How Much Maca Should You Take? Maca Dosage Facts

If you’re looking to add nutritional supplements to your diet, it’s easy to think that more is better. When you want to see results fast, you may be tempted to overindulge with the idea that it will speed your progress. But as with any dietary plan, it’s important to keep in mind that it’s best to acclimate your body to the change over time. Let’s take a look at how you should approach deciding your maca serving size.

Maca is a Food, Not a Supplement

That’s the long and short of it: maca isn’t like any other nutritional supplement you might pick up at the grocery store. Rather, it’s a superfood like kale or blueberries. When you look at how maca is made available to consumers - typically in the form of powders or capsules - it’s easy to get a little confused. But maca root is a crop from the Andes, where it grows at extreme altitudes of up to 4,500 meters (a whopping 15,000 feet) above sea level. Maca has been harvested for over 2,000 years for consumption by humans and livestock alike. It was celebrated even then for the positive associations we have for it now, like improving energy and libido. It was a regular part of daily meals for inhabitants of the Peruvian Andes where The Maca Team’s maca is grown, and was even traded as currency. 

Can You Have Too Much Maca?

The short answer is “no.” You can’t really “overdose” on maca any more than you could overdose on fruits and veggies. But that doesn’t mean that excessive amounts of maca are good for you. While you shouldn’t expect an adverse physiological reaction like you might experience with too much of a pharmaceutical, you should nonetheless exercise caution when adding maca to your diet. After all, your body will need time to adjust to any significant dietary change. And you can expect maca root to bring about some change. Consider maca’s nutritional profile: it’s high in vitamins, minerals, and essential amino acids.

So what if you do take too much maca? Well, remember its benefits. Maca is an energy-booster. What would happen if you drank a lot of coffee throughout the day? You might find yourself feeling a little jittery, and there have been scant reports of insomnia from customers who have taken their maca later in the day. For that reason, we recommend enjoying your maca in the morning - consider adding maca powder to your morning beverage, or try our maca coffee substitute, The Morning Motivator.

We’ve also heard minimal complaints of some stomach upset from a few customers. This isn’t necessarily due to how much maca you take, but rather maca root’s starch content. To minimize the possibility of this rare side-effect, check out our gelatinized maca products that are pre-cooked to cut down on the starch content.

How Much Maca Is Best?

The right maca serving size for you is going to depend on a number of factors, namely your size and your goals. As we’ve stated before, it’s best to start off small and work your way up to your ideal maca dosage. We have a page on figuring out where you should get started on your maca journey, but if you have any further questions feel free to contact us directly or check in with your licensed medical provider. Our organic maca is always GMO-free and Fair Trade, harvested exclusively from the Lake Junin region in Peru, making it the highest-quality maca available on the market. Give it a try and find out why The Maca Team has so many repeat customers.

Enjoy the Day!