If your libido feels a little lacking going into the New Year, there are a multitude of ways to help boost your sex drive.
From using one of the best vibrators to munching on aphrodisiac oysters, even dark chocolate is said to bolster up the bedroom antics
However, there’s a new player entering the sex space—mushrooms! We’re not talking about the dainty button mushrooms that regularly frequent your weekday stir fry. Instead, the powers of cordyceps—typically found in the mountains of China—are being applauded for their libido-boosting properties. They could even help to overcome sexual anxiety.
Hania Opienski, naturopath and mycotherapy specialist at Hifas da Terra says that cordyceps mushrooms can do wonders for your sex life, "Cordyceps has been used worldwide to address everything from male impotence, improving erectile function, sperm production, motility and mobility, as well as increasing sexual arousal in both men and women."
Interestingly, cordyceps support adrenal and reproductive organs, improve cellular energy production and also improve oxygenation for holistic as well as libido-enhancing benefits, “these include improved stamina, physical and mental performance and clarity, energy levels, oxygenation and lung capacity and even stress management” Hania says.
But rather than book a one-way ticket to China for a sex boost, you can now find cordyceps in a pill.
Hifas Da Terra Mico-Blue Solution is a natural alternative to ʻthe blue pill’, and works just as well for women as it does for men. Essentially it’s a month’s worth of caramel-flavored syringes, but it will set you back an eye-watering £1000.
Expensive, yes, however with mushrooms fast becoming the wellness world’s latest fascination, it’s only a matter of time until cordyceps become more commonplace in helping to enhance our libidos. You can already get them in a powder that can be added to tea and coffee and is much more affordable.
“As mushrooms gain more credibility and interest, more research is being done, which confirms traditional usage and benefits. Importantly, unlike a number of other pharmaceutical and herbal medicines for sexual wellness, mushrooms like cordyceps have no side effects,” says Hania.
Plus, unlike many other libido-stimulating products, you canʼt develop a tolerance for cordyceps, "so you wonʼt need to keep increasing the dose to maintain the desired effects".
In fact, the longer you take cordyceps for, the more primed your body becomes and the better the effects.