Aphrodisiacs

People all over the world have been in the market for aphrodisiacs since the beginning of recorded history, and doubtless well before that.  While many herbs and drugs do have "pro-sexual" effects of various sorts, it's interesting that in spite of all our pharmacological ingenuity and experience, nobody seems to have been able to come up with what most people are looking for — namely a pill that safely makes you horny for an hour or two. 

Something to keep in mind about ingesting anything to change your mood, sexual or otherwise, is that people's reactions in this area are not consistent — what works for one person may not work at all for another, and indeed, what works for you at one point may not work for you at some other point. 

And it's even more important to realize you have the power to change your brain chemistry without resorting to any drugs at all.  Among the traditional tools that are free and extremely effective are exercise, fasting, meditation, ritual, conscious breathing and fantasy.  Consider trying some combination of them to get where you want to go before you spend a lot of money on stuff that may not work at all for you and may in some cases be quite dangerous. 

Testosterone, the "Horniness" Hormone

Raising blood levels of the hormone testosterone probably produces the erotogenic effect most people desire, because testosterone definitely makes us feel horny, men and women alike. Unfortunately, however, no one seems to have found an easy way to achieve that without unwanted or downright dangerous side-effects.  One major problem is, we have built-in regulatory systems for keeping hormonal levels within target ranges, so if you simply dump testosterone into the bloodstream, these mechanisms step right in to compensate. 

The situation is especially tricky for women, because in order to feel hornier without growing a beard, having your voice get lower and breaking out in acne, you need not just testosterone, but the right balance of testosterone and female hormones — estrogen, progesterone and so on — nobody's even quite sure what that balance is, much less how to achieve it.  Is there a lot of research going on to figure this stuff out?  Are you kidding? 

Research scientists, and more importantly science funding agencies, are still very fastidious, not to say prudish about research having to do with sexual pleasure.  Our best hope at the moment, ironically, is the boundless greed of big pharmaceutical companies, because the Viagra phenomenon has given them a taste of how much money they can make catering to peoples' sex lives. 

So far, however, most pro-sexual supplements on the market are on the level of penis-enlargement pills, most of which consist of overpriced testosterone precursors and should be avoided like the plague. 

In fact, from what I've been able to find out, my strong advice is: avoid testosterone-precursor supplements entirely!  These include androstenedione, androstenediol, norandrostenedione, norandrostenediol, androstene, and all the rest.  Even DHEA (dehydro-epiandrosterone), which is a broader and less direct precursor, should be taken cautiously by older people and not at all by younger ones.  I hope it goes without saying at this point: don't even consider taking steroids! 

And if you're absolutely set on seriously tinkering with your hormonal system, why not get an endocrinologist involved so you don't inadvertently sterilize yourself or wander down the road to sex-change without meaning to?  It may be obvious that women can "masculinize" themselves by taking testosterone, but men can also "feminize" themselves the same way, because some of the mechanisms for breaking down excess testosterone or testosterone precursors actually generate significant amounts of estrogens.

Testosterone-precursor supplements are a real problem at the moment, not among sex-crazed adults but among straight-arrow kids and young weight lifters, and there are plenty of cases where gung-ho coaches are partly to blame.  If you have a teen-age son, relative or friend who's a serious athlete or weight-lifter, don't let him take "andro" supplements — it's far better that he not make the team than risk the sometimes irreversible changes that hormonal imbalances can produce.  These things can be just as bad as steroids (which is why a coach might recommend them — after all, you know, winning isn't the most important thing — it's the only thing a lot of coaches are paid for!) 

Direct testosterone therapy, usually involving shots or patches, is in vogue at the moment in the aging population.  It's also being tested on women whose libido has fallen off, with some reports of short-term success.  I don't know enough to comment on its benefits or dangers, except to say that at least it usually involves the participation of a doctor who is supposed to have some knowledge of endocrinology and to maintain some professional standards.  Still, watch your own ass.

I keep coming back to the same thing like a broken record: you should be very very reluctant to mess with your testosterone levels directly, especially if you're under 50. 

Herbal and Pharmaceutical Libido Stimulants

There are a number of supplements and traditional herbal extracts that do seem to increase horniness — For guys, a simple, inexpensive place to start is zinc — taking, say, 50 mg a day does seem to improve sperm count and increase testosterone levels mildly for many men.  It's easy to try, and if it works for you, you should be able to tell the difference. 

