Maca Root To Balance Hormones

Maca Root is a nutritional supplement from the Andes in Peru, that has been called a 'superfood".

Maca Extract 300mg 60 Capsules
	Contains MacaPure Standardized Extract Helps Balance Hormone Levels for Men & Women Enhances libido
	Our price: $16.65 Market price: $23.78     Save 30%

While it won't leap tall buildings in a single bound (or cause you to do the same :-) ), it does have a lot going for it in terms of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and other plant chemicals.

So even if you aren't so bedazzled as to wear your underwear on the outside, like Superman, it can give you greater stamina, endurance, and mental concentration.

What can Peru's 'Superfood' do for you?

Maca root is used for fertility enhancement (even in animals!), male and female menopause, stamina, endurance, and hormone related problems in both men and women.

For example, men have used it for impotence, erectile problems, and increased testosterone levels. Women have used Maca Root for hot flashes, a HRT alternative, perimenopause, and PMS associated problems. It will not cause ovaries to atrophy, unlike HRT, as it stimulates the body to produce its own hormones, instead of supplying the body with hormones.

Maca Root works so effectively for both men's and women's hormonal imbalances because instead of supplying plant hormones (like phytoestrogens), it acts on the hypothalamus-pituitary gland. This hormonal pathway produces precursers to male and female hormones, as well as affecting the adrenal glands. Maca does not necessarily stimlulate it, but acts in a regulatory manner, so whether your body is producing too much or too little of a particular hormone, consuming Maca will balance your system.

What's in Maca Supplements?

Maca contains amino acids, minerals, sterols, fatty acids, vitamins, saponins, tannins, and carbohydrates (maca root is a tuber, a starch).

• amino acids - alanine, argine, aspartate (not any relation to the artificial sweetener aspartame), glutamine, glycine, histidine, OH-proline, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, proline, sarcosine, serine, threonine, tyrosine, and valine. Protein makes up 11 - 14% of maca root.

   

• minerals - calcium (this is the main mineral, with about 10%), copper, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc, silica, and traces of iodine, manganese and sodium

   

• sterols - brassicasterol, erogosterol, ergostadienol, campesterol, sitosterol, and stigmasterol. (Plant sterols are part of the cell membrane and they are also used as the starting material in the production of steroidal drugs. They may inhibit tumour growth and regulate blood cholesterol).

   

• fatty acids - laric, myristic, palmitic, palmitoleic, linoleic, arachidic, steric, behanic, nervonic, lignoceric, tridecanoic,7-tridecanoic, perntadecanoic,7-pentadecanoic, heptadecanoic,9-heptadecanoic,nonadecanoic,11-nonadecanoic, and 15-eicosenoic.

   

• vitamins - A, B1, B2, B3, B12, C, D and E

Are there any side effects in this 'Peruvian Ginseng'?

No. Maca root is not a stimulant. It does not contain caffeine like guarana and coffee, so it doesn't affect the central nervous system. It is basically a food, so is classed as a nutritional supplement in the same manner as spirulina, wheat grass and green barley, as opposed to a manufactured vitamin like vitamin a.

You might find some websites claiming they use the "true" maca root, and warning you to be careful about buying the right one. Their intentions might be good :-), but Lepidium peruvianum and Lepidium meyenii are both one and the same maca plant! The difference in name comes from the lack of singularity that sometimes occurs when botanists name plants. One refers to the species, one to the genus.

What you might want to look out for when you buy MACA Root is whether it was grown organically, without the use of pesticides, and where it was grown in Peru. Some of the growing areas in the Andes are affected by contaminated water from mines, so you could end up with mercury or lead contamination. MacaPure, which the supplement above uses, has been tested thoroughly for all contaminents:.

Dr Zheng, President and CEO of PureWorld Botanincals which makes MacaPure, said:

"We analyze botanicals for microbial contamination, aflatoxin, heavy metals, pesticide residues and the use of irradiation with our in-house instruments. We guarantee that our herbs are properly identified and we assess each herb for phytochemical potency and levels of specific marker compounds. Only when a product passes every single analysis for purity and potency can it be shipped."

And of course, your Maca Root should not be diluted with any fillers. Select a reputable brand with hygenic storage facilities, and that should minimise spoilage from bacteria.

If you're very concerned about the possible presence of bacteria, a good alternative is gelatinized MACA Root. Gelatinization does not refer to the presence of gelatin or that it is enclosed in a gelatin capsule. Its actually a process that removes the starch from maca root, and breaks down the chemical bonds that connect the starch to the protein and other components. The body would normally do this in its digestive process.

Gelatinized maca is more bioavailable as it has broken down the starches, it is soluble in liquids, and is more concentrated.

Studies at the Peruvian University Cayetano Heredia have been done with gelatinized maca (500mg per capsule) which concluded that the level of sexual desire was increased by 180% (compared to the placebo group), and seminal volume was increased. The spermatazoid count was doubled, and mobility was improved. (The study was done on men only)

There are fake gelatinized products out there. They are roasted to achieve a darker colour. The main source of real gelatinized maca root is the National University of Agriculture at La Molina, Peru. So if the label states this is where it came from, you should be alright.