Maca
(Lepidium Peruvianum Chacon)
Introduction
Maca
is a root plant
and a member of the cruciferous family, native to Peru. It is both a
food
and a medicine and is eaten by native peoples of the highlands of Peru
of all ages - from three year olds to the elderly. It looks something
like
a small turnip, either cream-colored or purple when it is harvested.
Our
Royal Maca™ is the only maca sold which is guaranteed to have
been grown
without pestcides or chemical fertilizers. It is rich in calcium,
magnesium,
phosphorous and iron, and contains trace minerals, including zinc,
iodine,
copper, selenium, bismuth, manganese and silica, as well as B vitamins.
It also contains four alkaloids proven in scientific investigation to
nourish
the endocrine glands, including the reproductive system of men and
women.
Maca
has adaptogen
qualities, that is, its effects are appropriate to the age and sex of
the
person using it. It has a long list of uses because of its broad range
of nutritional and medicinal properties discovered by both Indians of
the
Peruvian highlands in ancient times and by contemporary populations and
naturopathic physicians. Some examples: revitalizes men and women of
middle
and older age both mentally and physically, helps older men maintain
sexual
functioning; assists in human conception; helps maintain menopausal
hormonal
balance, reduces stress and boosts energy levels,, and is being used as
an adjuvant therapy for chronic fatigue.
Where
does Maca grow?
It
grows at an altitude
of between 13,000 and 14,500 feet above sea level in the high Andean
plateaus
of Peru, a cold, oxygen-poor environment with high winds and harsh
sunlight.
No other food plant exists in the world which will grow at so high an
altitude.
But the soil of these high plateaus are extremely rich in minerals,
which
accounts for the high level of trace minerals found in maca. Some of
the
Quechua-speaking Peruvian Indians who grow maca, still grow it in the
traditional
way, using no pesticides and a long fallow period before
replanting,with
only the natural fertilizer provided by their animals.
Indians
of all
ages who live in the high Andes eat maca, along with quinoa and
amaranth
and other crops of exceptional nutritional value. The earliest
archeological
evidence for the growing of maca for human consumption dates back to
approximately
8,000 B.C. During the establishment of the Inca Empire, the Inca king
prohibited
the native peoples he conquered from trading maca, demanding that the
entire
maca crop be given in tribute to the royal family. Several different
Spanish
Chronicles mention maca. In 1653 Bernabe Cobo wrote: "Half of the
Indians
[of Peru] have no other bread," [other than maca]. Maca was also
endowed
with certain mystical properties and has been found in tombs. Today the
natives of the high Andes perform ceremonies to Pachamama - Mother
Earth,
in which maca is offered to the mountain in gratitude for blessings
received.
Native healers prescribe maca for improving pulmonary function, curing
rheumatism, arthritis, respiratory and fertility problems, and it is
also
used to ease menopausal and postmenopausal symptoms and to increase
energy,
thyroid and pancreatic balance and sexual vitality in both women and
men.
In the last decade, the use of maca has spread to urban areas in Peru
and
to parts of Europe, as its qualities become known.
The
fertility powers
of maca are prized by young couples in the Peruvian highlands. Young
women
and men who fail to conceive a child eat maca on a regular basis until
conception occurs. At the very high altitudes at which they live,
conception
is often difficult. In fact, after the Spanish Conquest, when Spaniards
went to Cusco to live, it was several years before the first Spanish
baby
was born. The tonic qualities of maca have helped the native population
to thrive in the oxygen- poor environment of the high plateau in which
they live. It is energizing both mentally and physically, on account
both
of its mineral content, and the alkeloids it contains.
Has
it been scientifically studied?
Its
valuable qualities
have only been discovered by scientists in the last thirty years. Dr.
Gloria
Chacon isolated the four alkaloids which maca contains in 1990 and
injected
them into rats. In this way, she learned that it was the alkaloids
which
were responsible for the hormonal changes in the reproductive systems
of
both male and female rats. Dr. Chacon's research revealed that the
alkaloids
in maca act on the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland which together
help regulate the endocrine glands, including the adrenals, the
thyroid,
the ovaries, and the testes by releasing higher levels of precursor
hormones.
Although
human
populations have eaten maca for more than 10,000 years, according to
archeologists
who have found evidence for the domestication of maca since about 8,000
B.C., the knowledge of the positive effects of eating maca gradually
died
out with the Spanish Conquest, except among those people living at the
very highest altitude of Peru, where maca grows. These millenia of safe
and effective human use (native women eating maca have a very low rate
of breast cancer) has recently been supplemented by scientific studies.
Female
rats fed
maca or the alkaloids isolated from maca both showed significant rate
of
maturation of egg follicles over the rats in the control group. Male
rats
fed maca or maca alkaloids showed significant increase in sperm count
and
sperm motility over rats in the control group.
German
scientists
in the 1980s, impressed by the nutritional properties recommended its
use
by Indians who had moved to urban centers and whose children were
suffering
from malnutrition. School teachers in government schools in the
highlands
now recommend to the parents that they feed their children maca,
kiwicha
[amaranth], quinoa, and other native crops and stay away from white
bread
and other "civilized food." The nutritional qualities of maca have also
been described in the book The Lost Crops of the Andes, along
with
other native crops. In the last five years a renaisssance in the use of
maca has taken place in much of Peru, and now Europeans and North
Americans
are beginning to learn about the health benefits of maca.
