Aphrodisiacs, BV (Before Viagra)

Bull Peters is gone. Don't look for him.

The great man bit the dust on March 27, 1998, and joined the likes of Joe Camel and the first seven Betty Crockers in corporate spokesperson heaven. Bull was never as well known as the others: He never got to advertise nationally, only by direct mail. Nonetheless, in his brief career, Bull earned a place in American folklore – as the personification of male sexuality. His secret, which would be sent to customers in a plain brown wrapper, was Bull Peters Special Formula #1, a tablet that promised to turn any man into a long-lasting sex machine.

Tragically, it can't even be said that he died hard. The day sildenafil (Viagra) was approved for marketing, the entire industry for worthless aphrodisiacs went under. That being said, the industry had a long run. In fact, it goes back to the beginning of time – or, at least to the Book of Genesis 30:14–16. The aphrodisiac mentioned here is the mandrake root, a plant with a vaguely human shape. In Genesis, Leah and Rachel, two of Jacob's wives, go into the fields to collect the roots. Later, the wives were bartering the roots for sex.

At one time, pearls were also thought to be an aphrodisiac. Indeed, if there's any basis for the story that Cleopatra dissolved pearls in wine to drink with Marc Anthony, it's likely because of this belief. Whether pearls are aphrodisiacs or not isn't certain – after all, not many people could (or can) afford to put them to the test. (And you probably wouldn't want to drink any wine capable of dissolving pearls.)

If mandrake roots and pearls were among the first purported aphrodisiacs, they were hardly alone. Indeed, throughout the course of history, the foods that were once claimed to be sex stimulants could stock a respectable supermarket.

Theories & Recipes

Some of the later developments may have been, in part, the result of Paracelsus' Doctrine of Similars. Paracelsus (1493–1541) taught that diseases could be cured by plants or materials that had some physical resemblance to the organ or condition being treated. A traditional example would be the use of dandelion flowers to treat jaundice. Similarly, cauliflower might be used to treat conditions of the brain, while a carrot or turnip would be labeled an aphrodisiac.

It's a form of reasoning that appears to have been found in other cultures, as well. In her 1942 memoir, Head Hunting in the Solomon Islands Around the Coral Sea, Caroline Mytinger described the near riot she caused by eating a banana. Among the native people, bananas were, obviously, for men only. The Doctrine of Similars may also be the basis for the belief in the powers of rhinoceros horn, which, according to some reports, has nearly led to the extinction of the black rhinoceros. Another species at risk of extinction for the same reason is the tiger. (A bowl of tiger penis soup sells for about US$350 in Taiwan and South Korea. A lot of people, i.e., women, might not consider the money well spent – according to reports, tiger copulation lasts only 15 seconds.)

Still other claims that plants or foods have aphrodisiac properties are harder to understand. In 1819, Lord Byron, in his epic poem Don Juan wrote:

While Venus fills the heart (without heart really Love, though good always, is not quite so good), Ceres presents a plate of vermicelli, – For love must be sustain'd like flesh and blood, – While Bacchus pours out wine, or hands a jelly: Eggs, oysters, too, are amatory food;

John Davenport, on the other hand, in an 1869 text called Curiositates Eroticae Physiologie, described the sexual benefits of fish, but discounted any claims for oysters. This may be surprising, because Davenport was writing during the Victorian era, a time when the long list of foods that were claimed to be sexual stimulants was hardly distinguishable from the index to Warne's Model Cookery. The proper Victorians seem to have been so sexually active that any excuse would do – including breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Interestingly, just a few years later, the table was, literally, cleared by Dr. Richard von Krafft-Ebing. In his Psychopathia Sexualis (1906), von Krafft-Ebing discounted all foods, and considered only smell to be a sexual stimulant.

Better Useless Than Deadly!

Still, the search for an effective aphrodisiac continued well into the 20th century, with little or no benefit. Garlic was, at one time, offered as a sex stimulant, even though garlic breath is a traditional turnoff. Yohimbine, the bark from a South American tree, was widely used, but its benefits were never confirmed by controlled studies. Two other South American plants, catuaba and muirapuama (sometimes muira puama), were also claimed to cause sexual stimulation. Neither plant has shown any value as a sex stimulant, but a 1992 Japanese study reported that catuaba might reduce the risk of HIV infection by keeping the retrovirus from being adsorbed by cells.

As time wore on, there seemed to be a greater recognition that none of the plants or foods really had any effect. In fact, by 1989, the United States Food & Drug Administration issued a statement saying that all over-the-counter aphrodisiacs were ineffective. Bull Peters may have promised to turn any man into an unstoppable sex engine, but the ingredient he kept mentioning in his ad was zinc, which is essential for fertility, but not virility. (Likewise, one of his competitors offered a pill that would help men stay "up all night." The ingredient was caffeine.)

In 1996, the Journal of Forensic Sciences published a review of poisonings from Spanish Fly, a traditional, and usually fatal (and unsuccessful) aphrodisiac. Tropical and Geographical Medicine reported that eating live beetles, thought to be a sex stimulant in Malaysia, not only doesn't offer stimulation, but may cause tapeworm infestations. The journal Heart described how toad venom, yet another attempt at erotic stimulation, could cause heart failure through digoxin-like toxicity. Physicians went on television offering injections of papaverine into the penis, but the ads didn't bring in much business.

The legends have hung around, of course, but since sildenafil reached the market, and science overtook mythology, things haven't been the same.

Of course, mass marketing doesn't stop. Today, anybody with an email address is offered the benefits of male enhancement, whether they're male or not. It's a growing business, and proof that a whole new industry has arisen from the ashes.

Come back Bull! The game isn't over yet.

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