Maca Root Benefits, Dangers and How Long It Takes to Work

What maca is

Maca is a root from the Andes, not a stimulant.

Maca, Latin name Lepidium meyenii, is a plant in the crucifer family, the family of radish, turnip and cabbage. The part eaten is the swollen section between the root and the stem, which looks like a big round radish. It grows on the high plateaus of central Peru, between 3,500 and 4,500 metres above sea level, where almost no other crop can withstand the cold and wind.

Locally, it is first and foremost a food. It is dried in the sun, then cooked, ground into flour, and made into porridges, drinks and desserts. It is rich in carbohydrates and contains protein, fibre and minerals. It is this dried, ground root that you find in Europe as a powder or in capsules.

What it is not matters just as much. Maca contains neither caffeine nor hormones. It does not give you a jolt like an espresso, and studies in men have not shown a rise in testosterone or oestrogens. Its own molecules, the macamides and macaenes, are found in no other plant, and their exact role is still poorly understood. To find out more about the plant, see our maca page.

Yellow, red, black

Black, red or yellow maca: does the colour make any difference?

A single variety of maca produces roots of different colours: creamy yellow, purplish red, black or grey. Yellow is by far the most common. Peruvians attribute different uses to them, and the team of Gustavo Gonzales, at Cayetano Heredia University in Lima, set out to test these differences, mainly in animals.

Summary of the work by Gonzales et al. on maca ecotypes. Colour reflects different levels of certain compounds, but no serious human trial compares the three colours with each other.

Black maca is often sold at a higher price and presented as “maca for men”. This is an extrapolation from animal studies. If in doubt, yellow maca, or a blend of all three colours, matches what has been tested in humans.

The benefits studied

Maca root benefits: real effects, but modest ones.

Maca is credited with many things: energy, fertility, hormonal balance, endurance. Controlled trials in humans are few, and almost all small. Yet they point to a fairly consistent trend, which comes down to a few points.

• Sexual desire: the most studied area. Several small trials find higher reported desire than with placebo, in men and women, with no hormonal change.
• Mood: slightly lower anxiety and low-mood scores have been observed in postmenopausal women.
• Male fertility: a few studies show improved sperm parameters, in very small groups.
• Energy and sport: a trial in cyclists observed a better time over 40 km, with only eight participants.
• The rest: memory, bone density and prostate rely mainly on animal studies.

A 2010 Korean review (Shin et al.) pooled the trials on sexual function and concluded the evidence was “limited”: positive results, but too few trials, too small, for a firm conclusion. That is the state of the science today, and it is already more than for many plants sold with greater confidence.

For men, for women

Maca for men, maca for women: what really changes.

Searches for “maca for men” and “maca for women” are among the most frequent. In reality, the plant is the same, and the trials were carried out in both sexes. It is the expectations that differ.

During the menopause, maca is one of the options often mentioned, alongside other plants and lifestyle. Our guide to natural menopause remedies reviews them. And if fatigue is weighing you down, man or woman, start by ruling out a medical cause: our article on persistent fatigue explains when to see a doctor.

How long it takes

How long does maca take to work? Allow several weeks.

Maca does not work like coffee. You will not feel anything in particular an hour after the first dose. In trials, the differences from placebo appear after several weeks of daily use, with timings that vary depending on what is being measured.

In practice, a course of maca should be judged over two to three months, not a few days. Note how you feel before you start, then after six and twelve weeks: it is more reliable than your impression in the moment.

The real dangers

Maca dangers: rare, but not non-existent.

Maca has been eaten as a food for centuries in the Andes, and trials have not found any serious adverse effect at the doses studied. That does not mean it suits everyone. Three points deserve your attention.

First, the thyroid. Like cabbage or turnip, maca contains glucosinolates, compounds that can interfere with the thyroid's use of iodine when eaten raw and in large amounts. In Peru, in fact, it is never eaten raw: it is cooked. Next, hormones: human trials show no hormonal effect, but some laboratory work has found oestrogen-like activity with certain extracts. Finally, digestion: raw powder, rich in starch, can cause bloating.

As with any plant, buy maca whose origin and testing are stated: heavy metals and contamination are a risk linked to the product, not to the plant itself. For an overview, also read our guide to the risks of mushrooms and adaptogenic plants.

Powder, gelatinised, capsules

Maca powder or gelatinised maca: which should you choose?

In shops, maca comes in three forms. The name “gelatinised” is misleading: there is no gelatine. The root is heated and pressed, which transforms its starch, like cooking. It is the modern version of the cooked maca of the Andes.

Human trials mainly used root powder or tablets, at 1.5-3.5 g a day. A concentrated extract is not directly comparable to these doses.

As for taste, maca has a mild, slightly malty flavour that goes well with cacao, banana or coffee. That is why it often turns up in hot drinks: our article on maca coffee gives a simple recipe.

Dose and timing

What dose of maca, and when?

Trials used 1.5 to 3.5 g of powder a day, roughly one level teaspoon to one tablespoon. The Dording trial suggests that 3 g works better than 1.5 g for libido. Beyond that, nothing shows any extra benefit.

Maca is often combined with other plants and mushrooms in “energy” formulas, for example with cordyceps or ginger. If cordyceps interests you, our article on cordyceps benefits reviews the studies. And to compare with another great classic, read our guide to ashwagandha benefits.

Maca at Mush n Go

Two formulas, two ways to take it.

We use maca in two products, each time with other ingredients. In Energy, it is combined with cordyceps, ginger and vitamin C, which contributes to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue. The formula comes in capsules and contains no caffeine. In Brainstoorm, our powdered mushroom coffee, it accompanies Lion's Mane, Cordyceps and Chaga at 1,000 mg each, ashwagandha, organic cacao and roasted chicory, with 20 mg of caffeine per cup, compared with around 80 mg for an espresso.

Real Trustpilot reviews of Brainstoorm, which contains maca among other active ingredients, quoted as written.

These reviews concern a complete drink, not maca alone. The detailed composition is on each product page, and our laboratory analyses are public. Our recipes are blended in Toulouse.

Sources

1. Gonzales G. F. (2012). Ethnobiology and ethnopharmacology of Lepidium meyenii (maca), a plant from the Peruvian highlands. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2012.
2. Gonzales G. F. et al. (2002). Effect of Lepidium meyenii (maca) on sexual desire and its absent relationship with serum testosterone levels in adult healthy men. Andrologia, 34(6).
3. Brooks N. A. et al. (2008). Beneficial effects of Lepidium meyenii (maca) on psychological symptoms and measures of sexual dysfunction in postmenopausal women are not related to estrogen or androgen content. Menopause, 15(6).
4. Dording C. M. et al. (2008). A double-blind, randomized, pilot dose-finding study of maca root (L. meyenii) for the management of SSRI-induced sexual dysfunction. CNS Neuroscience & Therapeutics, 14(3).
5. Dording C. M. et al. (2015). A double-blind placebo-controlled trial of maca root as treatment for antidepressant-induced sexual dysfunction in women. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2015.
6. Stone M. et al. (2009). A pilot investigation into the effect of maca supplementation on physical activity and sexual desire in sportsmen. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 126(3).
7. Stojanovska L. et al. (2015). Maca reduces blood pressure and depression, in a pilot study in postmenopausal women. Climacteric, 18(1).
8. Shin B. C., Lee M. S., Yang E. J., Lim H. S., Ernst E. (2010). Maca (L. meyenii) for improving sexual function: a systematic review. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 10.

Keep reading

Further reading.

Maca is one of the plants for everyday energy. Explore our other guides, or our Energy formula.