Valentine’s Day has just been and across the world, millions of men tried to charm the women in their life with extravagant gifts of chocolate. It’s one of the most profitable periods in the year for chocolate manufactures and many people believe that the treat is an aphrodisiac.
Most women will experience some decrease in desire at certain points in their life, but for some women it can be a permanent condition, known as hypoactive sexual desire disorder, or HSDD. So could chocolate really help those suffering from this condition?
Perhaps the many women who swear chocolate can have a huge impact on their mood will be unsurprised by the findings of an Italian scientist, who claims yes. Published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, Dr. Andra Salonia and her colleagues collated data on women’s chocolate consumption, combined with information about their sexual function and levels of depression.
They discovered that women who ate chocolate every day were likely to score higher on the Female Sexual Function index than those who did not. The authors however noted that women who ate chocolate daily were likely to be younger, which might impact on their sexual function scores.
Whether or not chocolate could have potential for treating the disorder, HSDD is increasingly receiving attention from pharmaceutical firms eager to find a medical cure for the condition. Perhaps the most exciting of the drugs in the pipeline is Flibanserin, a pill that is being touted as ‘female Viagra’.
Trials have already shown the medication significantly increased sexual desire in the women who took part in Boeringer Ingelheim’s trials, which are still ongoing.
Many women (and their partners) are watching the progress of the medication through the different trial stages with interest, but since it could be some time until the medication receives approval, they might do worse than to invest in a nice bar of 70% cocoa.
It is already known to increase serotonin and endorphin levels, acting as a mild anti-depressant, and contains phenylethylamine, produced by the brain when we fall in love.
Well, if it was good enough for Aztec emperor Montezuma (who apparently used cocoa to increase his sex drive) then there’s no harm in trying....