Despite their popular portrayals, foods such as chocolate, oysters and yams do not have any measurable effect on people’s sex drives, according to new findings published in the journal Sexual Medicine Reviews. But these natural substances show promise:
GINKGO BILOBA
The herb is used in Chinese medicine as an extract to treat sexual dysfunction and has led to improvements for men and women in a small trial.
GINSENG
Some studies show the herb is more effective than a placebo in treating erectile dysfunction, but optimal dosing remains unknown.
MACA
A handful of studies have shown that the root vegetable, which is native to Peru, can improve sexual function in healthy women and treat erectile dysfunction in men.
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