4 Things You Can Eat That Make Sex Better

Beyond the obvious—how can sharing a dessert like this not perk you up?!—there are good reasons to bake your lover a pumpkin pie or order a slice of it instead of another cocktail. In studies conducted by the Smell and Taste Foundation in Chicago, this delectable scent increased blood flow to men's nether regions by 40 percent (it also increased arousal in women, but to a lesser degree). Chocolate just makes everything better, period. Eating it can sometimes feel a little like swooning, due to phenylethylamine (a stimulant related to amphetamine) and tryptophan (a building block of serotonin, a brain chemical involved in sexual arousal)—compounds that are released in the brain when people fall in love. A small Italian study found that women who regularly ate chocolate tended to have stronger libidos than women who abstained. (The researchers noted that the women in the study who like to eat chocolate could also simply like to have sex).

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