The Benefits of Maca Powder
Maca is a plant that is grown in the Andes mountains of Peru. It’s a cruciferous vegetable, so it is related to broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, and turnips that the US National Cancer Institute say may protect against cancer [5]. Whilst evidence about Maca from formal clinical and academic studies is limited**, anecdotal evidence, suggests the benefits of Maca Powder are wide-ranging, demonstrating the benefits of maca powder. This page summarises the different types of the Maca super food that are available and the benefits of maca powder*:
How Can I Enjoy The Benefits of Maca Powder? Which Maca should I take?
Black Maca – The Summary of benefits*
- Climbing a mountain? Or trekking/hiking? Black maca is reported to be great for stamina.
- Want to develop your muscles? Black maca might help you achieve your goals.
- Black Maca is also thought to help athletic performance
- Are you looking to find a natural solution to support your memory and mental focus? Why not give black natural maca a try?
- Which Maca is best for male libido? Evidence suggests it works!* Check out this review [3] Also for erectile dysfunction where evidence showed “significant effects”! Now that has got to be better than all those chemicals and the side effects of Viagra. Why not give Maca a try first?
- I´m looking for something to strengthen my bone health? A Chinese study [4] suggests it helps to reduce the risk of osteoporosis, finding that “N-benzyl-palmitamide is an active anti-osteoporosis constituent in maca”
- What about my memory and mental focus? An animal study [6] suggests Black Maca is best commenting; it “appeared to have more beneficial effects on latent learning” whilst all Maca types “showed antidepressant activity”
If you are looking for a natural way to support these goals, our recommendation would be for you to try Black Maca. Black Maca is particularly renown to help the development of muscles, stamina and strength, male fertility, mental focus, bone health and memory.*
Red Maca – The Summary of benefits
Can Red Maca really help prostrate health? A 2005 study [1] from Peru suggests it does. And its also been linked in the study [1] to a reduced risk of prostate cancer. A member of our team comes from a family with a family history of prostrate cancer so is taking red maca regularly.*
Are you?
- Looking for a natural way to relieve the symptoms of menopause without having to take synthetic hormones? An Australian study [2] suggests it helps.
- Ladies, are you looking to improve your Libido? A South Korean review [3] suggests it can!
- Balance your overall hormones? According to a Polish and Australian study, it seems to help [6]
- Looking for relief from hormonal acne? There is lots of anecdotal evidence that it does.
- Looking for a way to help depression? An animal study [6] found that all Maca´s “showed antidepressant activity”
If you answered yes to any of these then Red Maca is probably the right Maca to choose*:
Yellow Maca
The most economical maca is yellow maca that is reported to be good to help with easing stress, general vitality, skin health and mental focus.*
Maca as a supplement
Perhaps one of the easiest ways to take maca is in a capsule form, so much easier than mixing powder into a smoothie or shake. If time is limited and you are looking to enjoy the benefits of black, red or yellow maca in a convenient way, we recommend:
Interested in Super Foods?
If you are interested in super foods, we also thoroughly recommend spirulina as a way to give your health a boost. Whilst there are a few conditions where it is best avoided, the vast majority of people experience huge benefits, including a natural energy boost, enhanced memory, support for male libido (Andropause), boosts your cognitive health by helping the gut! And much more besides! Taken regularly, it even contains compounds that help you fight off the worst viruses*. For more details, please see the Spirulina FAQs page. You might be surprised how this super food, if taken regularly can contribute to a sustained improvement in your health and perhaps save you a lot of money on more traditional medications.*
Our philosophy is that we believe it is best to “eat your way to good health” adding spirulina and maca to your diet on a regular basis, is a way to help optimise your health rather than bombard it with so many antibiotics that might help your body overcome a specific problem but then weaken your overall system. Why not strengthen your system by enhancing your health with regular consumption of spirulina and maca and so perhaps reducing the risk of other problems.*
Thank you, For Visiting
Thank you for visiting whyspirulina.com. We hope you found this information helpful. If you have any comments or questions, kindly leave them below and we will get back to you.
Affiliate links
You might have seen the “affiliate link” button at the top, that links to a page. This basically means we could make a tiny commission, if you purchase anything using one of our affiliate links on this page. It helps to keep us in coffee, making a small contribution, allowing us to research and write articles on the benefits of superfoods. You will not pay more by making a purchase via one of our links.
*Nothing on this website should be interpreted as personal medical advice. Always consult a qualified Doctor or health care professional before changing anything related to your healthcare. *Please see the About page for the references.
** As is so often the case with super foods, research budgets for studies are limited for maca as the companies that produce them are typically small and do not have large research budgets. So supporting studies are limited. Where supporting studies exist, we have provided supporting links. Our philosophy at whyspirulina.com is that it is better to eat your way to enhanced health, than to bombard your body with pharmaceutical chemicals that could lead to other problems. Please carefully, note that as with spirulina, maca is a super food, so it needs to be taken for a period of time before any real benefits are noted.
