Looking for something to spice up your love life? Forget the pills and potions and get in the mood with food!

Well before the pharmaceutical world stumbled upon Viagra whilst synthesising chemicals in attempts to create an anti-hypertensive medication, the world looked no further than what nature provided.

Historically, civilisations have always searched for that magic food that would imbue them with powerful sexual forces.

The Romans held a particular respect for the common carrot. Carrots were boiled in broth to release the sexual inhibitions of female captives. Even the Emperor Caligula was once said to have fed the entire Roman Senate a feast of carrots in the hope of watching them running sexually amok.

The Italians christened the tomato the "love apple" because it resembles the human heart and had doctors claiming it was a potent love potion.

The arrival of the new fig crop in Ancient Greece brought about ritual copulation, as they believed the fig was a sacred food associated with love and fertility. An open fig is thought to imitate the female sex organs.

The Aztecs referred to the avocado tree as the "testicle tree" because they believed the fruit hanging in pairs on the tree looked like male testicles.

So whether it’s the shape or the smell or the stimulating action of a food that revs up the libido, or being chock full of nutrients and chemicals that boost you and your partner’s sexual arousal and performance, look no further….

Zinc (yeah I know I sound like a broken record) is vital for the production of testosterone in men and for women to sustain lubrication. It’s no coincidence then that foods high in this mineral such as oysters and caviar have been used throughout the ages to improve sexual potency. Some oysters are actually able to change their sex from male to female and back again leading some to believe that consuming oysters gives one the experience of both the masculine and feminine sides of passion.

Essential Fatty Acids such as those found in fish, shellfish, flaxseed, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and walnuts, are the precursors of prostaglandins which are hormone-like substances that play a key role in sexual health.

Chocolate contains a natural amphetamine called phenylethylamine (PEA) which is also manufactured by the brain in response to feeling in love. Cheese contains 10 times more PEA than chocolate, making it even easier to get that loved up feeling.

B vitamins are needed to produce male and female sex hormones but are also important to ward off anxiety and depression and are vital for preventing fatigue, all of which are factors that can contribute to a stalled sex drive.

Capsaicin, the "heat" producing chemical found in chili peppers, stimulates our nerve endings and raises our pulse. This chemical is thought to release endorphins, which give our bodies a natural high.

Besides having a wonderfully suggestive phallic shape, Bananas are also high in B vitamins and potassium which are essential for sex hormone production.

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