"Horny Goat Weed" and Tribulis terrestris extract are two other herbal remedies that also seem to work for some people under certain circumstances.  You can find these in various forms at your local pharmacy, health food store or on the Internet.  My own limited experience has been, though, that their effects are more subtle and long-term than I'm comfortable with. 

Serge Kreutz's Web Sites

If you're curious about aphrodisiacs, though, you shouldn't miss the Web sites of Serge Kreutz, a German man apparently based in Manila.  Kreutz seems to be a sincere, fairly intelligent person with something of a scientific bent who's obsessed with what he calls the "engineering of sex," particularly for himself. 

According to his site, he's in his 50s, and as with many folks of that age, he's found that what used to be automatic no longer is.  As a result, he's been experimenting since the mid-1990s with all kinds of different pro-sexual drugs, starting with yohimbe and including a wide range of others.  On his various Web sites (which number over 30), he provides a lot of free information about his experiences, and also charges between $5 and $45 for subscriptions, usually for information about how to find sources for the pharmaceuticals in question.  That appears to be how he makes his living (more power to him!).  A good entry point into his network is his www.sexualenhancement.org site.  

Having tried just about everything else he can get his hands on, Kreutz is currently a big fan of combining Viagra with a substance called Tongkat Ali which is a traditional extract of the root of the Eurycoma longifolia jack tree that grows in the Malaysian jungles.  It's worth noting that according to an article he quotes from the Singapore Straits Times, Malaysians spend on the order of $2.8 billion annually on aphrodisiacs.  So popular is Tongkat Ali that the tree is currently protected in hopes that it won't be harvested to extinction. 

Tongkat Ali actually seems to be working well for Kreutz and a number of his older subscribers, boosting their testosterone levels and renewing their horniness.  His explanation of how the extract works is as follows:

Anabolic steroids are testosterone agonists. They cause a negative feedback reaction of the pituitary and hypothalamus (the two glands secrete a series of hormones that signal Leydig and other testosterone synthesizing cells to stop testosterone production). The result is a definite shrinkage of the male genitals, especially the testes. The medical term for the condition is "testicular atrophy".

Tongkat ali is the opposite of a testosterone agonist. But no, it’s not a testosterone antagonist. Tongkat ali stimulates testosterone production by interfering with the testosterone negative feedback loop. Even when tongkat ali raises testosterone levels, the upstream pituitary and hypothalamus do not respond by signaling that testosterone synthesis should be tuned down.

(from Serge Kreutz' article, "Tongkat Ali's likely hormonal pathway" on his free site, www.testingtongkatali.com.

He then goes on to hypothesize that the mechanism is related to that produced by administration of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG).

Let's review that word of caution again: Mr. Kreutz professes to be entirely willing to run the risks of heightened aggressive tendencies he has experienced accompanying higher levels of testosterone (he doesn't mention other potential health risks) — but Mr. Kreuz, by his own admission, is something of a loner.  I just have to keep repeating, if you choose to dabble in your own endocrinology, be very, very, very careful!

All that said, it's really sad that Kreutz's admittedly subjective findings and anecdotal evidence about pro-sexual pharmaceuticals still constitute some of the most extensive and useful information you can find on the subject.   And it's even sadder that his information seems largely inapplicable to women. 

This is a scandal!  Where's our medical community?  Where's our sex-positive community?  And where's the research that's needed to produce nice, safe aphrodisiacs in the future?  We should have more and better information in this area, so that people can take advantage of what does work, and can avoid what's ineffective and/or dangerous! 

So if you yourself have had positive or negative experiences with any libido-enhancing products, it'd be great if you'd share them on our bulletin board [not yet implemented] or in email, and I'll post them here as well.  Almost all the information out there right now is being generated by people trying to sell things at a very large profit. 

Erection-Enhancers

One place where great strides have actually occurred is in pharmaceuticals that help guys get and maintain a hard-on.  You've heard of these drugs, and they do work.  They're pricy though — Viagra (sildenafil citrate)  costs $8 - $12 per dose, while Cialis (tadalafil) and Levitra (vardenafil)  will cost $10 - $20 per dose. All of them require a prescription, but it shouldn't be hard to get. 

Various herbal extracts such as yohimbe are also supposed to be somewhat effective at producing erections, but have serious side effects (see Serge Kreutz's experiences in this regard). 

Also, as everyone points out, including the drug companies — the substances that help you get a hard-on won't make you hornier.