Food That Sparks Desire

Greasy comfort food can be delicious, but it can also quietly kill the mood. We wanted a smarter, more playful way to talk about libido, energy, and romance, so we brought on Amy Riley, a food critic and author with a master’s in gastronomy who literally “makes food sexy” for a living.

We get into what aphrodisiac foods actually are beyond the clichés: the history and folklore (yes, oysters and chocolate), the sensory side (texture, heat, aroma), and the real-world health angle that supports sexual wellness. Amy shares easy upgrades you can use for any occasion, from Super Bowl snack swaps to date-night meals that won’t leave you ready for bed at 7. You’ll hear ideas like prosciutto-wrapped figs, a satisfying meatless chili with chocolate, and why salsa and guacamole can be surprisingly libido-friendly.

We also talk about eating in your 40s, when metabolism, hormones, stress, and routines shift. Amy Reiley breaks down starter foods for men’s health (think bison, oats, and salmon) and supportive picks for women (including dark chocolate, plus ways to get kale and chilies in without suffering). If dark chocolate tastes bitter, she shares “gateway” cacao tips and dessert strategies that make it easier to enjoy.

If you want more energy, more presence, and a kitchen that makes healthy choices feel natural, press play. Subscribe, share this with a friend who loves food, and leave a review with the one “sexy snack” you’re trying next.

Transcript

Welcome And Meet Amy Riley

SPEAKER_00 0:01

You're listening to Diva Tonight with Carleen Humphrey, a relationship podcast with a focus on life, love, and friendship. Welcome to Diva Tonight.

Carlene 0:12

Hi, I'm Carleen, and this is Diva Tonight. We are here on Zoom with the lovely Amy Riley, and she is the first guest that I have who is a food critic, food like I guess analyst in a way. She's an author and she knows a lot about food and how to make it sexy. So how are you?

SPEAKER_01 0:38

Great. Thank you. That was a fun introduction. So yes, that's what I do. I make food sexy.

Carlene 0:43

Yeah. I guess the term for you did go to school for this. You have a master's in what's the term? Gastronomy. There we go. Gastronomy, which is like your gut. Like, but you know what?

SPEAKER_01 0:56

No, it's the study of food, the study of food. Um I do also have my nutrition coaching certification. So I looked at both sides.

Carlene 1:04

You know what's interesting is that your story comes from like the fact that you know it's always when we have a health care scare that changes the way we eat, the way we do certain things. So I understand that too, because I had like a wake-up call a couple years ago, and um I guess you we ignore the warning signs. I don't know if you had any warning signs that you might have ignored, but I I was like, I'm anemic, so my iron was low, but I was ignored. I'm like, wait a minute, like going just going up a flight of stair stairs, Amy, would like like I'd be like winded. I'm like, wow, I'm so out of shape. But that wasn't like me being out of shape, it was something else. And then I found out later what was wrong.

SPEAKER_01 1:47

So but with you, I guess you can explain to my trying to help people become more aware of their relationship with food before, before the wake-up call, right? We don't need to get to that point to make or a different relationship with food. We can have a really great and healthy and tasty

Food Scares And Everyday Awareness

SPEAKER_01 2:05

relationship with food, you know, without having to get to some, whoa, I've got to change, change my ways. So what I do, I mean, my whole my whole subject is is the relationship between food and romance and food and sexual health. And so I really like to help people just become more aware for themselves, and then of course, for it's applicable to a romantic situation of like how, you know, where these things go, you know, how they feel in your body when you when you're eating things, like what happens. In fact, I have a website called eat something sexy.com, and I have this thing called the sexy snack quiz. And it simply helps you see how something as simple as the way you snack, like the style of snacker you are, how that changes your whole day, how it changes your energy throughout the day, how it changes how present you are, and at what point in the day you're not present. And of course, I put it, you know, through the lens of romance, like how are you, you know, how are you going to be there for how are you gonna have desire or be there present with your partner if you know if you're if you're just in a slump. But yeah, I think that we can all think about that a little more every day rather than waiting till the the big thing happens, right?

