What Is an Aphrodisiac? Foods, Chocolate and What the Evidence Says

An aphrodisiac is a food, drink or substance said to increase sexual desire. Oysters, chocolate and chilli carry the reputation, but the human studies of foods are mostly surveys: in one of 153 women, chocolate eaters scored higher for desire until age was taken into account. We found no placebo-controlled trial of a single food for desire (PubMed, 14 October 2026).¹ Part of the Wellgard libido guide.

Evidence at a glance

• Studies: two reviews (2010, 2015), two food surveys (153 and 798 women), a pooled analysis of 7 alcohol studies (50,225 women), a two-year diet trial (59 women), and placebo-controlled trials of maca, ginseng and saffron (32 to 74 women each).
• Largest single study: 798 Italian women aged 18 to 50 asked about red wine (2009, survey).
• Strongest measured outcome: daily chocolate eaters scored higher for desire than non-eaters (153 women) until age was taken into account.
• Not tested: oysters, chilli, strawberries, honey or rocket for desire in a placebo-controlled trial (PubMed, 14 October 2026).

Sources checked on 14 October 2026.

What does aphrodisiac mean?

The word comes from Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, and covers anything eaten, drunk or worn that is supposed to stir desire. The US regulator's definition, as a 2015 review quotes it, is any product labelled to "arouse or increase sexual desire".² In Great Britain the register of authorised health claims has no wording about libido, desire or sexual function for any food, nutrient or botanical, so nothing sold here may claim to raise desire.³ Folklore ties the reputation to shape, rarity or heat; this page asks what was measured.

Do aphrodisiacs actually work?

Two reviews, in 2010 and 2015, found few controlled trials and little data in women.^{2, 4} The extracts with placebo-controlled trials in women are maca, ginseng and saffron, each tested in 32 to 74 women over 4 to 12 weeks on questionnaire scores; the table below gives every trial's size, result and funding, with gains against placebo in some and none in others.^{5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11} Doses and safety notes are on the Wellgard maca guide and saffron supplements. Expectation matters: in eight placebo-controlled medicine trials in 3,959 women, placebo moved a sexual function index by 3.62 points and treatment by 5.35, so placebo matched about two thirds of the effect.¹²

Is chocolate an aphrodisiac?

Of 163 Italian women, 153 gave complete data; the 120 who ate chocolate daily scored higher for desire than the 33 who did not, but they were also younger, 33.9 against 40.4 years, and once adjusted for age the scores were similar whether or not a woman ate chocolate.¹ No trial has given chocolate or a placebo to women and measured desire.

Are oysters an aphrodisiac?

We found no human study of oysters and desire (PubMed, 14 October 2026). The usual explanation is zinc: six oysters supply about 35 mg, the figure on foods high in zinc, against the 7 mg a day a woman needs.¹³ Zinc's authorised wordings belong to zinc, not to oysters: zinc contributes to normal fertility and reproduction, and zinc contributes to the maintenance of normal testosterone levels in the blood; neither mentions desire.³ One randomised trial tested zinc itself, in 116 women after the menopause with low blood zinc and low sexual function: scores and testosterone were higher on zinc than in the control group; the dose and length are not in the abstract, and the result belongs to women short of zinc.¹⁴ More on what zinc does for women.

Which other foods and drinks are called aphrodisiacs?

Strawberries, figs, honey, asparagus, rocket, olives, cherries, chilli and red wine all carry the name; only wine and chilli have a human study, and neither tested desire against a placebo.

The NHS advises "not to drink more than 14 units a week on a regular basis".¹⁹ A 2018 trial of a carrot-and-herb sweet in 96 women (university-funded) had no placebo group, so it cannot say what the food did.²⁰

Are aphrodisiac pills and supplements safe?

The risk sits in products sold as aphrodisiacs, not in foods. In February 2026 the MHRA reported seizing nearly 20 million illegal erectile dysfunction pills in five years and warned that such products "may contain no active ingredient, the wrong dose, hidden drugs or toxic ingredients".²¹ The 2010 review warned of the same trick in "natural" aphrodisiacs: undeclared relatives of prescription erection medicines.⁴ The 2015 review named four whose risks may outweigh any benefit: yohimbine, Spanish fly, mad honey and toad venom.² A lawful UK supplement lists every ingredient; anyone on a prescribed medicine asks a pharmacist first.

What is the strongest natural aphrodisiac?

