Maca (Lepidium meyenii) is a vegetable shaped like a turnip, and is somewhat like a root. It grows at 12,000 feet and is only grown on the high Andes of Ecuador and Peru.

For more than 2000 years, natives to Peru have used maca root as medicine and food. They also use it to support and turns infertility, enhance energy, sexual really and vitality.

How was maca discovered?

History tells us that the Spaniards overtook the Andes Mountains and took control. Soon after arriving, they began to lose their sex drive. Both women and men alike suffered from sterility and their libido, too, suffered at that altitude. Therefore, they could often not conceive and if they did, they could often not carry their pregnancies to term.

In addition, their animals, too, began to suffer reproductive difficulties. Horses, mules and dogs stopped having offspring. Even so, the Spaniards began to notice that local animals such as llamas and other animals reproduced fine and did not have any trouble with their libido.

What was the difference? The locals ate a root that only grew high in the mountains. Animals, too, dug this root up and ate it. The people cooked with it, and would mash it into a powder, which they would then consume continuously.

The Spaniards began to take note of this and began to feed this root, maca, to their animals, and they began to consume it themselves, too. They found that the native Peruvians were smart to do so.

The Spaniards' sex drive came back dramatically; animals, too, began to engage in reproductive activities once again, and the women could both conceive and carry their infants to term. In short, they lived happily ever after, as the story goes.

What is this magical root and how does it work?

Maca is great for both women and men.

It is a nourishing food for the endocrine system and is an aid to the granular system as well, including thyroid, adrenal and pituitary glands, all involved in hormonal balance. Maca can impact key hormones in both the men and women to their advantage, but it doesn't contain hormones itself.

Maca helps nourish and stimulate the pituitary gland. It acts as a tonic for the hormonal system. When the pituitary gland is functioning optimally, the entire endocrine system, too, regains its balance, because pituitary gland is in control of the hormonal output of the other three glands involved.

For women, maca controls estrogen in the body. If a woman's estrogen levels are too high or too low, this can affect a woman's ability to become pregnant or to carry a fetus to term. If there's too much estrogen, progesterone levels may also reactively become too low. Therefore, if a woman takes maca, she may help increase her progesterone levels, which are essential to carrying a pregnancy to healthy term.

With men, too much estrogen produces erectile dysfunction, and can also result in a lowered or completely absent libido. In addition, it can impact sperm count negatively, and can also lower the volume of seminal fluid overall. When a man takes maca, he can increase his libido and can also increase healthy sperm production.

Maca may help:

Reestablish hormonal balance in women. Increase sex drive in both women and men. Protect eggs' health. Increase sperm count in ejaculate, increased seminal volume overall, and improve sperm's motility.

Should you use maca?

Maca is especially beneficial to you if you are trying to become pregnant or if you are getting ready to become pregnant relatively soon. Because it is a food, you can take it whenever you wish. However, if you are a woman who is experiencing any of the following, it may be especially beneficial to you:

· Substandard egg health· Stress-induced infertility · Hormonal payments for ultimate in vitro fertilization · Miscarriage · Polycystic ovarian syndrome · Endometriosis Maca also helps you incur a sense of well being and have a sharper mind because hormonal balance can improve these things.

Using maca

Maca comes in tincture, pills, capsules or powder. The powder is great to include in smoothies, while the capsules are convenient to make sure you get maca in your diet every day.

If you wish to purchase maca, make sure it's organically grown. Today, some of the areas in the Andes are contaminated by water from the mines, so if the maca you buy is nonorganic, you may be putting yourself in danger of lead or mercury contamination. Your maca root should also not be diluted with additives or fillers.

The maca sold here is 100% pure.

The recommended dosage: it is recommended that you take maca in a dosage of 2000 to 3000 mg a day. You also need to make sure you take it every day, for optimal results.

Remember that there will be no side effects when you take maca, because it's a food. If you take it in capsule format, three to six capsules a day will provide you an optimal dose. If you use the powder form, start with half a teaspoon of powder and work up to one tablespoon.

Studies about maca:

Study #1: Maca's effects on the endocrine glands Dr. Gloria Chacon of Lima, Peru isolated four alkaloids that are present in the maca root. She carried out animal studies with female and male rats that were given either powdered maca root or alkaloids isolated from the roots themselves. Those who received either powder or alkaloids showed multiple egg follicle maturation in females and significantly higher sperm production and motility in males than did the control groups who were not given these substances. Dr. Chacon found that the alkaloids in the maca root produced fertility effects on the testes of the male rats and the ovaries of the female rats respectively. In addition, these effects could be measured within 72 hours of dosing. With the experiments, she found that the alkaloids acted on the hypothalamus and pituitary gland. This may explain why both female and male rats gained positive benefits that were gender appropriate. This may also complain why human effects are not limited to just ovaries and testes, but also benefit the adrenals, which gives one a feeling of greater vitality and energy. Maca root also acts positively on the thyroid and pancreas. -(© Dr. Gloria Chacon, Lima- Peru) Study #2: Maca study shows increase in libido and sperm production In Lima, Peru, researchers at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia ran a 12 week double-blind placebo-controlled randomized trial. In this study, active treatment utilizing different doses of maca was compared with placebo. In the study, men between the ages of 21 and 56 were given 3 g of maca. Within eight weeks of treatment, the sexual desire improved. However, serum testosterone and estradiol levels did not change between the men treated with maca versus those treated with placebo. Study #3: A second study shows that maca increases libido and sperm production Another study looked at the benefits of a four-month course of maca tablets and their effect on semen in normal adult men between the ages of 24 and 44 years old. In this study, nine and received maca tablets totaling 1500 or 3000 mg a day for four months. The following measurements were made both before and after treatment: estradiol and testosterone levels, serum luteinizing hormone, prolactin, testosterone and follicle stimulating hormone levels. Maca treatment caused sperm count per ejaculation, sperm motility and seminal volume to increase. Serum hormone levels were unaffected.