Foods of love? Not so fast, Casanova

Valentine's Day is nigh, and you're devising a meal to inspire a night of romance.

Oysters? Check. Chocolate? You betcha. Licorice?

Whoa, buster.

The list of alleged aphrodisiacs is ridiculously long. Possibly excepting rutabagas, almost every food has been claimed to help spark the flames of passion. Some suggestions are obvious, others a bit suspect.  When last we checked, garlic wasn't on our checklist of date essentials.

Confusion reigns when it comes to the foods of love, in part because the very concept of the aphrodisiac is fuzzy.  Do aphrodisiacs work by triggering a biochemical response (nothing's as sexy as the phrase “biochemical response”) or are they the result of enduring cultural or psychological conditioning?

Consider one popular little blue pill. Despite its popular reputation as a love drug, “Viagra is actually about the hydraulics of sexual performance, not desire,” notes clinical psychologist Joy Davidson, a board member of the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists.

Why do certain foods retain their reputation as an element in Casanova's toolbox? Some of it is enduring myth, doubly so for foods the legendary lover himself ate. (Oysters and chocolate, notably.) In other cases, we choose foods that taste luxurious or are part of a sensual dinner — with the meal setting a stage for what comes next. Call it the Truffle Effect.

Hollywood’s most memorable movie kisses Foods of love? Not so fast, Casanova Sweet sampler for Valentine’s Day TV’s best and worst couples For many, V-Day isn’t warm, cuddly A true-love Valentine's ode to TomKat

Sometimes there are side effects that heighten the confusion. Spicy peppers' physical effects are obvious, but it's a big leap from heat in the mouth to heat between the sheets. And while alcohol has lowered plenty of inhibitions, it would be a stretch to call Champagne an aphrodisiac — much as it might improve your odds.

Leaving aside boldface claims and wives' tales, are there actually aphrodisiacs in the grocery aisle? Hard to say, in part because it's not a topic geared to rigorous research. “In the absence of proof and in the absence of an ability to define an aphrodisiac,” says Robert Shmerling, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School who has spent time poking holes in food myths, “it becomes impossible to disprove.”

Let's consider five popular foods you might expect to find in Cupid's cupboard — and whether they deserve to be there.

5) Licorice and other aromatics
THE MYTH: Many spices and scents get a reputation for turning on the love hose, but licorice seems to trace back farther than most — to ancient China and to India, where it can be found in Kama Sutra preparations.

Recently, studies have claimed men were aroused by the smell of licorice and women by a combination of cucumber and Good & Plenty, a licorice-like candy.

THE REALITY: Those reports stem from research by Alan Hirsch, M.D., director of the Chicago-based Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation.  Hirsch exposed Chicago-area men and women to various scents, and measured penile and vaginal blood flow as a signal of sexual arousal.

Among men, black licorice increased blood flow 13 percent; when combined with the smell of doughnuts, it jumped to 32 percent. A mix of lavender and pumpkin pie scored 40 percent, compared to just 3 percent for perfume.

While women were apparently aroused by the candy-cucumber mix, cherries actually decreased blood flow, as did the smells of barbecued meat and mens' cologne. (Sorry, guys.)

Slideshow   Celebrity sightings Adam Lambert talks about AMAs fallout, Richie Sambora finds his way in New Jersey, Spike Lee follows his Knicks to L.A. and more. more photos

“The reason why they had this effect was unclear,” Hirsch says, but he has some theories. It might be a Pavlovian conditioned response. It might represent “olfactory nostalgia” from childhood, perhaps a sign of boys eating licorice while thinking manly thoughts. The aromas might help reduce anxieties. Or it could be due to some curious evolutionary anomaly.

While Hirsch dismisses many popular aphrodisiacs as the result of a placebo effect, he emphatically stands by his research, enough that his forthcoming book, “What's Your Food Sign,” attempts to pair couples based on eating preferences.

One small glitch: His research has caught skeptical glances from those in the research community, such as Rachel Herz, a visiting professor in the psychiatry department at Brown University Medical School who studies how scents and emotions are intertwined.

Rather than inherent scent triggers, she says, what's more likely is that many people have long-term associations — including sexual ones — with certain scents.  If you smell a perfume worn by an old girlfriend you're still fond of, it might inspire some warm, happy feelings. If she dumped you hard, the smell could be infuriating.

“Fragrances acquire their meaning through association,” Herz says. “There's no innate biochemical response.”