LOVE POTION NUMBER ONE!

Nutritionist and best-selling author, Fiona Kirk offers up a delicious plan for a hot and spicy Valentine’s night!

If you are looking for a bit of passion this 14th February look no further than your local Spanish restaurant and share a steaming dish of Paella with your date. Why? Because this Valencian sensation is literally bursting with foods that heighten our sexual desires:-

Saffron: this spice was widely used as an aphrodisiac in the ancient world (the Greeks believed that its effect was strongest in women and that a diet rich in saffron made them think of little other than sex!) Recent research has found that plant chemicals in saffron improve the circulation of blood to the sex organs.

Seafood: historically, coastal men were believed to be unusually salacious due to a diet rich in seafood. Prawns, mussels, scallops, clams etc. are all rich in iron which increases stamina, zinc and Omega 3’s which increase the production of testosterone and iodine which feeds the thyroid gland making your date feel vivacious, energetic and passionate!

Garlic: Tibetan monks were forbidden from entering monasteries if they had eaten garlic because of its reputation for inflaming the passions! Recent research suggests that garlic's ability to improve blood circulation also improves sexual performance.

Hot Peppers: Dr John Harvey Kellogg (of Kellogg’s cereals fame) advised nymphomaniacs to stay away from hot peppers as they get the blood rushing, the heart pumping, the face flushing and the pores sweating! These symptoms are as a direct result of the plant chemical, capcaisin, now respected as a thermogenic compound which raises our metabolic rate AND increases fat burning - what’s not to love?

Tomato: otherwise know as ‘the love apple’ was at one time forbidden by the Catholic church over concerns regarding it's potential to corrupt the faithful. Tomatoes are very rich in vitamin C which is critically involved in the synthesis of our sex hormones.

Or make your own (recipes abound on the internet), ask your lover round for a relaxed and spicy evening, start with a refreshing jug of Sangria or a couple glasses of bubbly Freixenet Cava, share a bottle of antioxidant-rich Rioja and finish off with a warming glass of Cuarenta y Tres ( Licor 43).

I am offering a pair of free tickets (a saving of £30) to the Vitality Show at Earls Court, London (22-25 March) to the first 4 people to email me fionamkirk@btconnect.com with their Valentines Day success stories!