Maca For Your Brain

We talk a lot about maca and its impact on your libido, and the ways it can enhance stamina and help power you through your day. But maca’s effects aren’t always easy to see with the naked eye. Maca can affect your hormones and the way your organs function - including your brain.

Maca as "Brain Food"

Have you ever heard of a neuroprotectant before? It’s not commonly used terminology, and medical jargon tends to make the average layperson uneasy. But this one should be easy enough to make sense out of. Previously we’ve cited a research study that was performed in 2016, which found that subjects consistently served maca showed signs of improved mental acuity in addition to motor coordination and endurance capacity. Its findings suggest that regular consumption of maca can effectively slow down age-related cognitive decline.

Some scientists investigating the potential benefits of a diet containing maca have come to refer to the superfood as a “neuroprotectant,” which may be used to “target oxidative stress, stabilization of membranes, inactivation of enzymes, inhibition of apoptosis, or inhibition of inflammation so as to inhibit or decrease the cellular death and neuronal injury.” In short - maca can help keep your brain healthy and operating at optimum capacity. 

Maca and Your Memory

Did you know that severe depression can actually affect your memory? Even if you keep up with your antidepressants, factors like chronic stress “may impair pattern separation, disrupt the encoding of positive experiences, and bias retrieval towards negative events.” Remember those physical responses to consuming maca that we mentioned earlier, like building muscle and improved stamina? Maca won’t just have you smiling more often. Research has found that adding maca to your diet demonstrates a psychological impact, namely reducing anxiety and depression.

In 2006, scientists performing tests on lab mice served maca found that the mice who’d consumed black maca showed improvements in latent learning compared to mice who hadn’t consumed maca, and to mice that had been fed red maca and yellow maca.

A 2011 study found that mice treated with a liquid extract derived from black maca root showed marked improvements in learning and memory formation, and overall improvement in cognitive function. In fact, further research seems to suggest that adding maca to your diet is especially beneficial for those experiencing the aforementioned age-related cognitive decline, with middle-aged mice treated with maca demonstrating developed brain function and motor coordination, concluding that maca may show its worth as a “functional food” for those slowing down due to age. 

Keeping Focused With Maca

There are so many factors that can negatively impact your ability to focus and remain present. For this, we can look at the other benefits from taking maca that we’ve already detailed. Maca as an energy enhancer comes to mind. It’s more difficult to concentrate and complete a task well if you’re tired all the time, a common complaint when “hustle culture” has become a way of life for us all.

But trouble staying on task isn’t anything new - in fact, even the indigenous people of the Peruvian Andes praised maca for its ability to help them concentrate on complex tasks!

By improving your mood, maca can help you sort through some of the outside “noise” that makes it difficult to stay on track when it really matters. So why not give it a shot?

The Maca Team's Maca

Our Fair Trade organic maca is sustainably grown and harvested by farmers invested in the quality and well-being of the land. Fields are rotated to ensure the continued viability of the soil, and our maca is harvested in small batches at the peak of the annual season, ensuring that you’re getting the freshest maca possible.

We’re a small family-owned business of maca experts dedicated to bringing our customers the highest quality maca root products available.

If you have any questions for us, please don’t hesitate to Contact Us using our web form, or call us toll-free at 888-919-8616.

Enjoy the Day!