Aphrodisiac Menu

This is a guest post by one of Love Potion’s readers, Deborah H. Land

a. Myths about Cholesterol – the Good and Bad Sides

Most people think that cholesterol is always bad, but there are actually two types of cholesterol. LDL is considered the “bad” cholesterol, and HDL is considered the “good” cholesterol. If there is too much LDL in our bloodstream, it will form plaque on our arteries. Over time, this narrows our arteries and can eventually block blood flow completely. Dietary cholesterol actually isn’t the primary reason for high cholesterol in the blood; it is high amounts of saturated fat and trans fat. To keep cholesterol low, you should eat unsaturated fats, eat fibrous foods, and exercise more.

b. The Meaning of Numbers in Cholesterol

Adults should see to it that they have their cholesterol checked every 5 years. Four results are given to you, which will show the levels for your LDL cholesterol, Triglycerides, total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol. Should you find your cholesterol levels over or even under the normal range, you need to diet and exercise as a result.
Total Cholesterol – less than 200 mg/dL (5.2 mmol/L)
LDL Cholesterol – less than 100 mg/dL (2.6 mmol/L)
HDL Cholesterol – greater than 40 mg/dL (1.0 mmol/L)
Triglycerides – less than 150 mg/dL (1.7 mmol/L)

c. Can Vitamin E Protect Your Heart?

Vegetable oils, nuts and leafy vegetables are good sources of Vitamin E. Vitamin E is not proven to stop you from getting a stroke, but it can lessen your heart disease risk level.

d. Five Fabulous Foods to Decrease Cholesterol Levels

1. Oatmeal and Oat Bran: These contain a high amount of soluble fiber, which can lower LDL.

2. Fish: Fish is a great source of omega 3 fatty acids, which lowers LDL and raises HDL.

3. Nuts: Not only are nuts high in fiber, but they contain the healthy fats you need to keep LDL in check.

4. Plant Sterols: This is found in foods like margarine, salad dressing, orange juice, and functional cookies. 2 grams per day will lower your LDL by 10-15%.

5. Soy: This popular meat replacement can lower LDL by up to 3%.

e. Plant Sterols and Benefits to Health
Foods such as VitaTops Muffin Tops, Benecol Spread, granola bars and fat free milk are rich sources of plant sterols. You can easily help your heart when you start eating foods packed with plant sterols and avoid eating foods that contain saturated fats. A saturated fat-filled diet is not canceled out by this. Exercising often as well as eating healthy food will keep your cholesterol in check.

About the Writer – Deborah H. Land writes for the cholesterol diet foods site, her personal hobby blog she uses to help people lower bad cholesterol levels.

Tagged as: love, cholesterol, healthy, diet

Cordyceps sinensis is a type of fungus that has been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for thousands of years. Cordyceps is also known as Chinese catepillar fungus, because it is a parasite that grows on the Tibetan caterpillar until the caterpillar dies, at which point it sprouts a mushroom. (Don’t worry; most cordyceps produced commercially in Western countries is actually grown on plant sources, such as soybeans.)

Traditionally, it is cultivated in the Chinese highlands and also in Nepal and Tibet, at altitudes above 10,000 feet. The Chinese have long used cordyceps to promote overall good health. It’s hard to imagine that it ever got noticed and discovered, let alone that it’s now become one of the most sought after medicinal mushrooms in the world.

Since the time of Christ, Oriental physicians have administered Cordyceps sinensis to improve physical as well as sexual prowess and stamina. The earliest written record of this can be found in the book The Classic Herbal of the Divine Plowman from around 200 A.D.

The normal life cycle of the “Caterpillar fungus” consists of parasitizing on non-vital tissue of the silk-worm caterpillar. In the end, it overwhelms its host (the caterpillar), kills it, and sprouts out of the dead carcass. That doesn’t sound like anything you would want to put in your mouth, does it? Well, have no fear. With modern technology, Cordyceps sinensis mycelium can now be grown on a bed of rice medium. The extract of the fungus grown in this way contains the same compounds as wild harvested specimens. An additional perk is that it is much less likely to contain any traces of other types of fungi, bacteria, or heavy metals.

