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“Idon’t wanna wait in vain for your love ...”, like Bob Marley’s bitter sweet words imply, wishing for love from an unwilling participant can tempt even the strongest into trying to create it. And since we’ve all at least thought about curing the vacuum of love with artificial help, what little helpers are available to the lovesick? The answer really is none, we all know it, but that hasn’t, and won’t stop us from trying to find one. Leaving aside sorcery and charms, most of us turn to physical products where some sort of science has backed it up. Something we can take, or more sinisterly, apply to the object of our affection. Without wishing to dismiss legal issues surrounding such noxious non-consenting applications, what ought to be obvious here is the ethical question of attempting to make another love you via artificial means. Both history and tradition have the unequivocal answer, and for ages have recognised the inequity of applying aphrodisiacs and love potions to cure our own bouts of lovesickness. The classic reference to this theme is from the Bard himself, where in A Midsummer’s Nights Dream love potions are used in spite, to warp other’s personalities so that they suit the suitor.And if Shakespeare isn’t high enough an authority to convince you, then perhaps a word to the wise from the old folk, whose tales all over the world warn reckless suitors of the dangers of artificial love, will rationalise matters for you. Among millions of such tales is an old Irish myth known as The Love Potion Curse which tells how “… a fine, handsome young man of the best character … suddenly became wild and reckless, drunken and disorderly”. He’d been administered a love potion by a girl who was in love with him and without me having to tell you, I’m sure you know the rest “… after a few years of a strange, solitary life, she died of melancholy and despair”. As is the way of folk tales, there may be a slight exaggeration, but today the lesson still hasn’t been learnt and the world market for the artificial creation of love is huge, with a full range of products available to the lovesick, ranging from spells you can buy on the internet right through to the technical marvel of Viagra. But hold on...isn’t Viagra an aphrodisiac? Well, yes it is, but when considering love potions and aphrodisiacs, the two, like love and sex, are often thought of as the same thing.And, just to play devil’s advocate, when confronted with a flagging love life, how many of us have thought first about ‘spicing it up’ then about the root of the problem? Herbal Magic Tempting as it is to write such thoughts off as another example of our growing attachment to consumer culture, in truth, such is the potency of the condition we call ‘lovesick’, that the search for a perfect, side effect-less, love potion will go on forever. Across the world, products claiming to inspire love merely exploit the grey boundaries between these two powerful human urges, and what are essentially aphrodisiacs, are touted, used and abused as a ‘cure’ for lovesickness. In 1989, the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) openly accused the aphrodisiac industry of using a "blatant snake-oil approach" to marketing such products and banned any over the counter sale of products marketed as an aphrodisiac. Since the advent of Viagra it would not be an exaggeration to say that the West’s public interest in aphrodisiacs has burgeoned. And since more and more consumers are becoming suspicious of chemically derived supplements, it’s not surprising an interest in herbal aphrodisiacs used by other cultures is growing. Commenting on his company’s US sales of the ancient Incan aphrodisiac, maca, Qun Yi Zheng, President of Pure World Botanicals, New Jersey, said. “In 2000, Maca sales were below US$1 million, however between 2002-2003, sales grew to US$20-30 million”. In response the cultivation of maca is increasing in Peru, but in what is commonly referred to as a case of ‘biopiracy’, during 2002 Pure World Botanicals were subjected to a campaign, calling for them to drop their US patent, plus those pending in Europe and Australia, on the use of maca as an aphrodisiac. By taking out these patents, Pure World Botanicals in effect closed the door to Peruvian farmers wishing to export their own maca products into the US. “This is a typical case of bio-piracy. Once again big business threatens to cut local communities out of profits from a product they discovered by claiming it is their own invention,” said Alex Wijeratna of the UK campaign group, Action Aid.There are other cases of biopiracy involved with herbal aphrodisiacs too. In Brazil,muirapuama, a.k.a.