Sources
[1] Red maca (Lepidium meyenii) reduced prostate size in animal trials
Gustavo F Gonzales, Sara Miranda, Jessica Nieto, Gilma Fernández, Sandra Yucra,Julio Rubio Pedro Yi, and Manuel Gasco. Dept of Biological & Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Hereda, Lima, Peru.
[2] Use of Gelatinized Maca (Lepidium Peruvianum) in Early Postmenopausal Women. H. O. Meissner, W. Kapczynski, A. Mscisz, & J. Lutomski
[3] Maca (L. meyenii) for improving sexual function: a systematic review. Byung-Cheul Shin,Myeong Soo Lee, Eun Jin Yang, Hyun-Suk Lim, & Edzard Ernst
[4] Discovering anti-osteoporosis constituents of maca (Lepidium meyenii) by combined virtual screening & activity verification. China – Hao Liua QinHuo Long jiangYuabc
[5] https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/cruciferous-vegetable
[6] Hormone-Balancing Effect of Pre-Gelatinized Organic Maca (Lepidium peruvianum Chacon): (I) Biochemical and Pharmacodynamic Study on Maca using Clinical Laboratory Model on Ovariectomized Rats. H. O. Meissner, P. Mrozikiewicz, T. Bobkiewicz-Kozlowska, A. Mscisz, B. Kedzia, A. Lowicka, H. Reich-Bilinska, W. Kapczynski, & I. Barchia
There are many things that we don’t pay attention to, that may be very good to our health, like spirulina. I think we should look to natural health solutions more than pharmaceutical products that contain chemicals that we don`t understand their long term impact. That is why I always look for natural supplement to see what can really be of help to us. This maca powder seems to be a good one, thanks for sharing.
Thank you for your comment. We agree with you. Eating naturally is we believe the way to support our health rather than immediately look to say anti-biotics or pharamaceutical solutions. They have their place as a last resort, but if food can enhance our health, doesn`t it make sense to use that approach first? We think it makes much more sense to eat your way to good health. You might also find this article on Maca helpful.
Hello there again! It’s nice reading your articles on whyspirulina.com. You always give valuable information and they are very detailed. Well done. I’ve never really heard of Maca powder but from this article I have a deep insight of it. Seeing that it can help in prevent cancer makes me really happy. I’m going to order my own maca powder from the link you dropped. I’ll also share the link with friends I’m going to tell about Maca powder. Thank you.
Thank you Sophie. You are very welcome. We are glad you find the information helpful. Please bear in mind that the Peruvian study on cancer relates to prostrate cancer. But I agree, if it helps, its got to be worth taking this superfood. You might find our spirulina article on the prevention benefits of spirulina for certain cancers helpful to read too.* I live in a location with high UV so I was very pleased to learn that spirulina might be helping me!
Some times there are some really good and useful things around us, but the information to enlighten us about it, us is not really good. Your research and article here, is really helpful for ordinary people to understand the benefits of maca powder. I have not seen a maca powder before now and did not know about the benefits but this article has shown light on it and it’s very good for all to get to see how they can hep their health, particularly with regards to menopause and helping the libido. I will share this with my family members who might find it helpful.
Thank you for the visit Michael. Yes, the benefits of Maca powder are not widely known outside of Latin America. For women in particular who are seeking a natural rememedy for menopause, this might be a helpful ally for them. Also men, looking for a natural solution for libido problems. We understand maca was very popular in the 16th Century! Its got to be better taking maca for erectile problems than man made medications such as viagra.
Hello Trevor! You always have very interesting, well researched, and valuable information. I’ve never heard about Maca before I started to read posts on your whyspirulina websites. Maybe I did not pay attention (because I did not know about it), but I did not hear about Maca even when I was in Peru. I usually try to learn as much as possible about natural remedies that can replace pharmaceutical products containing chemicals. Thank you for sharing.
I`m glad you like our posts. We are currently in the process of researching the benefits of spirulina for Parkinson`s disease. The great news, is that good quality spirulina appears to help. Maca is even less known that spirulina outside of Latin America and Maca has numerous benefits for men and women. Frankly, I prefer to use a natural product rather than a chemical produced by a pharmaceutical company. & the great thing is, is that if you buy and use organic and gmo free Maca from Peru, you are also supporting small farmers in Peru, so they are less inclined to be tempted to difersify their crops to other less ethical products! i.e coca ( to be made into cocaine).
Maca powder, as can be found cheaply and easily in most Latin American countries is a miracle product. I have had it now for many months in my cabinet, but I have not made it a habit yet to use it.
I know it is one of the superfoods and I know I should introduce it in my daily diet.
Thanks for this amazing article.
You should try it Karin, Maca has some amazing benefits for men and women. I would encourage you to start with small amounts, say a teaspoon at a time each day in a small glass of fruit smoothie. Build up slowly until you get used to it. The organic maca available via our links in capsule form is also a very practical way to take maca and see the benefits! If you are into superfoods, you might want to check out our Spirulina FAQs that also covers Chlorella too.