Cordyceps sinensis has a reputation as a powerful aphrodisiac. Recent studies performed in both China and Japan demonstrated a 64 percent success rate among men suffering from impotence. Scientists have isolated two chemical constituents in cordyceps, (deoxyadenosine) and cordycepic acid (mannitol), which are thought to be the active compounds that increase sex drive. These same compounds are also thought to improve lung function and increase energy levels; it is well known that Chinese athletes use cordyceps to help increase their stamina and endurance. It has been theorized that cordyceps enhances athletic performance because it helps increase blood flow and oxygen supply throughout the body, which helps the heart, lungs, and other organs function more efficiently. In one study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, researchers reported that athletes who took 4.5 grams of cordyceps daily for six weeks had double the rate of oxygen intake as those in the placebo group.

So what’s the mechanism behind Cordyceps’ apparent effect as an aphrodisiac and sexual potentiator? The following three factors may help explain:

Cordyceps sinensis has been shown to improve physical vitality and stamina in general. In 1993, a group of nine Chinese women set world records at the Chinese National Games. When asked about the secret to their success, they attributed it to their use of Cordyceps.

Cordyceps sinensis helps dilate blood vessels and increase blood flow which is certainly an important factor in erectile function.

Thirdly and perhaps most important of all is that two studies have shown Cordyceps sinensis to “significantly increase” the production of testosterone in males.

Modern research also suggests that cordyceps also improve our immune system. It also appears to act as an antioxidant in the body, protecting it from free radical damage.

Cordyceps gathered in the wild, particularly in the Tibetan regions, is thought to be the most medicinally potent. You can buy wild cordyceps in some Chinese specialty stores, still attached to the caterpillar. However, this form is expensive, and costs up to $10 a gram. In addition, there is some concern that imported wild cordyceps may carry the risk of lead poisoning, because some fungus harvesters attach a lead filament to caterpillar-grown cordyceps in order to increase its weight and get a higher price. Dietary supplements containing cordyceps are a safer and less-expensive alternative, and are not associated with any significant side effects. Cordyceps is available in capsule, extract, and tincture forms at health food stores and from online distributors. The suggested dosage is 2 to 3 grams each day with meals.

Tagged as: love, sex, aphrodisiac, cordyceps

Common Names
Fo-Ti Root , He-shou-wu

Botanical Name
Polygonum multiflorum

Family
POLYGONACEAE Knotweed Family

Fo-ti is a plant native to China that is also found in Japan and Taiwan. The medicinal part of the plant is the root. In traditional Chinese medicine, it is often boiled in a liquid made with black beans — this is known as red fo-ti. White fo-ti is the unprocessed root.

Fo-ti is called “he shou wu”, which means “black-haired Mr. He” in Chinese. This name refers to a legend of an older villager during the Tang dynasty named Mr. He who took fo-ti and restored his black hair, youthful appearance and vitality.

It has a reputation as an aphrodisiac. According to the Chinese, it is good for the blood, liver, and kidneys, which has the effects of restoring the energy and strength.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, fo-ti is one of the herbs used to nourish the heart and calm the spirit. It is a longevity tonic that is used for graying hair, premature aging, weakness, vaginal discharge, and erectile dysfunction. Red fo-ti is considered a tonic to increase vitality and energy, strengthen the blood, kidneys and liver. White fo-ti is used for constipation.

Aloe? Aloe? Vera, are you there?…

Aloe Vera is a succulent plant of the lily family native to the Cape of Good Hope and growing wild in much of Africa and Madagascar. It produces a ring of dagger shaped fleshy leaves that grow up from the base of the plant. Each leaf can grow up to nearly 2kg in weight. It is from the leaf that the soothing Aloe Vera juice is extracted. The Aloe Vera plant is drought resistant and grows mainly in subtropical desert-like savannas. Aloe Vera can grow to 20 meters in height but usually grows only to about 1.5 meters. Each plant has about 15 leaves and blooms intermittently. It produces erect spikes of drooping yellow, orange or red tubular flowers on a woody stem.

