Maca
is a root from Peru. It looks like a little turnip or radish, and is a
traditional staple food in Peru. Its Latin name is Lepidium Peruvianum
Chacon, but you don't have to remember that! It's also known as
Peruvian ginseng, or Amazonian ginseng, but isn't related to ginseng at
all.
Our Maca comes dried
and ground into a powder, is certified organic and is not cooked. It is
non-toxic and contains no dangerous side-effects or withdrawal symptoms.
What's so special about maca?
Maca
comes under the herbal classification of being adaptogenic. Adaptogens,
are herbs such as ginseng that are traditionally thought to help the
body to adapt to increased or ambiguous stressors. Traditional texts
claim that these types of herb have a generalised regulatory action
upon homeostatic mechanisms throughout the body (Lopez-Fandon et al,
2004:471).
Maca is a very
densely nutritious food that contains high amounts of vitamins,
minerals, enzymes and all the essential amino acids (so often hard to
obtain from a single non-flesh food). The amino acid content of this
plant gives it an average bioavailable protein content of around 14% of
the entire weight of the plant. Maca certainly has an impressive array
of minerals, with notably high levels of bioavailable calcium. The vast
majority of people today eat food that is lower in minerals than our
wild foods of yesteryear. Maca's high-mineral content can help top up
your mineral stores in a tasty enjoyable way. On top of that, maca also
contains trace amounts of the hard-to-find vitamin B12 (though not
enough to rely on by itself).
There
is also a massive array of active phytochemicals (plant chemicals)
present within maca, including the legendary macamides and macaenes,
who’s supposed activity have been the topic of much research,
especially amongst traditional diets of indigenous peoples of Peru. We
actively encourage you to undertake your own research on these
compounds and draw your own conclusions here.
Why we don't sell maca tablets or maca capsules
Some
maca tablets are made from the same high-grade peruvian maca as our
powder, but they are considerably more expensive. As a guide, a popular
brand in the UK retails on the web for £13.95 for 800mg x 100 tablets.
This means each bottle contains 80g of maca. This works out at £17.44
per 100g. When you compare that to our 100g of maca, which sells for
just £3.55, you can see why we stick to powder! We also believe that
maca, as a food, not a supplement, should be integrated with other
foods and enjoyed. When you enjoy consuming something, you'll be more
likely to do it consistently, rather than faddishly.
And,
we now sell maca in 500g bags, as well as the well-loved 1k bags. These
work out much cheaper for you than the 100g bags. So if you know
someone else who wants maca, why not go for the big bag and share it
out? All our family eat maca daily now -- and it's helped every one of
us in different ways.
Now, if you still can't bear
the taste of maca after all this convincing, you can buy empty capsules
from chemists and health-food shops, and fill your own.