Carlene 3:12

Yeah. And I think while some people are more aware than others, like some are like consistently like, you know, they have a routine down pat where some people like myself where I go in between, like where when I have my cravings, I just love to eat a bag of chips, but like there's also days where I'm like, okay, rice, lentil peas, and you know, I'm gonna have a fruit smoothie, you know what I mean? But I'm always playing ketchup, so I know all about that. And I think what's important is the fact that you are an aphrodisiac chef, and so I guess you help couples, which is really interesting in that sense, because I was I was listening to an interview you did, and the theme seemed to be more about Valentine's Day, and I was like, you know, I was just like, wow, we are we are definitely having a theme here, which is so cool because there's there's a lot

Sexy Super Bowl Food Swaps

Carlene 4:05

of um what do you call it, celebrations that we have, you know what I mean? And as a chef who's like creating new ways to help people find pleasure with food and not make it like, oh, I have to eat like quinoa, like you know, all the things that are hard. So if we're if we're thinking about like the Super Bowl, like just as an example, what would you like suggest for like women in their 40s, men couples to to make that might be a little bit healthier?

SPEAKER_01 4:37

Okay, so yeah, I've never I've never considered Super Bowl before because obviously it's not a romantic holiday. It's not the opportunity. Like I can spin most holidays as why don't you have a Thanksgiving for two? Why don't you have a quiet New Year's Eve? Oh, I've never spun a Super Bowl before. But if you are both, you know, huge football fans, if your team is in the Super Bowl, maybe this could be like a way to connect with your partner because you have this thing that you're connecting over, right? And it's not like it's not like I'm preparing a romantic dinner and I have to get it all right. There's this is low pressure, so it could actually be a really good romantic moment. That being said, I would probably throw out the average Super Bowl menu because the Super Bowl parties I've been to, although I'm happy to eat those foods, you know, I love a good pig and a blanket, but these are not foods that are going to support your sexual health, make you feel like tearing off your clothes, you know, or any anything in that realm at all, right? So, or or benefit your health in general.

Carlene 5:44

I don't know, queso is not delicious, but our um I was just thinking when I was listening to you talk about all the things to support sexual health and make it sexy on Valentine's Day, and I'm like, well, I don't want to time this. I wanna as I want it to be so that it could be for many different occasions for you know couples who are listening, people who are going on dates and trying to figure out creative ways to make things interesting, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:17

Yes, yeah, so instead of maybe instead of a pig in a blanket, I actually have a recipe in my first cookbook, Bork Me Spoon Me. Okay. Um there's a recipe for figs in a blanket. And I don't know, you may have a little trouble finding figs in North America this time of year, but if you can find some figs, it they're prosciutto wrapped and grilled. So you're getting that this like salty, that salty, meaty flavor. But you're also eating a fig, which is a fresh and healthy and fiber-filled food. So, you know, so we can you can make choices like that where you don't feel like I'm being deprived. I'm still eating my processed meat. But I'm excited to make me in a better, in a better way. And you know, we can find other things. You can find I have a really great chili recipe, and you would never guess it, but it is completely I like that. It involves chocolate. It's really it's a fantastic recipe. Uh, you can find you can find it on eat something sexy.com. I think it's called like meatless chili with chocolate or something like that. Some that's no, I'm sure I put I mean a sexier name, like chocolate kiss chili, maybe? I don't know. But you'll find it there. Yeah. It's so satisfying. You're still having your kind of traditional bowl of chili. You could throw your cheese on top if you want, or your dollop of sour cream, or whatever it is. I do, I have to say, I do like a little sour cream and some some chopped, you know, green onion on top of my chili. But it's low in saturated fat. It's not, you know how sometimes chili has that like grease layer on the top? You're not gonna get that. You're gonna get a delicious, satisfying bowl of chili. So that's something you could do. Make some cornbread on the side, you got a meal.

Carlene 7:52

Yeah, yeah. Wow. I like that. That's fun. So for those of us who are not familiar with an

What Aphrodisiac Foods Really Are

Carlene 8:00

aphrodisiac, what is an aphrodisiac?