Dr. Morton Walker and Joan Walker, authors of the book Sexual Nutrition, suggest Aloe Vera as an “excellent aphrodisiac drink.” Dr. Robert Picker of the Berkeley Holistic Clinic in Berkeley, California claims to have used it with over three hundred people, with phenomenal results.

In addition to its aphrodisiac properties, Aloe Vera is considered to have many other health benefits. Whole leaf aloe contains components that possess significant immune enhancing and antiviral properties. Doctors are using it as part of the treatment to fight AIDS, arthritis, Epstein-Barr, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, because it stimulates antibodies and T-cells, thus it hastens the regenerative phase of healing.

Russian research has shown benefits to conditions other than those for which Aloe Vera is most well known. These include improvements in bone tuberculosis and broken bones, inflammatory gynecological conditions, paralysis caused by polio; ear, nose and throat conditions, and bronchial asthma. They have also found that Aloe Vera can help slow the aging process. Both Russia and the United States have carried out extensive research into the use of Aloe Vera for all types of burns. They found that compounds within Aloe Vera can help the burn heal, and can also have a cleansing and antibacterial effect.

Research has also been carried out into whether Aloe Vera can play a role in the treatment of cancer. Aloe Vera appears to cause the release of tumor necrosis factor Alpha that blocks the blood supply to cancerous growths.

A study in Japan showed that drinking Aloe Vera juice regularly may be effective in preventing the onset of lung cancer in smokers.

Aloe Vera has been used medicinally for 5,000 years. It has been called the “miracle plant”, the “medicine plant” and the “wand of heaven”. Aloe Vera is a natural detoxifier, it boosts the immune system, increases beneficial intestinal flora, soothes and repairs damaged and inflamed tissue both internally and externally. It has often been seen as a “cure-all” because it has so many uses.

The first recorded evidence of the healing properties of Aloe Vera is found on ancient Egyptian texts dating from around 1500 BC. The Egyptians referred to Aloe Vera as the “Plant of Immortality”.

Aristotle was reputed to have persuaded his student Alexander the Great to seize the island if Socorra for the Aloe Vera that grew there. The Aloe could survive unplanted for many years so could be carried as an emergency treatment for wounds suffered by Alexander’s troops.

In the first century AD the Greek physician Dioscorides wrote in his Materia Medica that Aloe Vera extract could be used to treat wounds, stomach complaints, constipation, hemorrhoids, headaches, all mouth problems, hair loss, insect bites, kidney ailments and skin irritations.

In Africa Aloe Vera was used for stomach aches and to prevent infection from insect bites.

The Chinese used Aloe Vera for treating eczema during the Sung dynasty.

In India during the fourth century BC people believed that Aloe Vera grew in the Garden of Eden. They called it “the silent healer” and used it to heal skin conditions and inflammation.

In the early Christian era Aloe Vera could be found in all advanced medical texts.

Eventually Aloe Vera was introduced into the Americas. In Mexico the juice was used to treat skin complaints and wounds. In Central and South America people used the juice as an insect repellant. Aloe Vera was sold in the street markets of Latin America as an aphrodisiac.

Jesuit priests were encouraged to take Aloe Vera with them when going to the New World to spread the bible. Settlers in North America were using Aloe Vera to heal wounds and burns. The indigenous Seminole people believed that the plant had powerful rejuvenating properties and that a “Fountain of Youth” sprang from a pool within a cluster of Aloes. As the popularity of Aloe Vera increased during the 18th century so trade wars occurred between the British, Spanish and Dutch to establish Aloe plantations in the New World.

During the late 18th and early 19th centuries many wealthy collectors of exotic plants added Aloe Vera to their collections and many discoveries about its properties were made during this period. At one time Chatsworth House in Derbyshire housed the finest collection of Aloes in England.

Tagged as: love, sex, aphrodisiac, aloe vera
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