Maca Root (Lepidium Meyenii)

The verdict

Is Maca Root worth taking?

Maca occupies an interesting position in this chapter. The evidence for libido and sexual function is more consistent than the evidence for actual hormonal changes, and multiple trials have found that maca improves libido and sexual function without measurably altering testosterone, estrogen, LH, or FSH. This suggests a mechanism that is not primarily hormonal, possibly acting through the central nervous system or direct tissue-level effects. The libido evidence across both men and women is the strongest application. Its testosterone-boosting marketing is misleading given the consistent absence of hormonal changes in well-designed trials.

What it does

What Maca Root does in the body

Libido enhancement, sexual function improvement, and energy support in both men and women, with effects appearing largely independent of measurable hormonal changes. Maca is an Andean root vegetable from the Brassicaceae family consumed as a food in Peru for thousands of years. Its active compounds include glucosinolates and macamides, which appear to produce their effects through mechanisms that do not primarily operate through sex hormone pathways in the human body.

The evidence

What the research actually shows

Moderate for libido and sexual function specifically. A systematic review of four randomized trials found maca produced significant improvements in sexual dysfunction, including antidepressant-induced sexual dysfunction, and libido in both men and women. Critically, multiple well-designed trials have found these effects occur without significant changes in testosterone, FSH, LH, estrogen, or progesterone, distinguishing maca’s mechanism from genuinely androgenic compounds.

Food first

Getting Maca Root from food

Maca is itself a food in its native cultural context, consumed as a boiled or roasted root vegetable in Peru. Traditional Andean dietary use of maca as a food is the original food-first approach and represents a more whole- food relationship with the compound than isolated extract supplementation.

What the guide adds

The part that is not on this page

Everything above is the assessment. What the guide adds for Maca Root is the protocol:

• Optimal Form
• Dose Range
• Bioavailability
• Purity Red Flags
• Stack With / Avoid

147 entries across nine categories, every one graded against the clinical literature the same way.

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About the author

Who graded this

Daniel Edlund is a Le Cordon Bleu-trained private chef in Los Angeles, a certified personal trainer and strength coach, and an internationally licensed massage therapist. Thirty years of strength training and fifteen years cooking in private estate kitchens. He is the author of The Complete Supplement Guide, which grades 147 entries against the clinical literature, and of The EASY Way to Organic Cooking, first published in 2013.

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This page is information, not medical advice. Supplements interact with prescription medication and with each other, and the right answer depends on your own bloodwork and history. Talk to your doctor before starting anything, particularly if you are pregnant, nursing, managing a health condition, or already taking medication.

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All 147 entries, graded →