SPEAKER_01 8:03

Uh, so an aphrodisiac food is basically a food that somehow promotes desire. And, you know, technically the definition is it's a food that improves sexual performance or sexual desire. But basically, it's any food. To me, it's any food that has a link, has a strong link with romance. And some of that is like history and folklore, things like when you think about an oyster or chocolate, these are foods that you think are supposed to be associated with romance or sex or seduction, right? So there are certain foods that have it's there's probably like it's probably partially psychological. But there are other foods that simply are really good for your sexual health, like kale. I'm sorry to say it. Kale is great for Oh my gosh.

Carlene 8:40

Did I oh yeah, because I said quinoa early.

SPEAKER_01 8:44

Right. I was thinking about that. I was like, oh, the the boring things. You know what I do? I put kale in my guacamole, like I blend it in. Oh you're getting a little kale and it still tastes like chips and tips.

Carlene 8:55

You know what? I don't eat a lot of of avocado, but whenever I talk to my grandmother, she just loves avocado. Maybe that's why she's living such a long life, you know. But she's also in sunny granada. But I digress when I say this, but avocado is I'm not like I like it, but I don't I don't make it a part of my diet, but I feel like I should. I like guacamole and like it's like good with like chips and dip, right? So I guess maybe you can suggest like guacamole.

SPEAKER_01 9:25

Guacamole and salsa are beneficial to your sex life, believe it or not. Really? Avocados are really they are historically considered aphrodisiac. They have a sexy history as an aphrodisiac. They also, I mean, it's a it's a textural sensation too, right? It's so creamy, but it's got all that fat, so it's got this lovely, like the way it feels across your tongue is kind of delightful. I love an avocado. And then, you know, uh tomatoes, actually. So actually, pretty much everything in salsa chilies help raise your body temperature, which you know can help you feel a little more ready to tear off your clothing. They can also make your lips plump up a little, and to someone across the table that it'll be like, I need to kiss those lips, I need to kiss those lips. Wow. Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, so you can't you kind of can't go wrong, believe it or not, with a little salsa, a little guacamole.

Carlene 10:18

Yeah, you know what? I think it's

Eating In Your 40s With Energy

Carlene 10:20

important to talk about food when it comes to like the topic of this series that I've been working on because it's it's like women in our for 40s, right? And men too. I've started to talk to men as well. And I think the whole thing is like understanding that at this age we can't eat what we love eating. I'm it's not to say we can't eat those fun things, but we have to limit it because it's not like I'm 25 anymore when I would just like go to like a party and like you said, have all these bad like pizza, whatever, have a few drinks, and like you're not seeing the change. But at this stage, so many things are changing in our bodies, right?

SPEAKER_01 11:04

And also our activity levels are often much lower from for a lot of us. Our activity levels are lower than when they were when we were 23, 22.

Carlene 11:11

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:12

Um, and so that's a consideration as well. For me, it's about like how do I feel? Like, I just want to feel good. I still eat jelly beans, I love my jelly beans, but I, you know, I at the end of the day, I want to feel good. I want to have energy for a full day. I want to have energy to be present with my partner. I want to have energy to be able to tuck my kids in bed. Although, to be honest, lately they're getting older and most nights I'm in bed before them. I'll be honest.

Carlene 11:36

Yeah, I see that your kids are getting up there. Like, you know, you mentioned one of your kids is eight, right?

SPEAKER_01 11:42

So not uh ten.

Carlene 11:43

Uh ten. He said now. Okay, so I think that was that was a year ago. Time flies, right? Two years, so yeah. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 11:51

So, yeah, so we, you know, we um we do, we have all these changes and we have different obligations as well. And sometimes I think it's just the stress of those obligations. You need to eat to be supportive of those things. You you need to be supportive of where you are emotionally as well. And so I really encourage everyone to become conscious of it. In fact, I have I have a free gift for you guys. I have a free gift. Oh, I like free. We like free. Um, it's a podcast exclusive. Go to eat something sexy.com slash podcast. Okay. And I have for you there is just a little exercise that helps you become a little more aware. It's to help you understand the concept of aphrodisiac foods and like the use of food and desire, but it's really all about the awareness of what you eat, how did it make you feel, what foods make you make you feel better, what time of day do you want to eat them? So it's a fun little exercise. Go get it, eat something sexy.com slash podcast, and tell me what you think.

