Aphrodisiacs

The other day I went to The Big Carrot, and found myself in an aisle with herbal remedies claiming to have natural plant hormones that would enhance female curves, increase sex drive, reduce menstrual cramps and menopause symptoms. Looking around twice to make sure my mom was not around, I realized I was in an aisle that had every pant, seed, and herb available that could influence the hormones of a body. Interesting… My friend came by holding two melons in her arms near her chest, I laughed at the coincidence... and then, the discussion on aphrodisiacs began....

According to my source (Cambridge World History of Food), aphrodisiacs were first sought out as a remedy for fears of inadequate performance and to boost fertility. In earlier times, food was not as available as it is today, thus undernourishment was common and created a loss of libido as well as decreased fertility rates. Foods that "by nature" represent "seed or semen” such as bulbs, eggs, snails were considered to have sexual powers. Aphrodisiacs also included foods that resembled genitalia, because their appearance was considered sexually stimulating. Consensus was not always reached upon when deciding what foods were actually aphrodisiacs. However, the ancient list included "Anise, basil, carrot, salvia, gladiolus root, orchid bulbs, pistachio nuts, rocket (arugula), sage, sea fennel, turnips, skink flesh (a type of lizard) and river snails."

The concept of aphrodisiacs might all sound a little nuts. However, when googling scholarly journals on aphrodisiacs I came across the article entitled,”The aphrodisiac and adaptogenic properties of ginseng" (E Nocerino, M Amato, AA Izzo - Fitoterapia, 2000) from the department of experimental pharmacology. Ginseng is a root that has properties that “enhance physical performance (including sexual), promotes vitality and increases resistance to stress and ageing." The article states that the root has effects on the pituitary gland increasing corticotrophin and corticosteroids levels, which of course result in the effects mentioned above. In my search I also found that beer, fennel and anise among many other products have phytoestrogens, which may have a bodily effect on the hormones.

My thought of this topic and some of our class discussions allowed me to question if the food we eat have an effect on our hormones then maybe it should be labelled?

When we look at food labels on products, some advertisement specialist have suggested the link of certain functional foods to health effects, such as pomegranates, have only been used as marketing tactics in earn a buck or two. So then what about labelling GMO foods? Would these product stop from being consumed if the public became aware of what is really in them, and the effects the hormones injected into them have on our bodies? What about the herbal remedies I saw at The Big Carrot? Are they regulated by the Food and Drug Act?

Essentially, the verdict is in. People want to know what is in their food and how this may harm, benefit or affect them. In relation to GMOs, labelling is a challenge because scientists have not tracked them to know if the effects they have on our bodies are harmful or not. From what I found, there is not a lot of research on the longitudinal affects of these herbal remedies either. In terms of foods that may affect our hormones, it appears the amounts needed may be insignificant in relation to how much we actually consume.

So, perhaps we are all just waiting for an overt sign... something to go wrong (pessimistic), or something to go right (optimistic). After all, the importance of nutrition was truly realized in historical events, such as:
- World War II after the performance of soldiers started deteriorating because of poor foods/meals
-During the discovery phase of the globe when explorers ventured the earth, the quick spoilage of fruits and vegetables prevented them from eating enough, hence scurvy was the result