London, Dec 16 (IANS): Serve your husband some spicy food if you want some real action between the sheets tonight.

A French study has found that men who love to consume more spicy food have more testosterone and perform better during sex.

For the study, scientists from University of Grenoble chose 114 men in the age group 18-44.

They were given a meal of mashed potatoes with spicy pepper sauce and salt.

The team observed who consumed more spicy pepper sauce. The men who poured a lot of sauce on their dish gave saliva samples, which was used to measure testosterone levels.

Researchers found higher levels of male hormone in them, clearly making a correlation between higher hot sauce usage and testosterone.

According to study co-author Laurent Begue, regular spicy-food consumption "contributes to increasing testosterone levels" but the mechanism is still not known, the Telegraph reported.

Low testosterone levels are associated with lethargy or depressive mood.

Called "Some Like It Hot", the study appeared in the peer-reviewed journal Physiology and Behaviour.