Carlene 12:48

I will, I will definitely report back. So you're saying it's all about like you know, how food can be an aphrodisiac to heighten those endorphins. So, how how does that work when it comes to changing

Best Starter Foods For Men

Carlene 13:05

your diet for sexual health?

SPEAKER_01 13:08

So, I actually my starting point where I tell people to do is this is gonna be a little different for men than for women. Okay. Obviously, we have different needs, we have different hormones. So I have lists again on my website, eat something sexy. I actually have a list of my starting point foods, my 10 best foods for women and my 10 best foods for men. And these, of course, aren't the only foods that are going to help you, but it just gives you a place to start.

Carlene 13:34

I saw them. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:35

You don't have to eat, obviously, you don't have to eat all 10. Not everyone likes all 10. In fact, I'm working on a book that kind of goes from that point forward, a men's book and a women's book. And I will be, of course, putting all kinds of like if you don't eat almonds, then you can try, you know, these five other foods. Um, because I know we all have preferences and sensitivities and allergies, but it still becomes a great starting point. Even if you're only going to eat eight out of ten of those foods, check out you know what foods are really beneficial if you're a man and which ones are beneficial if you're a woman.

Carlene 14:07

Most of my listeners are women and some are men too. I'm starting to see that. So when you think about foods to help men's health, let's do that. Let's let's let you know what I mean, change it up a little bit because yeah, I think that's important.

SPEAKER_01 14:20

Yeah. Sure. So for men, there's a little more emphasis on protein foods. You know, um, I put I put bison on the list because I want to help people move away from beef a little bit, but if you still want meat, it's a fantastic choice. It's a little more expensive. Bison is higher in protein and lower in saturated fat and equally satisfying to beef. So, you know, why wouldn't you make a choice like that? Other foods are obviously foods to promote promote testosterone production. Like I mentioned, almonds earlier, that's on the men's list. And oats. Oats are fantastic. Oats are great for everyone, but they are particularly great for men's sexual health. So, you know, so the so you can see there's a variety of foods on these lists. It's not, it's not all vegetarian, it's not like strictly healthy, healthy things.

Carlene 15:09

You know

How To Learn To Like Dark Chocolate

Carlene 15:10

what I find dark chocolate made the women's. Yeah, dark chocolate. So tell me something about that. I feel like it's an acquired taste. I love how people are like dark chocolate is so good. I've had dark chocolate. I'm gonna be honest, Amy. I'm not gonna be like everyone else and be like, I love dark chocolate. Every time I have dark chocolate, I'm like a kid when it comes to certain foods. Like I still eat my favorite gummies like I'm a kid, but you know, I tried dark chocolate and it has that bitter taste that I don't know how I can incorporate that and make it like not so like mm, you know what I mean? Like, I don't know. Unless there's different ones.

SPEAKER_01 15:46

Both of my kids, so in our house, if we get a box of chocolates, I know all the dark chocolates are gonna disappear and everyone's gonna leave all the milk chocolates.

unknown 15:53

Yeah.

Carlene 15:55

So you've incorporated, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:57

I understand that. Like I grew up on Hershey, so I understand that taste for that melty, delicious, sugary milk chocolate. I get that. Yeah. It doesn't appeal to me as much any longer. But I think that you can, there are ways to move into the dark chocolate. Maybe start with like, you know how a lot of times they'll put the percentage of cacao on the bar. Starting with 55%, maybe. Just go a little bit darker, you know, like a gateway chocolate, we'll call it. Start with the gateway chocolates and then and then move on. You can also do things like use desserts that are sweetened or that are are the chocolate is cocoa powder and then sugar, rather than because you know, cocoa powder is really, it's it's very, it's also very healthy. You're getting all of those benefits because it doesn't have all of the added, added sugar, added milk, all of that. I'm thinking of I have a recipe on my website for a dark chocolate tofu mousse. And I know you're like, what? No, it's so it's so delicious, it's so chocolatey, but it's super dark intense dark chocolatey.

