Maca may exert estrogenic activity in the body, as described earlier. As such, individuals with hormone-sensitive conditions should consult their physician before consuming maca.


Health Promotion and Disease Prevention


Clinical studies have been conducted using dried maca powder, gelatinized maca, or maca extract, mostly regarding challenges related to male†


sexual health or menopausal symp-


toms in female individuals. The dosages used vary from 2 g maca extract to 3.5 g dried maca powder per day, with study periods of 2 weeks to 8 months. Study populations have included healthy adult men‡


and women at low and high altitudes, endurance-trained male


cyclists, men with erectile dysfunction (ED), infertile but healthy men, healthy males, postmenopausal Chinese and Australian women, outpatients with depression in remission, and early perimenopausal and postmenopausal White women. In a 12-week randomized, double-blind, controlled trial with 99 male†


and female


individuals at low altitude in Peru, increases in mood and energy were observed with 3 g spray-dried hydroalcoholic red and black maca extract (equivalent to about 20 g maca per day) compared with placebo. At both high and low altitudes, health-related quality-of-life measures were significantly higher in both groups taking red and black maca extract.13


Athletic Performance and Sexual Health Studies conducted among males†


have shown mixed results overall, with some evidence


supporting positive benefits with maca. In a randomized, double-blind, crossover study with eight trained male†


cyclists, as little as 2 weeks of treatment with 2 g 5:1 maca extract per


day resulted in significant improvement in time to complete a 40-km cycling timed trial compared with baseline. However, there was no significant difference compared with pla- cebo.20


White male†


Alternatively, a longer-term, randomized, double-blind, controlled trial among 50 individuals with mild ED taking 2.4-g tablets of pulverized dehydrated maca per


day over 12 weeks resulted in significant improvement in subjective well-being and sexual health related to ED. Specifically, overall scores measured using the International Index of Erectile Function were higher for both placebo and treatment groups compared with baseline values, with significantly higher scores for maca compared with placebo. Physical and social satisfaction scores were significantly higher for maca, but not placebo. However, there were no significant changes in the hormone levels tested.21


Sperm motility, but not concentration,


was increased after 90 days in a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial of 60 infertile men†


taking 2 g maca extract daily.22 56 healthy male† In another randomized, double-blind, controlled trial, individuals were given 1.5- or 3-g gelatinized maca tablets per day over


12 weeks. They demonstrated higher scores for self-reported sexual desire ratings with maca consumption compared with placebo at both dose levels, with no differences in anxiety or depression scores or any serum reproductive hormonal measures.23,24 ized, double-blind, controlled trial with 20 men†


In another random- treated with 1.75 g gelatinized powdered


(yellow) maca per day, directional increases were observed after 12 weeks, with no changes in sperm concentration and motility.25


Gelatinized maca is prepared from dried maca that


is rehydrated, gelatinized using short-term elevated pressure under moist conditions, and then dried and pulverized, resulting in a final powder product; this allows for denser, easily digestible, and more bioavailable material because the starch is removed.25,26


There is limited


† Study participants were described as male or female. Gender was not further specified. ‡ Study participants were described as men/male and women/female. Gender was not further specified.


368 HEALTH PROFESSIONALS GUIDE TO DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS


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