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In
the Traditional Chinese Medicine system, maca is considered a "warm"
food
because its effect on the body is anabolic- strengthening, nourishing,
and tonic. Several alternative health practitioners in the U.S.,
including
medical doctors, have been using maca successfully with their chronic
fatigue
patients, in conjunction with other nutrients, such as colloidal
silver,
and as part of an anti-aging program.
Medical
doctors
who are naturopaths practicing in Lima, Peru, have been accumulating a
body of clinical information on the effectiveness of maca for a variety
of physical conditions which affect contemporary urban populations,
including
chronic fatigue (CFS), stress, depression, candida, and immune
deficiency.
These doctors also prescribe maca for the tonification of the
reproductive
system in climacteric men and menopausal women, and the revitalization
(increase in energy levels and muscle strength, improved thyroid and
pancreatic
functioning) of the elderly population and those with some kinds of
chronic
illnesses, including arthritis.
In
two visits to
Peru, in September, 1995 and May and June of 1996, I interviewed two
medical
doctors, one a cardiologist and the other a pediatrician who had
integrated
the use of herbs, including maca, into their medical practice and who
had
subordinated their specialities in the development of a naturopathic
practice.
One of these doctors, had prescribed the use of maca to about 200
menopausal
and postmenopausal women with remarkably good results. Some of the
cases
which he described include the following:
A
48 year old woman
from Lima, Peru who had suffered severe hot flashes and depression and
whose doctor had prescribed a pharmaceutical estrogen replacement
therapy.
She had used this supplemental estrogen for a few months but was
worried
about its long term use. She stopped using it and went to Dr. M. for a
"natural alternative". He prescribed maca and did follow-up blood work,
confirming that she was maintaining a desirable post-menopausal level
of
blood serum estrogen. Her hot flashes disappeared and she stopped
being depressed.
A
44 year old woman
from Lima, Peru who had had a complete hysterectomy (including removal
of the ovaries). She was suffering from depression, fatigue, and hot
flashes
and was found to have a blood serum level of estrogen of 15. After two
months of taking maca, her blood serum estrogen level was retested and
found to be at a level of 75, a level which Dr. M. said is quite
acceptable
to prevent osteoporosis and maintain a feeling of well being. And, in
fact
her symptoms disappeared. It is evident that the effect of maca on her
body was to stimulate her adrenal glands to produce more estrogen.
An
82 year old
woman from Lima, Peru had a bone scan and was found to have the
beginning
stages of osteoporosis. She was prescribed maca by Dr. M. and,
coincidentally,
three months later suffered a fall down a flight of steep stairs. Her
left
hip and arm were badly bruised with hematomas and she sustained a cut
on
her face. Dr. M. was called to examine her before she was moved. She
appeared
not to have any broken bones, which was confirmed the following day
through
x-rays. The doctor found it remarkable that the maca had been so
effective
after so few months of therapy and noted that maca not only stimulates
a woman's ovaries to produce more estrogen which helps the calcium
remain
in the bones, but also has highly absorbable calcium, magnesium, and
silica,
all of which strengthen bones.
Some
menopausal
and postmenopausal women in the United States have begun to use Royal
Maca™
in the last year. Here are some of their results with the product.
A
50 year old actress
from NY: "I mainly do shows on the road, all over the U.S. and we
maintain
an exhausting schedule. Although I've always been a very strong and
energetic
person, the last year or two I've experienced greater fatigue than I've
ever known. I had a complete physical and discovered that my estrogen
level
(I'm post menopausal) was very low (about 20 blood serum estradiol
level).
My doctor wanted to put me on HRT, but I wanted to try to find another
alternative. I started taking one teaspoon of maca a day (after taking
one tablespoon for two days) and I feel like my old self again! I
called
my best friend in Colorado and told her to order Royal Maca™.
After two
months, I cut down to 1/2 teaspoon a day."
A
56 year old wall
upholsterer: "I've been taking one teaspoon of Royal Maca™ every
day for
the last three months and I'm no longer fatigued at the end of a day of
intense physical labor, gluing cloth to walls from a ladder. Instead of
sinking into a couch with exhaustion and falling asleep in front of the
TV, I now have enough energy to read, to cook, or to go out at night
and
enjoy myself. Also I began to get lubrication in my vagina after using
maca for two or three weeks--something I haven't had for seven or eight
years since my menopause started. And the burning sensation in my
vagina
which I've had for the last 20 years due to a chronic yeast infection
totally
went away after using maca for about two months."
A
55 year old psychologist:
"I was experiencing painful intercourse caused by thinning and drying
of
the vaginal wall. My gynecologist told me that these were normal aging
changes and that they were likely to get worse with time. I took 2
teaspoons
a day of Royal Maca™ for two weeks, then took one teaspoon a day
for about
a month, then went down to 1/4 teaspoon a day. After three weeks of
using
the herb, all the pain in the vagina was gone. In addition I feel much
energetic and I have more libido."
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