Carlene 16:58

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 16:58

So that might be another way to introduce it for you. Or making, if you do like making desserts, make them with like dark chocolate chips instead of semi-sweeter milk chocolate chip. That's another way to get dark chocolate in.

SPEAKER_00 17:10

Diva Tonight, glamour for your ears.

Carlene 17:13

So, I mean, we're talking a lot about food and how you're like a food specialist and like, you know, you help others

Baking Roots And Publishing Cookbooks

Carlene 17:20

find the sexiness in food for men and women and making date night a little more romantic. You know what I mean? And and so what was it like when you were a kid though? I'm wondering, because were you like were your parents chefs? Like, what what it what led to here and now?

SPEAKER_01 17:40

Um, I think for me it started with baking. We had this this thing where we had this rule in our house. We could have one package of cookies. We all had to go to the grocery store together, which I can't even imagine families doing now. But we could pick and we could pick one package of cookies and one package of ice cream per week. And we would take turns. One would be my week, one would be my brother's week. Now, first of all, I didn't like the majority of packaged cookies. They just tasted crappy to me even as a kid. Like I had to.

Carlene 18:08

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:09

Um, but I did like the ice cream. However, whenever it was my brother's week, he would purposely pick something that I didn't like so that he could have the whole carton. So I quickly figured out well, we have butter, we have flour, we have sugar, we have you know, we have cocoa powder, and I learned how to bake. So my brother could have his crummy ice cream and his crummy cookies, and I baked things.

Carlene 18:29

Did you share with him? You're like, no, they're mine. I bake them for myself. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:35

I do remember doing a lot of baking.

Carlene 18:38

Yeah. So what did your mom do? Did she bake a lot? Was she like at a stay-at-home mom or what you know?

SPEAKER_01 18:45

She was a now almost entirely stay-at-home mom. She was like a work five hours a week kind of mom. My family had a business, so she tried to, she did the bare minimum. So she was mostly there for us. Um, she was not a baker though. No. She did make she made a homemade dinner every night, but baking was not not really her thing other than at Christmas. Yeah.

Carlene 19:04

Yeah. So the creatives come from somewhere, but I guess there is some entrepreneurship in your family because you said they had a business, right? And so I always say it's not where you're going, it's where you came from that led you to here and now. And I always try to tie the two together because I I find like it's either some contributing factors to the way that you were brought up that brought this on, or it was just an interest in itself, but you've been baking. So whereas with me, I didn't like that home home at class, I guess, that we had where you had to like. I mean, it was a good class. I mean, they taught us how to sew. I don't know if you had that too, and like how to like I mean, I know how to make rice crispy squares, and I think that's the one thing I stuck to, right? Because it was so easy.

SPEAKER_01 19:48

But uh too, and I learned how to make a pair of shorts.

Carlene 19:51

Right?

SPEAKER_01 19:53

But yes, that did not, and none of that got me to where I am now for sure. Or is he being better, like a better, I don't know. I mean, what were they trying to do? Make me a better homemaker. None of it worked, but the aphrodisiac thing is is now working for me. Certainly, my my experience in desserts has paid off in addition to um my own books. I so I actually have a publishing, a cookbook publishing company, and I published other cookbooks as well, including like what I would I think is the best-selling Bunt Cake cookbook of all time. It's called Kiss My Bunt. And it's magnify the recipes are magnificent. Um certainly if I hadn't had all I don't think I would have been prepared to publish that book had I not had all those years of baking behind me. So, you know, it all works.

Carlene 20:39

Yeah, I mean you couldn't help, but it didn't help. But Mark, you know, did you did okay? So now that we're talking about like your history with baking, did you have a favorite shop chef that you watched on TV?

