Maca Diaries: Week One (and the story behind my interest)

We have now finished the first week of our trial run of several maca products (My husband and I do the same brand, my other two “testers” do two separate ones). I am thankful that we have more than me to report about, because our experience with maca have already widely varied. We also had another company officially join this little project, which I am thrilled about.

But more on that later, first I wanted to explain how I got interested in Maca.

The beginning of my Maca Journey

Several months ago, my sister, Christina was going through premature labor. Interestingly enough, her preterm labor started the same week that mine did when I was pregnant with Elena. Because of my own higher risk, and then, because she was going through it as well, I decided to do a little research about preventing or treating preterm labor. I found out a lot of really good info, and two of the supplements Christina started (cod liver oil, and magnesium) actually did seem to help quite a bit.

But as I was researching I came across articles talking about new research for treating preterm labor by giving high amounts of progesterone. It’s still in the beginning stages, but there have been some very promising results. I have also known mothers who have had to go on progesterone to prevent miscarrying. It seems our bodies don’t like to hold onto pregnancies when we don’t have enough, or the right balance of this hormone.

I realized that I have many signs of having an hormonal imbalance (too much estrogen to progesterone), and wondered if that was also linked to the premature labor I experienced with Elena.

Then, the same day I was reading about the above, I happened to look up maca. My sister had been given a little jar of chocolate spread that contained maca. Since she was pregnant, the lady told her that maca had not been tested yet to see if it is safe for pregnant or nursing mothers, so her advice was to be careful with how much she ate. I was curious to see why it might not be safe, so looked it up.

To my surprise I found out two things. First, many people use maca to balance their hormones. Right after reading the research regarding how hormones affect miscarriage and premature labor, this caught my eye. The second thing I found out was that not only was maca traditionally used to boost one’s fertility, but it was used by Peruvian women to maintain their pregnancies and to have babies that were a healthy weight. I was intrigued. By the way, maca companies don’t officially recommend that you use maca while pregnant since it is an “untested” product, that is, unless you count all of the Peruvian women who “tested” it.

So there began my journey, and the seeds of this project got started. I am hoping next week to be sharing a more thorough post about maca. But today, I just wanted to give you a little heads up on how it’s been going so far for all four of us.

Joining us…

The company Maca Magic, has chosen to be part of this project, for which I am so excited about! They not only sent their maca powder, but they also sent it in capsule form, and extract form (which looks like a very convenient form to take). They were also so kind to send a roasted maca, (a coffee substitute), a Roasty Chai maca tea, and a chocolate maca smoothie powder. Even though we were testing out a different company this week, my husband and I decided to try out their tea and smoothie. We enjoyed both of them a lot, and it’s a great way to get in maca for those who have a hard time with the flavor. But I want to do a full review of these wonderful products later, so I won’t give all of the details now.

The Results so Far

Like I said earlier, results have varied.

My two other testers (who, by the way, are my parents), have not noticed any significant change as of yet.

My husband has had more endurance for his very long days. That is very exciting, because I was worried about him having the energy to keep up with his schedule.

And me? I think because I have the most health “issues”, I have actually seen the biggest result. I notice a definite energy boost. Maca also helps support the thyroid, which controls your temperature control. Since my teen years, I have been a little on the cold side, but not anymore! There have been numerous times when I have thought to myself how warm the house was, but when I checked the thermostat, I realized that it was just the normal temperature. I don’t get hot, I just stay nice and warm. It also seems to be helping with my low blood sugar issues (which are related to my adrenal function), and seems to control my sugar cravings.

I am amazed.

By the way, Joel and I were testing Pacific Botanical’s Maca powder, this week, and have obviously had good results!

How does it taste?

My Dad and Joel think it’s just fine. My dad says is tastes “rooty”, and my husband says it tastes malty. My mother and I don’t care for it. Once again, varied results.

We will be doing a blind taste test at the end of this project, and will definitely give you the results of that. We have already found that the maca powders do vary greatly in taste.

Onward to week two!