Maca: The Andean Superfood Shrouded in Mystery and Power

Maca. A superfood from the Andes that packs a punch in energy, stamina, fertility, and mental wellbeing.

Maca has been a revered Andean dietary staple with a rich history that transcends thousands of years, and whose benefits are backed by both ancient wisdom and modern science. 

An essential in my daily routine, Maca root is an exceptional source of protein, fiber, essential amino acids, vitamins, and minerals but its secret lies in its distinctive bioactive compounds - Macaene and Macamide. Tune in as we unearth the secrets of Maca root.

Find episode links, notes and artwork at:

https://blog.dirobi.com

This show is for informational purposes only.

None of the information in this podcast should be construed as dispensing medical advice.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:12):
Hello and welcome to the DiRuby Health Show.
I've been doing this podcast along time and just can't believe
I've never done this particularepisode before.
Why?
Because I'm going to talk aboutthe wonders of Makarut and I
take Makarut every single day ofmy life.
I have for a long time, but Idon't believe it's ever come up

(00:35):
on the show.
It might have been mentionedonce or twice, but unless my
memory is completely letting medown which is possible I don't
believe I've ever done a deepdive into Maka, its history,
health benefits, why you shouldinclude it in your own diet.
It's an amazing product.
It comes from the Andes.
It's got a thousands of yearsold history.

(00:56):
I think I said that wrong, butyou get the idea.
It's scientifically known asLepidium Mayeni.
It's a traditional food cropwith a really rich history, as I
mentioned, over thousands ofyears.
It's native to the Andeanregion of Peru and if any of you
have ever hiked in Peru MachuPicchu or anything and you've
watched those guys, thoseSherpas, I don't know, do they

(01:18):
come Sherpas in Peru?
I don't know, I've never doneit myself, but my friends tell
me that those guys haul a packon their back that's bigger than
they are and take tourists upthose mountains and the tourists
are dying.
And those guys climb likemountain goats and have amazing
endurance and strength.
Is that all due to Maka?
No, but a little bit probablyis.

(01:38):
Maka is something that istreated almost as sacred in that
region.
It's a dietary staple.
Now we know about it for atleast 2000 years, anyways, from
historical records and traditionthat has been an essential part
of the Peruvian diet.
The Incas revered it for itsnutritional value and potential

(02:00):
medicinal properties.
They believed it enhancedenergy, stamina and fertility,
and it's so valuable in thatarea that it has even been used
as a form of currency over theyears.
It's a very interesting cropand, despite its long history,
little is known about its origin, but the Peruvians swear by it

(02:22):
and have used it for thousandsof years.
So what does modern science say?
Well, when we study it, we findout that those ancient people
actually were pretty darn smart.
What they figured outanecdotally and from experience
and their personal health testsproves to be true in the lab.
It is packed with protein,fiber, essential amino acids,

(02:46):
vitamins and minerals, but whatsets it apart are unique
bioactive compounds known asMikin and Makamedi.
These compounds are believed tobe responsible for most of the
roots claimed health benefitsEnergy and stamina has been

(03:06):
proven in the lab that Makkadoes increase energy and stamina
.
It's a natural health boost.
Unlike caffeine, it's not asstrong as caffeine.
However it is a legitimateenergy and stamina increase
without any of the jolts ornegatives or jitters of caffeine

(03:27):
.
One arena that the ancientsthought it had efficacy in is
fertility and reproductivehealth.
Historically it has been usedto enhance fertility in that
area of the region.
If a couple is having a hardtime having a child, makka is
one of the solutions and therehave been studies on this,

(03:47):
including a double-blindrandomized pilot dose-finding
study.
And it does suggest that Makkacan positively impact
reproductive health, probablynot as powerful as modern
methods, but as a naturalalternative, something well
worth trying for couples havingtrouble conceiving.
So there's just not a ton ofresearch.

(04:10):
So what we find is promising,but more research needs to be
done to find out just how muchefficacy Makka has on fertility.
But again back to the anecdotalstuff.
Many people report increasedlibido when taking Makka.
Also, mood and mentalwell-being Makka has a positive

(04:31):
effect on mood.
Some studies suggest it canreduce symptoms of depression
and anxiety.
So again, a really positivebenefit there and in our modern
society.
I think almost all of us dealwith some level of anxiety and
maybe a little bit of depressionfrom time to time.
This is one of the reasons whyI take it every single day, for
all these and other benefits.
Given its nutritional profileand potential health benefits,

(04:54):
it's no wonder that it hassurged in popularity in recent
years.
I have used it a variety of ways.
I used to buy it as a powderand mix it into drinks and
whatnot, for the energy boost,reproductive benefits, overall
well-being, etc.
All of the above the anxiety,mood regulation.

(05:15):
For all these reasons I've usedit.
Unfortunately, it doesn't tastegood.
Just let's put it out there.
If we want to put a happy spinon it, we might call it having a
, describe it as having anearthy flavor.
If we're a little more negative, we might say it tastes like
dirt.
It is a very natural flavor,but it's not great.

(05:38):
For this reason personalreasons as much as any others.
But to also help out otherpeople we have put 250
milligrams of maca and Mimi'sMiracle Multi.
So this is fantastic for mebecause I just swallow the pills
, I don't have to taste it, andthat's how I've taken my maca

(06:00):
ever since we developed Mimi'sMiracle Multi.
It's another reason why some ofyou may wonder if you've taken
our multi, why there's threefairly substantial sized
capsules that you take in themorning and yet it has fewer
ingredients than many othermultis.
And the reason for this is veryclear.
Most multis are designed toimpress people with the label.