SPEAKER_01 20:51

Oh, I liked, and this I think this was when I was in high school though. What was it called? It was called like Great Chefs of the World. And it was not a like how to cook show. It was like famous chefs in their commercial kitchen making some ridiculous thing with like molds and torches and whatever. I loved watching that.

Carlene 21:10

Oh my gosh, that's interesting. Yeah, because I I think like we all like watching the food, like a lot of people do. I love watching the Food Network, like I like watching the Bobby Flay, like I love watching competitions with him, and like there's so many other great competitions, but regardless, we have to eat to survive. And at the end of the day, it's 2026, and I say this that you know, people make resolutions. I don't like resolutions so much, I like goals. And so if someone is listening and they're a female in their 40s or they're male in their 40s, and they're looking for ways to make healthier options that are also um helpful for those intimate moments, you know what I mean, to improve those. Like what is the main thing? What is the first good food to eat?

Date Night Cooking That Fits Them

Carlene 22:00

Eat on a date, right?

SPEAKER_01 22:01

Okay. Well, first of all, what I'm gonna the most important thing, if this is for a date, is like if you're gonna be cooking for someone, it's think about what they want. Like it doesn't even matter. Like I could tell you all kinds of things, but if the other person, if the person you're cooking for doesn't like those things, like don't don't even bother. Because it doesn't seem like you're not, it seems like you're not uh totally there if you're making them something that finds like if they don't like fish, don't don't make them fish. Even if I tell you the best thing that you could make is salmon. Yeah, don't.

Carlene 22:28

Okay, so let's have an example. So you're married and your husband, you guys are having a date night. What would you make for him?

SPEAKER_01 22:34

So for my now, my husband and I have very different tastes. So that is a good thing. Whoa! It actually is. There is, I have a recipe, and I discovered that he I didn't when I was working on my first cookbook, this is how we wound up together. I was working on Fork Me Spoon Me, and he um I just he was this guy I knew who didn't cook and like work long hours. And when you're creating a cookbook, you do a lot of recipe testing. You end up with a lot of extra food. And believe me, after you've tested a recipe like four times, you don't want to eat that food again, right? You just don't. So I would kept calling him and inviting him over to eat eat all my leftover food from my aphrodisiac cookbook. And that's that's how we wound up together. But what I discovered during that time is he loved, of all things, I a recipe in the book called Moist Mango Meatloaf. So it's a meatloaf that is the like the moisture element in it is chunks of mango. And I don't think he would ever touch mango outside of this recipe. He's not an adventurous eater. He eats maybe four different fruits, and that's probably like a little layout.

Carlene 23:42

That's why you said he's he's very particular, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:45

And so, but he loves the moist mango meatloaf. And I actually even have these little heart-shaped molds, so sometimes it's sort of like a romance romantic joke. I'll make him little heart-shaped moist mango meatloaf.

Carlene 23:56

Wow. Oh my goodness, I like that. Yeah. Okay, so for me, I have to figure out what the person likes

Romantic Italian Without Feeling Heavy

Carlene 24:02

to eat. Yeah, if I'm cooking for them. So if they like pasta, let's just assume that they like Italian food. Sure. What's a what's a healthy Italian option?

SPEAKER_01 24:12

Yeah, see, that's this is Italian the like tri like m what the North the way North Americans eat Italian, shall we say?

Carlene 24:19

Yeah. Right, it is.

SPEAKER_01 24:25

I mean, there's nothing wrong without about having a big dinner with pasta and red sauce, um, or cream sauce even. But if your goal is romance, if your goal is to like move on to the bedroom or or throw everything off the table and get whatever that is, whatever it is. You're not gonna want to have a giant plate of fettuccine alfredo.

Carlene 24:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:48

That's not gonna work.

Carlene 24:48

It's not gonna work. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 24:50

So I uh you know, I generally re will recommend pasta's great, there's nothing wrong with it. Try to maybe either use it as a side dish or maybe ravioli that's that's like uh stuffed with something more energizing. Mushrooms, lobster, something, you know, that isn't isn't more carbs on carbs. Things like that are are how you can use use pasta for a romantic meal.