Nothing can be ranked: every trial in women compared one extract with a placebo, never one with another, and the food surveys tested no treatment, so a "top three" list orders folklore, not results. The trials by size and dose are on libido supplements for women; the NHS's causes-first route is on how to increase libido in women.

What we don't know

• No placebo-controlled trial of a single food for desire in women was found (PubMed, 14 October 2026), and none has compared dark with milk chocolate or one food with another.
• Whether expectation explains the survey differences, given the 3.62-point placebo shift in medicine trials.
• Whether any maca, ginseng or saffron result lasts beyond 12 weeks: no placebo-controlled trial of them in women ran longer.

Frequently asked questions

Is dark chocolate more of an aphrodisiac than milk chocolate?

No study has compared them. The one survey of 153 women asked whether a woman ate chocolate daily, not which kind, and its difference disappeared once age was taken into account.¹

Do aphrodisiacs work for women?

Small placebo-controlled trials of maca, ginseng and saffron in women reported questionnaire gains in some and none in others, and no food has such a trial;^{5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11} across eight medicine trials, women on placebo improved by about two thirds as much as women on treatment.¹²

What is an anaphrodisiac?

Something that lowers desire. The NHS lists low sex drive among the side effects of SSRI antidepressants, which for some people "may carry on after stopping antidepressants", and names some blood pressure medicines, hormonal contraception and too much alcohol among causes.^{22, 23} Never stop a prescribed medicine over it: speak to the prescriber.

How long does an aphrodisiac take to work?

For foods there is no measured answer: no trial has timed one. The maca, ginseng and saffron trials in women ran four to twelve weeks and measured change at the end, not within hours.^{5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11}

Sources

1. Salonia A et al. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 2006. Survey, 153 women. PubMed 16681473.
2. West E, Krychman M. Sexual Medicine Reviews, 2015. Narrative review of about 50 articles. PubMed 27784600.
3. Great Britain nutrition and health claims register. Last updated 19 May 2026. gov.uk.
4. Shamloul R. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 2010. Narrative review. PubMed 19796015.
5. Dording CM et al. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2015. Randomised trial, 45 women, 12 weeks; funded by the US National Institutes of Health. PubMed 25954318.
6. Oh KJ et al. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 2010. Randomised crossover, 32 women, 8 weeks each arm; funding not checked. PubMed 20141583.
7. Chung HS et al. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2015. Randomised crossover, 32 women, 23 completed, 8 weeks each arm; supplier-funded (a ginseng company's grant and capsules). PubMed 26798402.
8. Lee HW et al. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, 2022. Systematic review; sexual function pooled from 3 trials, 491 women. PubMed 35691259.
9. Kashani L et al. Human Psychopharmacology, 2013. Randomised trial, 38 women, 4 weeks; funding not checked. PubMed 23280545.
10. Kashani L et al. Avicenna Journal of Phytomedicine, 2022. Randomised trial, 74 women, 6 weeks; university grant. PubMed 36186931.
11. Izadi S et al. BMC Women's Health, 2024. Randomised trial, 50 women, 8 weeks; university-funded; capsules made and supplied by a pharmaceutical company. PubMed 38408971.
12. Weinberger JM et al. Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2018. Pooled analysis of 8 placebo-controlled trials, 3,959 women. PubMed 29995725.
13. Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset (CoFID) 2021. Last updated 19 March 2021. gov.uk.
14. Mazaheri Nia L et al. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 2021. Randomised trial, 116 women with low blood zinc. PubMed 34311679.
15. Mondaini N et al. Journal of Sexual Medicine, 2009. Survey, 798 women. PubMed 19627470.
16. Salari N et al. BMC Women's Health, 2023. Pooled analysis of 7 observational studies, 50,225 women. PubMed 37131197.
17. Bègue L et al. Physiology and Behavior, 2015. Laboratory study, 114 men. PubMed 25462592.
18. Esposito K et al. International Journal of Impotence Research, 2007. Diet trial analysis, 59 women, 2 years; funding not checked. PubMed 17673936.
19. NHS. Alcohol units. Page last reviewed 27 August 2024. nhs.uk.
20. Molkara T et al. Electronic Physician, 2018. Randomised trial, 96 women, 8 weeks, no placebo group; university grant. PubMed 29881519.
21. MHRA. Press release on illegal erectile dysfunction pills, published 13 February 2026. gov.uk.
22. NHS. Side effects of SSRI antidepressants. Page last reviewed 12 June 2025. nhs.uk.
23. NHS. Low sex drive (loss of libido). Page last reviewed 26 May 2026. nhs.uk.

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