Walnuts

[M. Porcius Cato]

According to this news report, the key ingredient in a recent *iagr*-alternative was inspired by the Roman use of walnuts as an erectile enhancer. Anyone come across this one before? Or is it nuts?

[docoflove1974]

Or is it nuts?

 

That is so wrong on so many levels...*groan*

[Nephele]

According to this news report, the key ingredient in a recent *iagr*-alternative was inspired by the Roman use of walnuts as an erectile enhancer. Anyone come across this one before? Or is it nuts?

 

I think many kinds of nuts were considered to be aphrodisiacs, due to the ancient theories that the shape of the food gave an indication of what part of the human body it might affect. Nuts = testicles, as we all know. Galen, in fact, recommended pine nuts for the purpose.

 

I just got home from the beach (talk about a great environment for stirring the libido) and funny you should bring up this subject because my current reading for the beach is Dr. Philip Matyszak's wonderful new book: Ancient Rome on Five Denarii a Day. I'm up to the section titled "Out and About", and have just read the bit about wedding parties.

 

Dr. Matyszak mentions how nuts were "thrown about like confetti on these occasions". His book includes numerous primary sources, and here's a sample of a bawdy wedding song which he provided to illustrate the symbolism of nuts among the ancient Romans:

 

You there, slave boy

Once your master's favourite in bed

Though you have lost his love

Pass round the nuts to the other lads.

 

Great book. Even though it's my designated beach reading, I'm so engrossed in it that it goes with me everywhere. I'll need a new beach book by next weekend, at this rate.

 

-- Nephele

Edited June 3, 2007 by Nephele

[Pertinax]

Walnut hulls have an extraordinarily lengthy history as a folk medicine for purging worms (along with wormwood and feverfew herb).As anyone who has experienced a rotten walnut will attest the hint of anthro-cyanide will usually make a person spit the thing across the room.

Pharmacologically we have juglone (a napthaquinone) ,eugenol and various fatty acids. Th volatile oil is antifungal in vitro , the juglone is antimicrobial .A particular external use was for herpes sores.The hulls have been used as a hair dye.

 

I cant find any erotic contexts for the plant.In the "doctrine of signatures" medieval scholars took its appearence as mimmicking the brain and therefore it was eaten to "stimulate " said organ.

 

Culpepper mentions "The juice of the green husks, boiled with honey, is also a good gargle for a sore mouth and inflamed throat, and the distilled water of the green husks is good for quinsy and as an application for wounds and internally is a cooling drink in agues." Hence we see the antimicrobial usage.Mithridates included the walnut in his universal antidote recipe.

 

What an odd article.

[DecimusCaesar]

Am I not mistaken or did Augustus Caesar use hot walnuts to flatten the hairs on his legs according to Suetonius? What reason did he have for doing this?

[Pertinax]

DC can you give a reference for that please?

 

Here is Pliny on Mithriditum:

http://perseus.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/cgi-bin...Ahead%3D%231583

[Pantagathus]

One little thing about walnuts that doesn't get much press is that they are right up there with flax seeds as being rich in Omega-3 Fatty Acids. Great for the brain... (don't know about the 'little' brain though)

[Pertinax]

The Medieval "Doctrine of Signatures" (ie: a plant/seed/root resembling a part of the body being "sympathetic " to that part) would have us believe that the whorled and convoluted surface of the brain is mimicked by the nut and is therefore signified a s a "brain medicine" . So full circle in doctrine again.

[caldrail]

On the one hand the romans have a wealth of herbal medecinal knowledge, tempered by some incredible ignorance. Is there any way of knowing if the use of walnuts as an ancient *iagr* was genuine or another case of the 'chinese rhino-horn' syndrome?

[Andrew Dalby]

On the one hand the romans have a wealth of herbal medecinal knowledge, tempered by some incredible ignorance. Is there any way of knowing if the use of walnuts as an ancient *iagr* was genuine or another case of the 'chinese rhino-horn' syndrome?

 

Pertinax has already said above that he "can't find any erotic contents" regarding walnuts. I haven't found any ancient claims on walnuts-as-aphrodisiacs either. There wasn't anything about it in the Pliny text. Maybe the Romans didn't use walnuts for this purpose, and the original news report was just wrong? They often are ...

 

As for their omega-3 content, I'm surprised to read (from someone above) that this doesn't get much publicity. I thought it was well known. It's one of those cases where something really wicked-seeming -- like walnut oil as a salad dressing, almost unbeatable in my view -- is arguably good for you! In moderation, of course.

[Pertinax]

A couple of oblique references to other foods are worth noting, because there is a certain correspondence between their usage and certain sexual problems.Martial, I recall , suggests shallots and spring onions for the older man with flagging libido -the chemistry here is not illogical. The onion family are the best source of quercetin a useful flavinoid (or particularly flavanin) which is particularly useful in helping the diseased or inflammed prostate, also they tend (along with rutin ) to keep arteries pliable in general.So the advice whilst unlikely to promote an immediate arousal, would, if used diligently improve the general health of the reproductive organs.

 

Wiki is quite good:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quercetin

 

Also Pliny does mention a ghastly mix of pomegranate and( bull's?) testes , now I understand the "sympathetic" part of this (as im sure everyone reading this will) , but the pomegranate is tremendously alkaline and cleansing ...a jaded voluptuary could do worse than fast a little and imbibe plenty of pomegranate juice .

Oysters of course are rich in zinc, zinc is a key to sperm motility therefore I certainly commend oysters to all as a nuptial feast..alas if one is ingesting too much iron this will be of no avail and one can carry on in this vein (no pun!) the key is of course balanced diet with healthy range of minerals and good cardio health. A comely companion with prominent curves and witty chat helps best I find.

 

The collision of wishful thinking, actual therapeutic value and sympathetic elements are an indivisible mix..but witness this little gem from 20th C rural Germany "In parts of Germany, even today, some people think that eating an apple that has been soaked in the perspiration of their intended lover's armpit is a sure means of seduction." Well ok you could argue that a hint of hormonal excitement might get through , but id prefer my apple cooked.

[Flavia Gemina]

I find 'gloios' (post-exercise, pre-bath scrapings from a strigil) are the best aphrodisiac.

 

And eating hare makes you more attractive.

 

Flavia

[ASCLEPIADES]

DC can you give a reference for that please?

 

Here is Pliny on Mithriditum:

http://perseus.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/cgi-bin...Ahead%3D%231583

I think that the quote of DC is in the chapter 68 of the life of Augustus (Suetonius).

[Pertinax]

DC can you give a reference for that please?

 

Here is Pliny on Mithriditum:

http://perseus.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/cgi-bin...Ahead%3D%231583

I think that the quote of DC is in the chapter 68 of the life of Augustus (Suetonius).

Ah yes , thank you ..this is a reference to depilation using the hot walnut hull. So I have to ask is the walnut shell especially sharp? Given what we have previously discussed elsewhere about visiting the Tonsorii for a shave , perhaps the shells have some virtue ((easily manipulated ) that we are unaware of?

[Pertinax]

Here is the humble walnut in its role as a belt charm for fertility:

http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?automo...si&img=1884

 

just the sort of "charming" thing I can see Lost Warrior making.

 

This link is for the bon vivants:

http://french-windows.blogspot.com/2007/02/just-nuts.html