Libido lifters

Vitamin E, ginger and green tea make welcome bedfellows as 'natural Viagra'

When you think sexy, certain foods automatically come to mind. Depending on your imagination -- and possibly your experience -- it could be anything from a plate of fresh oysters to a dripping chocolate fondue to, well, a can of whipped cream. There are others -- chocolate-dipped strawberries, plump, juicy grapes, or anything you can hand-feed to your lover.

Whatever the details of the list, it's a pretty safe bet that wheat germ, almonds and pumpkin seeds are not high on it -- but maybe they should be. To get the lowdown on libido lifters, we contacted Joey Shulman, a nutritionist and author of the just-published book Healthy Sin Foods: Decadence Without the Guilt. She set us straight on what foods really offer natural ways to get you in the wooing mood.

Topping her lusty-food list are those rich in vitamin E. And at the top is wheat germ oil. One tablespoon of the stuff gives you a full 100 per cent of your suggested daily intake. Almonds are also high; eat an ounce of them dry-roasted and you'll have had 40 per cent of your suggested daily amount. Sunflower seeds, hazelnuts, peanut butter and peanuts also have the magic vitamin, but Shulman recommends that if you want to keep your sexy figure (no question that's good for your lover's libido), don't eat more than 15 nuts in one sitting. After all, nuts are high in fat, albeit good fat. And if you want some E without the fat, try a kiwi, some broccoli, spinach, kale or a mango.

"Vitamin E is shown to balance skin and help with stretch marks and age spots," Shulman said. "But some people call it natural Viagra."

Maybe that's because you not only look better, but the vitamin E also improves your blood flow. Shulman's not sure how, but she swears it works. She also said you can buy vitamin E oil in capsules, and use it for massage. "But food's more fun."

Next in the nutritionist's passion food picks was ginger.

"People use ginger for upset stomachs, to relieve cold and flu symptoms, but it also helps with stress, helps relax you, and it also improves blood flow," Shulman said. And as we now know, better blood flow is good for you-know-what.

"You can have ginger tea or you can add it to stir-fries, baking," she said. "We just also have jars of minced ginger in the house."

And there's another sex-drive booster in the tea cupboard. When you drink green tea, there is a release of an amino acid called L-theanine in your brain.

"It makes you feel alert, yet calm at the same time," Shulman said. "It doesn't give you the jitters that coffee does. Green tea is also extremely high in antioxidants that might put you in the mood."

Those were Shulman's unconventional suggestions, but she also shed light on old standards, offering science behind their libidinous legend.

Oysters are perhaps the most commonly referenced aphrodisiac, and Shulman confirmed the reputation is deserved. The salty mollusks are full of zinc, which is good for immune system function and is involved in enzyme production. In short, zinc is crucial to the overall running of the human system and feeling good is what it's all about. Other foods with zinc include beef, lamb and pumpkin seeds.

Red wine, like all alcohol, has a reputation for improving the odds of "getting lucky," but it's not just because of its brain-altering properties.

From a health perspective, the high number of flavonoids, including resveratrol, and antioxidants found in red wine keep the blood pumping.

And finally, why not indulge in an old favourite? Chocolate, if you keep it dark, is also full of flavonoids that keep blood vessels elastic; in short, it does the same thing as red wine.

Dip some mango and kiwi in melted dark chocolate and chase it with a good red wine, and your odds of making a love connection will improve dramatically.

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Sex-inducing Smoothie

- 1/2 cup (125 mL) unsweetened almond milk (contains vitamin E)

- 1 cup (250 mL) frozen strawberries

- 1 cup (250 mL) kiwi, peeled

- 1 tablespoon (15 mL) wheat germ oil

- 1 tablespoon (15 mL) cocoa powder

Blend all ingredients in a blender on high.

Note: To make smoothie creamier, add 1/2 banana and a second 1/2-cup (125 mL) almond milk.

