cultures have various ways of setting the mood in the bedroom. In this article, you will learn a host of ways people on a worldwide and historical basis has come up with ingenious ways of spicing up their love lives.

In 900 AD, the romantic beliefs of the Chinese involved a series ‘magical’ numbers and potions, including the practice of marinating the eyelid of a sheep in a hot tea. In a Taoist manual, men were advised to apply the sheep eyelid mixture to their penises. It was believed that it could help Chinese emperors, who kept 21 wives , an exact number thought to carry magical properties. Emperors were expected to make love to 10 of their fair maidens every night. In order to accomplish this feat, they required a little extra help, which came in the form of the hot tea remedy.

Pigeon dung and snail excrement were a popular method of arousal in England during 1400.

In France, the feces of toads played an important role in setting the mood in 1690, where royalty even stood by this remedy. It was said to be an option that King Louis XIV’s mistress, Madam de Montespan, used on her lover.

In Germany, menstrual blood was used as an aphrodisiac that people either ate with their meals or added to their beverages. This practice was popular in 1700.

In 1830, people in London were accustomed to using the toxic chemical called arsenic or lion testicles as an aphrodisiac.

After defeating an enemy warrior, the men of the Brazilian Cubeo tribe would use the penis and scrotum of their opponents as an aphrodisiac , a practice that took place in 1850.

Live monkey brains were seen as a way to boost libido in Malaysia. Around the early 1900’s, a live monkey was actually forced into a tight container with a bowl fitted to its head. After cutting open the skull, the skin was peeled back to reveal an exposed brain. People would scoop out the brains with a spoon or suck the contents through a straw. Interestingly, monkey brains were served at the table of a scene found in the Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom movie.

Animal hormones were seen as a way to set the mood , a practice that was prevalent throughout the mid-1940’s. The personal doctor to Adolf Hitler (Dr. Theodore Morell) used animal hormones to rejuvenate Hitler’s virility, which had been suffering a setback. He actually injected the Fuhrer with a compound comprised of hormones that came from crushed animal genitalia.

During 1950, hot spices, such as chili, are seen as a way to encourage arousal. In some South and Central American countries, spicy additions to foods are forbidden in the prison system because they are thought to stir up passions in environments consisting of single-sex groups.

Even most recently as 2005, the testicles of animals have played a role in natural aphrodisiacs. In Japan, the testicles of dolphins are sought after, while in Taiwan , chicken testicles are a preferred method of arousal.