L'Arginine is not an herb, but an amino acid, a building block of protein found in various foods. Some of the foods and supplements that contain L'Arginine have an aphrodisiac reputation, such as chocolate. In addition to chocolate, L'Arginine can be found in seeds, peanuts, almonds and other nuts, in dairy foods, meat fish and poultry.
It's hard to say when L'Arginine started to get a reputation as an aphrodisiac - probably it began among weightlifters and bodybuilders who took the amino acid for its ability to bulk up the muscles. Just a rumour that something works to enhance sex is enough to gets lots of people trying it and talking about it. The buzz about L'Arginine has been steady and positive.
Chemically L'Arginine helps relax smooth muscle contractions in the walls of the arteries and in the penis. This allows the arteries to dilate and circulation to increase. In the penis this results in greater rigidity of erections.
- A study in France showed that L'Arginine helped reduce erectile dysfunction.
- A Spanish study in Clinical Science 1992 showed L'Arginine reverses the action of another amino acid that inhibits nitric oxide, resulting in enhanced penile blood flow.
- In 1991 The Lancet reported how L'Arginine reversed the constrictive effects of high cholesterol that decreased blood flow through the arteries, these results support the Spanish study on arginine's beneficial effect on erection.
Whilst the above studies have focussed on the beneficial effects of L'Arginine on men, anything that works to improve circulation in the pelvic region must have a beneficial effect for women too.
(Extract taken from: Better Sex Naturally, Chris Meletis, sadly now out of print) 
