Did you know that there's no actual scientific evidence to suggest that widely touted aphrodisiacs such as oysters, chocolate, and apparently avocado, actually do anything for your feelings of sexual desire? And while Viagra may prolong an erection, it actually doesn't make you more aroused, contrary to popular belief (and I'm sure the manufacturers aren't rushing to correct it). This is because it works solely to inhibit a particular enzyme that allows more blood-flow to the penis, and only acts on the peripheral nervous system.

So popping a little blue pill isn't exactly going to help you if you don't already feel 'up' to it. And for the women? Absolutely no effects offered by Viagra.

But the guys at AsapSCIENCE have scoured the recent research, and have found something that does have a proven effect on your libido. And, as often happens, the scientists who discovered it stumbled on it by accident. 

The team was investigating the possibility of a sunless tanning agent, and in the process, looked into melanocortin - a protein in the brain that controls skin pigmentation. They found that when 10 mg of the synthetic version of the protein, called Melanotan II - were injected into a male volunteer, an immediate and unstimulated erection occurred. And this thing lasted for eight straight hours. Along with nausea and vomiting.

So the team cut the dosage to 2.5 mg, and the erection lasted two to three hours, with minimal nausea. Cut again to 1.25 mg, and the male volunteers experienced consistent erections, and zero side effects, says AsapSCIENCE. It's now being administered successfully as a nasal spray, and there's a version of the drug that works on females too - it just hasn't been approved or regulated anywhere yet.

But the drug's derivative, called Bremelanotide, is now undergoing human clinical trials as a potential treatment for a whole bunch of common sexual disorders. And it works on both sexes.

Find out more about this curious new drug by watching the latest episode of AsapSCIENCE above. And please send any uneaten, sexually unhelpful oysters, chocolates, and avocados our way, we'll gladly take them off your hands.

Source: AsapSCIENCE