Get figgy

Legend has it that eating a fresh fig while naked, in front of a woman, is one of the world’s most erotic acts. (However, I can’t vouch for this, since I’m not in the habit of eating naked in front of other women). But, as the story goes, when a fig is split down the center and cradled in your palm, its pink flesh is said to resemble a woman’s sweet unmentionables.

If folklore wasn’t enough, the luscious fruit’s sexual nature was immortalized in the words of one of literature’s dirtiest birds, author D. H. Lawrence. He dedicated a poem entitled “Figs” to the sensual powers of this one summer fruit.

Another interesting note that may lead to the fig’s allure, some historians suspect that the fig’s original home was the Garden of Eden. And that the fig was the original temptress, the true forbidden fruit. (Of course, there are others who say the true fruit of temptation is the pomegranate, so I’m not sure how much weight this line of thought holds.)

But even those who still cling to the myth of the apple (or the pomegranate) find the fig’s charms to be undeniable. From a nutritional standpoint, the soft, plump tree fruit is a fine source of iron and potassium-minerals much needed in the horizontal pas de deux. Another nutritional attribute, (one that isn’t so sexy), figs offer the body fiber. And although most of us don’t like to dwell on it, fiber is key to helping you feel and look like your most sensual self.

Discover more of the world’s greatest aphrodisiac foods