Spread the love with food this Valentine’s

Whatever your views I think it’s a nice reason to tell your loved ones that you appreciate and love them. It is also a great excuse to indulge in some of these valentine friendly, yet healthy, aphrodisiac ingredients.

Chillies are healthy for lots of reasons, they are packed full of vitamins, raise your metabolism, lower cholesterol and have been proven to help fight disease. They also increase blood flow in the body and stimulate nerve endings, making everything that extra bit sensitive. You can buy local chillies from ‘Love my chillies’ based in Bedfordshire or from the local farmers market.

Cocoa contains a chemical called phenylethylamine which is believed to release a happy hormone, similar to the feeling of falling in love. No wonder it is a popular valentines gift! I recently visited Creighton’s Chocolatier on The High Street in Leighton Buzzard and they had some great luxury treats, including a selection of love lollies, flavoured truffles and edible heart shaped boxes.

Zinc rich foods such as oysters and steak are another aphrodisiac. These classic romantic foods will always impress at the dinner table, plus zinc increases testosterone and fights impotence in men. It has also been said to increase the female heart rate in the female body.

Honey is another powerful ingredient that has beneficial qualities such as fighting colds. It promotes testosterone production in men and the mineral boron present in honey aids the use of oestrogen in women. Honey goes back in history as a romantic food, it was said after marriage the happy couple would drink mead (a honey based drink) for 1 month to celebrate, hence the term honeymoon!

So make these foods the centre of your valentines celebrations, you can reap the health benefits of these special ingredients whilst enjoying those extra perks!