‘Potency Wood’, is subject to patent applications in Japan and again the US. While in India, ashwagandha, an aphrodisiac herb in Ayurvedic medicine, was the subject of seven American and four Japanese companies filing for patents. Similarly patents filed on eurycoma longifolia could ban eurycoma range states, except Malaysia, from selling their wares in the US, Japan, and Europe. Recognising the way the wind was blowing, to the dismay of neighbouring Indonesia, the Malaysians in cooperation with the Massachusetts Institute Of Technology applied for US eurycoma patents, thus setting themselves up as the only country legally allowed to sell such products in the US. Eurycoma though, has a bigger problem to contend with than mere politics. In Malaysia, due to over exploitation in the wild, eurycoma is listed as a protected species and even in Indonesia, where most of Asia’s intact rainforest is still found, it is now regarded as rare. As for yohimbe, the most popular herb aphrodisiac on the market, accounting for $13.7 million in the US even in 1999, commercially grown mainly in Cameroon and Nigeria, as well harvested from the wild in these and other West African countries, suppliers are struggling to meet a demand set to go exponentially skywards. Yohimbe grows for ten years before its bark becomes harvestable, and stripping the bark off the tree kills it. In Cameroon and Nigeria it has become so rare in the wild the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UN-FAO) suggested it should be declared an endangered species, while plantations, inaugurated to relieve the stress on wild stocks, have not contributed significantly to an annual production estimated at 100 tonnes. Perhaps the most telling case of all though, invoking the sense of exaggerated chaos, doom, and despair related to us by the old folks’ tales, involves the mystical half caterpillar, half fungus, cordyceps sinensis. Known as ‘Himalayan Viagra’ by indigenous peoples of the Himalayan Range, it is worth in its raw state up to $2800 per kg, almost literally worth its weight in gold and hence, as has been proved, worth killing for. In 2001 Nepal legalised cordyceps collection and started what amounts to a Klondike-like gold rush peopled by the desperate and the poor from as far away as South India. Last year the Nepali Govt estimated that 30,000 itinerant prospectors collected around 1000kgs of cordyceps sinensis, virtually every kilo of which was illegally smuggled out of Nepal under Maoist insurgent control. As a result the government responsible for legalising its collection gained not a penny in revenues and cordyceps is now feared increasingly rare. Herbal Magic Horny Goat Weed Epimedium sagittatum Grows wild in mountain areas of China, several species of Epimedium leaves are used. First described in ancient Chinese texts, history of use dating over 2,000 years and still significant in Chinese medicine. Increases libido in men and women, improves erectile function in men. Exactly how it work is little understood but appears to expand blood vessels causing proportional decrease in blood pressure. Safe aphrodisiac for those with high blood pressure. Studies on men showed sperm count and semen density increased. Maca Lepidium meyenii Revered by the Inca, employed to increase stamina, libido and sexual function. Macamide and macaene compounds are believed responsible for sex-boosting powers. Over 68 studies support Maca’s ability to improve sexual function. Consumed as a food for 3000 years, a proven safe aphrodisiac. Catuaba Erythroxylum catuaba A tree common to South American rainforests. In Brazil, it has a long history of use as an aphrodisiac, most widely with muirapuama as a treatment for impotent men, and rekindling libido in men and women. Songs about catuaba’s properties are embedded in Tupi Indian folklore.There is little science available on this tree and its effects, however catuabine A, B and C alkaloids are believed to enhance sexual function by stimulating the nervous system. Catuaba is two different trees,‘big catuaba’ (Trichilia catigua), and ‘small catuaba’ (Erythroxylum catuaba), both interchangeable in Brazilian herbal medicine. Muirapuama Ptychopetalum olacoides A common rainforest tree from Peru to Brazil. Long used by Amazonian tribes, the root and bark is brewed into a tea, often combined with catuaba and used to treat sexual debilities such as impotency.Two South American varieties, P. olacoides and P. uncinatum are used interchangeably. A study involving 262 male patients demonstrated that 62% with loss of libido claimed "dramatic effect". Damiana Turnera aphrodisiaca A shrub growing one to two metres high, found and cultivated throughout Mexico, Central America, and parts of South America for its leaves.Turnera diffusa and T. aphrodisiaca are regarded as the same. In the West, associated with improving sexual function in both males and female and is also used as a treatment of mood disorders especially where there is a sexual factor. In men, it mildly stimulates the genito-urinary tract. In one study, three-quarters of women studied showed positive changes in sexual factors including desire, frequency of sex, orgasm, and clitoral sensation. Yohimbe Pausinystalia yohimbe Centuries old reputation for libido enhancement in West Africa. 30 scientific articles have shown the alkaloid yohimbine increases blood flow to the genitals, stimulates the nervous system and nerves of the genitals. The bark is brewed into a tea. Effective in restoring sexual vitality to impotent diabetic and heart patients and it also increases production of norepinephrine, essential in the formation of erections. Tongkat Ali Eurycoma Longifolia A small Southeast Asian rainforest tree used for centuries to increase libido in men and women. Studies on male rats indicated an increase in sexual activity. An electric grid was placed in the cage to deter rats' from crossing to the female rats. Only rats treated with eurocyma were willing to overcome electric shock. Many eurycoma supplements made from inferior bark and leaves, effective products are made from root extract and are golden yellow in colour |