Pomegranate is one of the foods that are actually mentioned in the Bible. It has to do with pru urvu—the commandment to be fruitful and multiply. And it is a very sexy food—it’s sweet and has little seeds in it, and it looks round, so I can understand why they thought that it was a nice food for talking about multiplying. It also has 613 seeds, the number of bones in the human body. Some people also say they’re good for fertility. I don’t know if that’s true or not. I do know that pomegranates are great, but it takes effort to eat one. That’s definitely like good sex: It takes work for both to be good lovers.

Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer is a psychosexual therapist, author, and teacher.