Through Instagram posts, ‘What I Eat in a Day’ videos or simply on display at the local market; maca powder is everywhere right now. We’ve seen maca lattes, smoothie bowls, supplement versions and more. We want to provide a quick guide to this superfood trend.
First of all, what is maca? Maca is a cruciferous vegetable and therefore related to broccoli, cauliflower, kale, etc. Maca has been used throughout history in Peru for its health benefits. We’re going to dive into some of the advantages of maca powder and offer some different ways you can get your dose of this superfood.
On a nutrient level, maca ranks high. It has tons of vitamins and minerals including iron, vitamin C and vitamin B6. Since the part of the vegetable that is used to create the popular maca powder is a root, it has an earthy taste. This makes it easy to add into foods such as oatmeal, cookies, etc. without adding too much sweetness.
The most popular benefit of maca powder is its ability to increase libidio. Decreased sex drive is a common problem amongst adults, young adults as well beleieve it or not, and there’s research backed evidence that proves maca can help increase desire and sex drive.
For women, maca powder may end up becoming our best friend at certain times of the month due to its potential to relieve some of the unpleasant symptoms that accompany both our periods and menopause. The symptoms that have been proven to decrease include hot flashes, sleep problems, mood swings and irritability.
If you care about your skin at all, you protect it from the sun. Sunscreen and hats are your go to when it comes to preventing sun damage to your skin; and now you can add maca root to the list. If you apply maca root to the skin, research has shown that you will be more protected over time from UV damage.
Now that we’ve covered some of the potential benefits of maca, let’s go over some easy ways to incorporate it into your diet.
If you’re a smoothie person, buying plain maca powder is probably the easiest way to add in this superfood. If you’re worried about the taste becoming too earthy, add in a little bit of honey or agave to compensate for sweetness. You can order this organic maca powder from Navitas Organics on Amazon.
If you’re thinking of using maca powder because of its ability to help ease PMS symptoms or regulate your sex drive, try out this Moon Balance powder from Your Super. This powder contains maca along with beetroot, baobab, hibiscus, amla and shatavari which are other ingredients believed to help aid in regulating hormones as well. Try putting a scoop of this powder in some warm oat milk with a teaspoon of honey for the ultimate superfood latte.
If you’re one who favors taking supplements, you can reach for these Rae Wellness In the Mood Capsules. These capsules contain additional ingredients such as ashwagandha and ginseng which are both adaptogens that can help relieve symptoms of stress. In addition they contain taurine which can help boost your energy naturally and vitamin B3 which helps promote blood flow.
Things like PMS, low sex drive and low energy levels are hard enough to deal with as is, so trying maca powder could be one way to help balance out these health challenges and improve overall wellness naturally.