Vatican Claims Allegations Against Pope Are Backlash For Church's Opposition To Abortion, Same-Sex Marriage

The Vatican on Tuesday said allegations that Pope Benedict XVI helped cover up the actions of priests accused of sex abuse are part of an anti-Catholic "hate" campaign targeting the pope for his opposition to abortion rights and same-sex marriage, theAP/Yahoo! News reports. The pope has been criticized for not doing enough to halt abuse of minors in Germany and other European countries when he was the archbishop of Munich and when he later became a Vatican cardinal, theAP/Yahoo! News reports.

Spanish Cardinal Julian Herranz, head of the disciplinary commission for Holy See officials, said during a Vatican Radio broadcast that the pope "defends life and family ... in a world in which powerful lobbies would like to impose a completely different" agenda. Although Herranz did not identify specific lobbies, "defense of life" is "Vatican shorthand for antiabortion efforts," according to the AP/Yahoo! News.

Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican's dean of the College of Cardinals, told the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano that the pope's advocacy for conservative family values provoked the alleged attacks. Sodano said, "By now, it's a cultural contrast. The pope embodies moral truths that aren't accepted, and so, the shortcomings and errors of priests are used as weapons against the church." He added, "Behind the unjust attacks on the pope are visions of the family and of life that run contrary to the Gospel" (D'Emilio, AP/Yahoo! News, 4/6).

Hooking Up Or Dating: Who Benefits?

Hooking Up Or Dating: Who Benefits?

As hooking up takes over from dating as a means of heterosexual interaction on university campuses, more women than men continue to prefer dating whereas more men than women rate hooking up above dating. Both genders however perceive similar benefits and risks to dating and hooking up. Carolyn Bradshaw from James Madison University in Virginia, US, and colleagues explored the reasons that motivate college men and women to hook up or to date, as well as the perceived relative benefits and costs of the two practices. Their findings are published online in Springer's journal Sex Roles.

Typically, dating follows a predictable pattern whereby the man is active - he asks the woman to go out with him, organizes the date and at the end of it may initiate sexual activity; whereas the woman is reactive - she waits to be asked out on a date and accepts or rejects the man's sexual overtures. They know each other or want to get to know one another and there is the prospect of a future relationship. In contrast, a hook up is a casual sexual encounter, which usually occurs between people who are strangers or brief acquaintances. For instance, two people meet at a party where they have been drinking; they flirt and engage in sexual behaviors from kissing to sexual intercourse, with no commitment to a future relationship.

Bradshaw and team exposed 150 female and 71 male college students from a southern, public American university to a variety of dating and/or hooking up situations, such as when there was potential for a relationship, when their partner had a great personality and when drinking was involved. They asked the students the extent to which they would prefer dating or hooking up in each situation. The participants were also asked to pick the top three benefits and top three risks associated with dating and hooking up from a checklist, as well as provide details of their dating and hooking up activities over the past two years.

Even though men initiated significantly more first dates than women, there was no gender difference in the number of first dates or number of hook-ups. For both men and women, the number of hook ups was nearly double the number of first dates.

Overall, both genders showed a preference for traditional dating over hooking up. However, of those students who strongly preferred traditional dating, there were significantly more women than men (41 percent versus 20 percent). Of those who showed a strong preference for hooking up, there were far fewer women than men (2 percent versus 17 percent). However, context mattered: when considering the possibility of a long-term relationship, both women and men preferred dating over hooking up; however, when the possibility of a relationship was not mentioned, men preferred hooking up and women preferred dating.

On the whole, men and women agreed on the benefits and risks of dating and hooking up. However, there were some notable differences:

• Women more than men seem to want a relationship. They fear, both in dating and hooking up, that they will become emotionally attached to a partner who is not interested in them.
  
  
• Men more than women seem to value independence. They fear that even in hooking up relationships, which are supposed to be free of commitments, a woman might seek to establish a relationship.

Reference:
1. Bradshaw C, Kahn AS, Saville BK (2010). To hook up or date: which gender benefits? Sex Roles; DOI 10.1007/s11199-010-9765-7