In the Summer-Time...
Food is an integral part of any summer. Wimbledon wouldn't be the same without strawberries and cream; a trip to the coast wouldn't feel quite right if one was to dabble in the sea without ice cream; a barbeque just couldn't exist without chicken, sausages and mountains of salad; reading under a tree would seem incomplete without a stash of fruit to keep the hunger monster at bay. Summer foods are lighter, fresher and make you feel better - especially when compared with stodgy winter warmers and comfort food, which provide an insulating layer both physically and metaphorically from the harsh realities of winter.
Food, whether we like it or not, is important - it has both a functional and entertainment value, and quite apart from the obvious health requirements, most foods have intriguing and exciting hidden benefits. The right foods, it transpires, can make you better looking, sexier and hornier.
Traditional summer fare, such as delicious fresh salads and vegetables, is well known for its spot-busting, skin enhancing qualities, not to mention the wonders it can do for your waist-line. Tomatoes, for example, are a prime source of lycopene, which helps to combat the harmful effects of the free radicals thought to contribute to many chronic diseases and the ageing process, as well as helping protect the skin from UV radiation. And yes, while not being particularly summery, tomato sauce does count: pizza, according to one study, is a prime source of lycopene. Lettuce, incidentally, has been recommended for its opiate-like qualities, helping you drift away to the land of nod and gain more of that much needed beauty weapon: sleep.
Blueberries, that good old all-American nibble, shouldn't just be associated with Fourth of July celebrations and that tempting muffin in a café window. They are also recommended as an anti-ageing agent and are reported to have been used by American pilots, when unassisted by new-fangled technology, to improve their night vision.
Those great hunks of meat we've all become accustomed to as a result of frenzied Trinity barbequing are, it turns out, actually good for you. The GI diet, which is sold as a way to eat oneself thinner and younger, recommends lots of lean proteins as they help the skin to regenerate: proteins are essentially the building blocks of our bodies, in GCSE science parlance. Note, however, the word "lean". This is not granting carte blanche to gorge yourself on quarter-pounders (although I'm sure one won't hurt). Eating yourself younger may not be an issue when you're twenty (I'm guessing fifteen is not a good look) but the point that food could help you look better if and when the occasion demanded is still the same.
Lots of summer foods also have a delicious aphrodisiac quality. Fresh figs are only in season, and therefore best, between June and October, and are regarded as a powerful sexual stimulant. They are considered so effective that in some southern European countries wedding guests throw figs at the newly weds, though the association of the Sex and The City scene with Mr Pussy may mean they now prove to be a bit of a turn off! Other summer fruits and foods also make the grade on this front: apricots, mangos, peaches and pomegranates are summer fruits (broadly speaking) that are all said to be rather good at putting you "in the mood".
Some fruits and vegetables don't just stop at first or second base but go the whole way. Not only do they make you look better, but they make you want to sieze love and life in all its splendour. Asparagus is one such treat. It's a good source of fibre, potassium, antioxidant vitamins A and C, and is low in cholesterol, fat, calories and sodium - all of which contribute to a healthier, better looking you. And if you're still not sold, it contains more folic acid than any other vegetable, allowing you to reach your sexual peak.
If asparagus is the king of veggies then strawberries and raspberries reign supreme in the fruit kingdom. Strawberries topped a study investigating the health benefits of all fruits, carried out on behalf of British Summer Fruits, with raspberries a close second. Both can help boost your energy, reverse the signs of ageing, aid concentration and help ease hangovers (ironic when your hangover is the result of copious consumption of strawberries and champagne). They also contain exceptionally high levels of zinc, which (you've guessed it) increases your sex drive. There are three main reasons to associate zinc with sex drive. First, zinc is the nutrient that governs testosterone and hence sperm production. Second, a woman's body prepares itself for sex more quickly if zinc levels are high. Lastly, human sperm is packed with it. Strawberries have always been considered an aphrodisiac - in provincial France they were regarded as so effective that newlyweds were always served a cold strawberry soup. It just took them longer to come up with "the science bit".
So essentially, if you can eat yourself healthier, better looking and hornier, I wonder if it is just coincidence that they are all linked. We also seem to eat most of these foods in the summer; it's no surprise then that the summer is a natural aphrodisiac!
10th Jun 2004