Tag: Viagra

Honey for my Honey: Ancient Aphrodisiacs

Although Viagra was launched onto the market in 1998 as the new wonder drug for virility, what the makers didnt realise is that its actually been around naturally and has been used since the time of the pyramids. In ancient Egypt, the blue lily was linked to fertility and sexuality and now, thanks to the recent chemical analysis by the Egyptian section of Manchester Museum, it appears there is a scientific reason for this link – the chemical make-up of this plant contains phosphodiesters, the active ingredients of Viagra.

The blue lily wasnt the only libido-booster used by the ancient Egyptians. Lettuce rated highly and was said to be the favourite food of the fertility god Min. Fennel dates back to Egyptian times as a stimulant as does ginger, together with pomegranates and radishes mixed with honey. Honey has long been an ancient love drug and with good reason it contains boron, which stimulates the sex hormones in both males and females.

The Egyptians were also fond of coriander or pearls dissolved in wine and apparently – one Im not so sure of – baboon faeces, which were used to enhance aphrodisiac ointments. Perhaps this is because not only was the baboon admired in Egypt for its intelligence but also for its sexual lustfulness.

Those ancients were a saucy lot and the ancient Egyptians were not alone in their quest for virility-enhancing substances. Indeed, the father of medicine, Hippocrates, and the Greek philosopher Artistotle recommended lentils to help out in the bedroom department.

Aristotle also apparently advised Alexander the Great to ban his soldiers from drinking mint tea during campaigns because he believed it to be an aphrodisiac. Hippocrates would disagree with Aristotle on this one though, as he believed the frequent consumption of mint-diluted sperm hindered erection and tired the body either way, probably best not to let soldiers drink mint tea when they are about to go into battle.

A few years later, the Greek historian Plutarch suggested the way to a strong libido was to eat fassolatha (a bean soup and the national dish of Greece). Other ancient Greek libido-boosters include onions, garlic and leeks although one wonders if the partner would agree with this…. however, they were often eaten with other libido-boosters, honey and sesame seeds.

Oysters are renowned for increasing libido, and in a satire written in the 2nd Century AD by the Roman writer Juvenal, he described the wanton ways of women after drinking wine and eating giant oysters. Another legendary aphrodisiac from ancient Rome which has withstood the test of time is the truffle, which is still among the most prized ingredients of the culinary world today.

Moving over to Asia, the Chinese culture has always regarded sexual activity as very sacred, but it still needs a bit of help from time to time. The appropriately named horny goat weed and ginseng were (and still are!) recommended and Deer Antler is another ancient Chinese remedy for sustaining stamina in the bedroom. Liquorice also has its roots in ancient Chinese medicine and it is one for the girls. Apparently chewing on its root is meant to augment ones lust. Another one highly prized by Chinese women as an aphrodisiac is nutmeg but be warned, if eaten in quantity, it can have a hallucinogenic effect.

Even the Bible proffers advice and makes mention of the root mandrake for its potent qualities.

Weird, wacky or unusual as they seem, as the recent analysis of the blue lily shows, under the scrutiny of modern science many of these ancient aphrodisiacs may have chemical stimulants which contribute to maintaining sexual hormone levels and/or sparking neurotransmitters that trigger feelings of love or sexual arousal. So next time youre on a hot date, dont forget your baboon faeces.

From Biological Weapon to Organic Viagra: the Craze for ‘Mad Honey’

Mad Honey, more scientifically known as grayanotoxin, is a toxic substance humans have been dealing with for thousands of years.

The way how it is created is quite simple. A bee takes nectar from a toxic rhododendron plant (available in Turkey, the United States, British Columbia and the UK). The toxic substance is then deposited at a beehive.

The odds of getting any ill-effects from this substance, from the honey at your local grocery store, are pretty much nill. By the time commercial honey is diluted the amount of material from a rhododendron is extremely low or non-existent.

However, if you buy honey from a local beehive that happens to be near a large amount of rhododendron, the risk goes up.

Mad Honey Versus the Roman Legions

Ancient records record that mad honey was used as an early biological weapon in the Black Sea region of Turkey. It’s believable – the effect of mad honey could bring down an army. In 401 BC, Xenophon, an Athenian military commander fighting against the Persian King Ataxerxes II, encountered the substance. He wrote:

“Here, generally speaking, there was nothing to excite their wonderment, but the numbers of bee-hives were indeed astonishing, and so were certain properties of the honey. The effect upon the soldiers who tasted the combs was, that they all went for the nonce quite off their heads, and suffered from vomiting and diarrhea, with a total inability to stand steady on their legs.

A small dose produced a condition not unlike violent drunkenness, a large one an attack very like a fit of madness, and some dropped down, apparently at death’s door. So they lay, hundreds of them, as if there had been a great defeat, a prey to the cruelest despondency.

But the next day, none had died; and almost at the same hour of the day at which they had eaten they recovered their senses, and on the third or fourth day got on their legs again like convalescents after a severe course of medical treatment.

Now, this particular case doesnt sound like an intentional biological attack (although the Persians were probably glad the honey had the effect that it did). But in 67 BC there is a record of it being used intentionally in warfare by King Mithradates IV of north-east Anatolia, Turkey against a Roman army led by Pompey the Great.

As paraphrased in an article in the modern day journal Clincial Toxicology what happened is: On the advice of his chief adviser, the Greek physician Kateuas, Mithradates IV made a tactical retreat leaving mad honey containing honey combs in the path of the advancing Roman troops who consumed the honey. The Romans, thus incapacitated, were easily overcome.

Mad Honey Sex

“A small dose produced a condition not unlike violent drunkenness, a large one an attack very like a fit of madness, and some dropped down, apparently at death’s door.”

This brings us to today and a rather unusual article brief I just read in the journal, Annals of Emergency Management. It seems as if the substance is, again, being used intentionally. But not to stop an army.

In an article titled Mad Honey Sex: Therapeutic Misadventures From an Ancient Biological Weapon, a team of scientists from Gazi University in Turkey writes that between 2002 and 2008 they have seen 21 cases of mad honey poisoning at their hospital.

Patients are overwhelmingly men, they said, andmiddle aged(average age 55 years); something which left them puzzled, until they talked to 10 local beekeepers and found out why this might be. Local beekeepers ranked sexual performance enhancement as the most common reason for therapeutic mad honey consumption in men aged 41 through 60 years.

The scientists conclude, A dietary and travel history should be included in the assessment of middle-aged men presenting with bradycardia and hypotension. A mad honey therapeutic misadventure may be the cause.

Somewhere out there, in the Ancient Greek afterlife, Xenophon must be scratching his head.