Carlene 25:14

And so, you know, they they show they always show, like, there's one thing I I find they always show it in movies, like strawberries with chocolate covers, and like, you know.

SPEAKER_01 25:27

Um actually I do like, I will say I like interactive things for a romantic dinner. You know, like having fondue, although you have to watch because fondue can get really heavy really fast. But something that's interactive like that, where the pressure's kind of off, like, oh, we're having a romantic meal, we have to be romantic. No, you're actually concentrating on like doing something while you're that's kind that's kind of nice. That's kind of nice. And I think that's particularly good maybe both for the new relationships and the ones that are just the people who are so comfortable together that it's almost awkward to say, we're having a romantic meal now, like anybody else.

unknown 26:03

Right?

SPEAKER_01 26:03

Yeah. So having something where there's an activity, not a bad choice. You're dipping your strawberries in chocolate or your your cheese fondue or your meat, you know, you're cooking your meat in the oil or whatever it is. That is not not a bad idea at all. Just be careful that you have other things, other

Foods To Avoid On A Date

SPEAKER_01 26:20

foods, that your whole dinner isn't bread and cheese. Because again, you're just gonna want to go to sleep as soon as it's over.

Carlene 26:25

Yeah, the there was something I I wanted to ask. It's like you um, I think you just answered my question, but like, what are foods that you should not eat on a date?

SPEAKER_01 26:34

That's funny. I um I went to this was uh it was a work lunch with people who were complete strangers to me. And I looked at the menu, I was like, gosh, I really want the tacos, but I'm gonna look really awful eating them. And the person next to me laughed and said, I'm here for you. Like, I'm here for you, you get your tacos. So yeah, there's uh you'd kind of be conscious about like foods that are so messy, you look unappealing while eating them. Like I think about that, I think about that for myself. This is a habit now. And I'm not, it's not a vanity thing. It's just, you know, it's just when you don't, when you're trying to impress or romance someone, or when you don't know people very well, it's probably a good consideration. So there's that, but it's mostly about don't eat foods that are super heavy. Don't eat anything that you when you can think back, like a big pot roast, anything you can think back and say, yeah, the last time I had that, I was like in bed by seven. That's probably not a good idea.

Carlene 27:27

Yeah, yeah. And so as we're aging, so the one other thing is like, you know, in your 40s, like you your metabolism isn't working as fast. And so for women, like, you know, your prover progesterone and your estrogen estrogen levels are a lot lower, and you're noticing things like your mood. And so, as a mom and a wife, what have you done to change your eating habits?

SPEAKER_01 27:53

Um, so for me, I'm gonna be honest, I have more coffee than I used to.

Carlene 27:57

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:59

I I I never I was never a person for whom coffee was a necessity. It was actually something that I just enjoy. Yeah. It's like I wake up and I, for better or for worse, that's what I do.

Carlene 28:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:11

And I'm being honest about it. I also have a big glass of water. That's the other thing.

Carlene 28:14

They always say that. It's important. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:17

I drink more water, I have that big glass of that coffee, I have that big glass of water. I'm also very conscious about getting enough fruits and vegetables every day. It's really easy not to. Like, especially on days when you're in a rush, it's so easy to not get enough fruits and vegetables. And so I'm I'm just very conscious of that. And then also that's another way you're getting hydrated. There's more water. So you're keep drinking the glasses of water, so it's kind of nice.

Carlene 28:42

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 28:43

So that's me. That's how I think.

Carlene 28:44

Yeah. Yeah. No, I think it's important for sure. And with that being said, you said you're working on a book. So is it coming out soon, or is it like

Stocking Your Kitchen For Success

Carlene 28:55

in progress?

SPEAKER_01 28:58

There will be it's actually two books Passion Pantry for him and Passion Pantry for her. They are, you know, they're companions to one another, or if you are in a same-sex couple or you are single and you have your book that suits you. Yeah, and it's all about this idea of uh eating, but it's really about the concept of stocking your kitchen for success, for better energy, more desire, being more present, all of those things. And it's about how can you stock your kitchen to have success.

