Hot Plants: Nature's Proven Sex Boosters for Men and Women

by Chris Kilham

Book Overview

In the wake of Viagra's enormous popularity, the international market has been inundated by a blizzard of purported natural sex enhancers. Some of these products are nothing but hype, yet others... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312315392
• ISBN13: 9780312315399
• Release Date: October 2004
• Publisher: St. Martins Press-3PL
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

An Excellent Resource

This is perhaps my favorite herbal specialty book. The subject matter is uniquely interesting, but it is the firsthand, adventurous approach to writing that makes this book very enjoyable. It is a written travel documentary, fortified with lush descriptions, interesting observations and factoids, scientific research and great overall storytelling. Perhaps what is most valuable amongst the handful of plant species he chooses to delve into is Tongkat Ali. There seems to be very little information generally available on this plant, despite the fact that a number of it's products are already beginning to appear on the herbal supplement market. This book has a lot of detail about this wonderful tree's native history, traditional and modern uses. It provides a comprehensive understanding of what the tree is, what it does, how it works in the human body. This is rather important information for anyone interested in using Tongkat Ali. I would grant two stars for this information on Tongkat Ali alone. Rhodiola Rosea is another particularlarly intriguing point. What is interesting is how most of the herbs described by the author are known to have multiple uses. I was most familiar with rhodiola rosea as an adaptogen and mental activity enhancer. I did not know that it was also widely used as an aphrodisiac, or that it was commonly extracted by tincture in it's native land. It is this way thoughout the book, even with plants one might be familiar with. There is a lot of great, important information about these featured herbs. Information about some of the herbs, such as maca, catuaba, and ashwaghanda, were also part of his last book, "Tales from the Medicine Trail." Some of the same information is here, though it is written or presented with slight differences. The herb Muirapuama is, for some reason, absent in Hot Plants. In "Tales from the Medicine Trail" it was considered to work wonders as an aphrodisiac when combined with catuaba. We now find catuaba alone, but apparrently just as effective. The author could perhaps elaborate upon this omission a little, for those who do like to follow his work. The only place where the book might perhaps be improved by more detail is with the last section about chocolate. The author researches the candy form with which we are all familiar- a cooked, processed chocolate. This preparation is not the only traditional use of this plant, nor is it the most potent aphrodisiac form. He unfortunately does not get into the healthier raw chocolates (cacao nibs), which are more renowned for their libido-enancing effects, and are also a more natural form of the plant. Cooking the cacao destroys much of what is inerent in the seed medicinally, including a large percentage of inherent theobromine, the principal love mood-enhancer the author describes. Raw cacao also has other important medicinal and nutritional benefits. Absent entirely of it's own section is the rather widley available herb Daimana, which is a very effectiv

A good resource book for lovers of hot plants

Hot Plants is Chris Kilham's account of exploration of plants, which help men and women lead better sex lives and thus enjoy better health. The author is a medicine hunter, author and educator and is the Explorer in Residence at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where he teaches ethnobotany. He has written a dozen books, four of which are listed in side the book. In this particular book, Chris explores about 10 medicinal plants including some like Aswagandha, Yohimbe and Ginseng, which have been well known all over the world and a few lesser known (to me atleast). He describes for each plant, the active part, the location, the scientific studies conducted if any and the views of the traditional doctors, herbalists and the users. He has tried almost all of them himself and thus what he writes can certainly be taken as authentic. He also gives the side effects for some of the plants where applicable. He finishes the book with a very engaging account of the benefits of chocolate, not from the erotic angle but from the angle of love and bonding. His writing style is engaging and the accounts of his wide ranging travels and his experiences with people of various civilizations makes the book an interesting read. He got a few Indian names wrong (he refers to Dr.Prabhakaran as Dr.Prabakhan and Vata as Vatta), which I hope he will correct in future editions. His perception of the Hindu Gods Krishna and Siva may offend orthodox Hindus and fundamentalists. The conversion of temperatures by the author from Centigrade (Celsius) scale to Fahrenheit scale is approximate at some places. The special feature of -40 degrees in the temperature scale (that -40 F and -40 C are exactly equal) does not come through in the book. The book would have been certainly more valuable if a few photographs of the plants were included. The author's recommendations at the end will be certainly useful to those who would like to try out these plants as a good substitute for Viagra and Cialis etc.

Great resource, fun read

In this lively, engaging read, UMASS ethnobotanist Kilham takes us around the globe from Malaysia to Peru as he reviews the history, folk use, and scientific research behind several herbs with strong tradtitions/reputations. I know two post-menopausal women who experienced a dramatic restoration of libido after taking the Hot Plants for Women formula (from Enzymatic Therapy) based on the book.