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This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
Note that any opinions expressed in legacy Jackson Free Press stories do not reflect a position of the Mississippi Free Press or necessarily of its staff and board members.

Let’s just be honest. Science frowns on the idea that certain foods have the power to, you know, increase your libido. (If you don’t know what that is, you shouldn’t be reading this anyway. Next story.)

But many people swear by aphrodisiacs, named in honor of the Greek goddess Aphrodite who, they tell us, knew how to please and be pleased. So even if eating that dark chocolate-dipped strawberry just causes an, uh, rising placebo effect, then the mission is accomplished. And many of these foods also make you smarter and healthier, so you might as well believe.

Try these on for size. (So to speak … )
• Chocolate (dark with natural ingredients)
• Bananas (especially for men; yes, ironic)
• Oysters (even better delivered with a long string of pearls)
• Basil (some people even think they look like a Georgia O’Keefe painting if you get my drift. Each to his own.)
• Figs (maybe this is Eve’s fault; she was naked, after all. Until she wasn’t.)
• Champagne (well, duh … Brut, please)
• Cinnamon (better yet, delivered straight to your bed on a breakfast tray)
• Chili pepper (ohh, la, la)
• Mango (messy; remove clothes before peeling)
• Pumpkin (au naturel jack-o-lantern carving anyone?)
• Coconut water (especially if you bathe in it; choose the big tub)
• Honey (you figure out the best recipe for success, and deliver, here)
• Cherries (nuff said)
• Vanilla (as in ice cream made from real vanilla beans; drizzle however you see fit)

See more at http://www.libido-increasing-food.com.

Founding Editor Donna Ladd is a writer, journalist and editor from Philadelphia, Miss., a graduate of Mississippi State University and later the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, where she was an alumni award recipient in 2021. She writes about racism/whiteness, poverty, gender, violence, journalism and the criminal justice system. She contributes long-form features and essays to The Guardian when she has time, and was the co-founder and editor-in-chief of the Jackson Free Press. She co-founded the statewide nonprofit Mississippi Free Press with Kimberly Griffin in March 2020, and the Mississippi Business Journal named her one of the state's top CEOs in 2024. Read more at donnaladd.com, follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @donnerkay and email her at donna@mississippifreepress.org.