Carlene 29:29

Yeah. And I think that's so important because I mean, even the one thing that I thought was really cool is the the list that you made for both men and women, you know, like the 10 things that you can eat. Because I think when it's when it comes to food and changing habits, like it's something that we gradually have to do because it's hard. It's hard to start a new eating habit and to change. But like you said, I think it's better to start now before something happens because that's usually what we end up doing, right? Yeah. And so what is your what is your motivation behind creating these books? Like what what um motivated you to even start the first like write the first book?

SPEAKER_01 30:12

So I really wanted to do, you know, I wanted to take these lists of the 10 best foods. I wanted to take that concept and make something bigger out of it. I wanted to do a book, and I thought it was going to be a book on the 10 best foods for women and the 10 best foods for men, or two separate books. And then I realized, I just kind of realized that, well, it's not just about telling people about these foods and their sexual health. It's really incorporating it into your whole it's a lifestyle thing. It's not a, it's not a like, it's not a nutrition lecture. It's a lifestyle choice. And I realize that it really starts with how you shop, how you stock, how you think about your whole kitchen, and it goes from there, you know. So that's I'm I'm really excited about it. I think it's much more, it's a really, it's an approach I think that that's more relatable and I think it's more doable than just telling people here are foods you need to eat if you want better sexual health.

Quick Aphrodisiac Picks And Wrap

SPEAKER_01 31:05

So yeah.

Carlene 31:05

No, it is, it is. We have to start somewhere. So if we have a list of 10, at least we could be like, okay, well, I don't like all these things, but like, because especially when you said bison, like for me, I'm anemic and I'm like listening to you talk and I'm like, something that I can eat instead of beef, because I mean beef is good and it gives me the iron, but it's also everything in moderation, right? We can't have too much, but if there's alternatives, but I'm like bison, oh my gosh, I would never think to try bison, but by the way, dark chocolate is a good source of iron. Oh wait, oh, I like that. That's good. This is this is this is the thing for this year. I like that. Yes, yes, yes, for sure. Preaching to the choir. I think I will add that to my grocery list next time I go for sure. Yeah, so you were saying earlier, like, you know, if anyone wants to find alternatives for healthy, sexy eating, you know, like making sex more present. I like that term though, being more present and like and feeling better. Because we, you know what, when you don't eat well, like you feel sluggish, or you've had a long day and you're tired and you're like, right? So, what are the foods that that can increase women's sexual health and like for men too? Like if there's one or two that you can mention.

SPEAKER_01 32:25

Okay, so I mentioned dark chocolate for women, go for it.

Carlene 32:27

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:28

Two foods I'm gonna do callbacks from earlier. Um, both kale and chilies are great for women as well. So figure out a way to get that kale in, put it in a soup, whatever. Yeah, yeah. Smoothie, smooth, they work in smooth. And then for men, I mentioned I mentioned oats, I mentioned bison. Um, let's give you a third one. Oh, salmon.

Carlene 32:46

Salmon, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:47

Salmon's great for men.

Carlene 32:48

You did mention it, but I think it's always good to hear it again for me with like the short-term memory here. But um, yeah, that that's pretty good to start off. And so we can find you online, Amy Riley.

SPEAKER_01 32:59

Eat something sexy, right?sexy.com slash podcast. It's a really fun exercise to help you better understand not just aphrodisiacs, but like food and your relationship with food, like how food makes you feel.

Carlene 33:16

I like ya. So how food makes you feel. So I think that's a great idea. And I love and I appreciate you taking the time to share your experience with food and why it's important to, I guess, have a healthy diet when it comes to both sides of the spectrum, right? So yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm Carlene, and this is Diva Tonight with Amy Riley. So you can check out her website, eat something sexy.com forward slash podcasts, right? And okay.

SPEAKER_00 33:48

Thanks for listening to Diva Tonight. Follow us on Instagram at DivaOnTheRadio. That's Diva with two eyes. And don't forget to follow us on TikTok at Diva on the radio for more clips and conversations you'll love. Want to share your thoughts or send us a message? Text us anytime at divatonight.budsprout.com. Until next time, stay fabulous.