(06:21):
The label has everything.
It has every vitamin and everymineral and everything but the
kitchen sink thrown into thereand they look really good on the
label and people feel like,okay, it does, crossing off all
the bases.
However, the fact is that we doget enough vitamins and many
minerals from our diet.
There's just a few that arereally, really tough.

(06:44):
So what we decided to do is,instead of having everything but
the kitchen sink in Mimi'sMiracle Multi, we decided to put
together something that wouldreally be effective and awesome
for people over about the age of30 and not put in anything
there and that they didn't need.
We felt like that was justfalse marketing.
So some of the ingredients thatare really hard to get out of

(07:06):
diet, such as Zinc, chromium,gtf, maka is one of them we put
those in other ingredients.
There's only 16 ingredients inMimi's Miracle Multi, the idea
being that we teach the undietseven principles of healthy
living.
People are encouraged to eatfive to nine servings of veggies

(07:26):
, and when you do that and youhave a good, rounded out diet,
you're going to get enoughcalcium and magnesium.
Generally speaking, you'regoing to get enough vitamin C,
for sure.
You can test this.
Of course, I recommend that youdo Get nutritional blood panels
done on a regular basis andthen supplement those things
you're missing.

(07:47):
But what we did is the researchon what's almost everyone
missing and we put those inMimi's Miracle Multi along with
proactive compounds like Makaand Choline CoQ10, so that
people would have something thatwas functional, what I consider
a functional multi.
So they're getting somethingthat really makes them feel good

(08:07):
, makes them perform better,gives them more energy and isn't
just some.
You know, cross off the list,I'm getting 50 vitamins and 50
minerals and I'm you knowwhether I need them or not.
Mimi's Miracle Multi is muchmore targeted, including adding

(08:28):
Maka, so you're getting 250milligrams per day of all these
benefits that I just described.
If you go to blogdirobicom andsearch for this episode there,
once we publish this, you canread the books and see the
scientific studies I'm referringto.
It's fairly strong.
We quote from Native Food andMedicine of Peru.

(08:49):
Maka, adaptogen and HormonalRegulator, which is on
booksgooglecom.
The Chemical Composition andHealth Effects of Maka from
Science Direct.
Lepidium MayenneMultidirectional Health Effects
Review.
From Sian Do, there's a bookcalled Medicinal Roots and

(09:10):
Tubors for Pharmaceutical andCommercial Applications Science
Direct again Maka and Indepensorry, maka and Andean Crop with
Multiformicological Functions.
So there is quite a bit ofresearch, some decent studies
and 2,000 years of anecdotalevidence that maka is a

(09:33):
fantastic thing to add to yourdiet.
So obviously the simplest way Iknow of to get it is to take
our Mimi's Miracle Multi, whichwill give you all those other
benefits as well.
You can also try it, as I did.
You can buy it on Amazon.
It's not very expensive.
Get the powder, see if you canstomach the taste and add it to
a green smoothie, for example,or other foods.

(09:54):
And you know, do it however youwish.
But adding some maka into yourdiet is probably an inexpensive
but very high return type ofnutritional habit for you to
make.
There's three what I wouldconsider functional powders that

(10:15):
I have in my diet, and what Imean by that is obviously like
flour is a powder and apre-workout is a powder.
But as far as functional powders, there's three that I take that
kind of have a very specificpurpose, and one of them is maka
, which I get from the Multi.
Another one is psyllium husk,which I buy it's very

(10:37):
inexpensive from Amazon and Itake one tablespoon per day
mixed into a drink, and thatdrink includes the third
functional powder that I take,which is our own greens and red
superfood, which fills out manyof the other blanks for me,
including mushrooms, which isanother one.
I find very hard to get avariety of mushrooms on a

(10:58):
regular basis without them justgoing soggy in a drawer in the
fridge and call me wimpy or lameor lazy or whatever you want.
Mushrooms is another one that'sway up there with maka in my
mind is something that I wantall the nutritional benefits
from but just find it veryinconvenient, and most grocery
stores only carry one or twotypes of mushrooms and they're

(11:20):
not the ones with the reallygreat health benefits anyway.
So I just throw that in as kindof a final kind of thing for
you to think about is is thereare certain powders and
nutritional elements out therethat could make up a really
important part of our diet.
Giving us some of these elementsthat are hard to get just from

(11:40):
food alone.
For me, those are psyllium husk, maka and a greens and reds
powder and see how thatresonates with you, and if you
might want to consider a similartype of a strategy to get a lot
of these phytonutrients thatare very difficult to get.
I mean when I say verydifficult to get.

(12:03):
This comes from Peru, right, sothis is not the type of thing
that could have been enjoyed byancient Europeans or North
Americans by any stretch of theimagination, and so today's
modern shipping and commerce isreally a miracle that we can

(12:23):
access these foods, powders,plants and various
phytonutrients and zoo chemicalsfrom all around the world.
That would be simply impossiblefor our ancestors to do so.
With that being said, thank youso much for listening to and
supporting the Dirobi HealthShow.
I hope you're enjoying it.
I hope this episode on maka hasbeen interesting to you.

(12:44):
Until next time, this is DaveSherwin, wishing you health and
success.