Maca Root

Lepidium meyenii

What Is Maca Root?

Maca root has been cultivated above the clouds for at least 2,000 years in conditions that would kill most crops — freezing temperatures, brutal UV, thin oxygen, soil that barely qualifies as soil. The Peruvians who first grew it didn’t have a word for “adaptogen,” but they knew exactly what it did: more energy, more stamina, more... enthusiasm. Spanish colonial records note that Incan warriors consumed maca before battle. What the records don’t emphasize, but probably should, is what they consumed it for after.

Lepidium meyenii is a cruciferous vegetable — same family as broccoli and cauliflower, though you’d never guess by looking at it. It grows exclusively in the Junin plateau of the Peruvian Andes, at elevations between 3,800 and 4,500 meters. The root itself looks like a squat, beige turnip, and it comes in several color varieties: yellow, red, and black. This matters more than marketing suggests. Yellow maca is the most common and the one in most supplements. Red maca has shown the strongest effects on prostate health and bone density in animal studies. Black maca appears to be the most potent for spermatogenesis and memory. Most clinical trials use a standardized extract that doesn’t differentiate, which is a limitation worth knowing about.

The active compounds are called macamides and macaenes — unique fatty acid derivatives found nowhere else in nature. Unlike most hormone-affecting plants, maca doesn’t contain phytoestrogens and doesn’t directly alter hormone levels. Instead, it appears to work on the hypothalamic-pituitary axis, nudging the endocrine system toward better regulation rather than forcing it in one direction. This is why maca can support both estrogen and testosterone function depending on what the body needs — it’s regulating, not replacing.

What Does the Research Say?

The study that should have made headlines: Dording et al., 2015, published in Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital — Harvard-affiliated, not a supplement company lab — tested maca root in women experiencing SSRI-induced sexual dysfunction. This is a population that conventional medicine largely shrugs at. “It’s a side effect, deal with it.” The maca group (3g/day) showed statistically significant improvements in sexual function scores compared to placebo. The Arizona Sexual Experience Scale scores improved markedly. In a condition where the standard medical response is “try a different SSRI,” a root vegetable from Peru outperformed doing nothing by a meaningful margin.

An earlier study — Gonzales et al., 2002, in Andrologia — tested maca in healthy men over 12 weeks. At 1.5g and 3g daily doses, self-reported sexual desire increased significantly by week 8. Critically, serum testosterone and estradiol levels did not change, which confirmed the hypothesis that maca’s libido effects aren’t driven by hormone manipulation. Something else is going on — likely the macamides acting on the endocrine-brain axis in ways that are still being mapped.

For energy and mood, a 2008 pilot study in Menopause (Stojanovska et al.) found that postmenopausal women taking 3.5g of maca powder daily for 6 weeks showed significant reductions in anxiety and depression scores, along with lower diastolic blood pressure. Small study, but the effect sizes were notable enough that larger trials followed.

How Does It Feel?

The honest version: maca is not a lightning bolt. Nobody takes maca root and feels a rush twenty minutes later. What happens is more cumulative — a slow re-tuning of baseline energy that you notice in retrospect. After a week or two, you realize you’re not hitting the 3pm wall as hard. Your workouts feel slightly less effortful. There’s a warmth in the body that wasn’t there before — not temperature, exactly, more like aliveness. The best description anyone’s given us is “it feels like your pilot light got turned up.”

The libido effects are real but they’re not what you’d expect from a supposed aphrodisiac. It’s not sudden urgency. It’s more like... remembering that you’re interested. A re-engagement with sensation that might have been dimmed by stress, SSRIs, or just the low-grade numbness of modern life. For some people this is subtle. For others — particularly women who’ve been dealing with medication-related sexual dysfunction — the shift is significant enough that they notice within the first month.

One caveat worth mentioning: the energy from maca can feel almost too much if you’re sensitive to stimulants and you take it in the evening. It’s not caffeinated, there’s no jitter, but there’s a definite vitality to it that works better as a morning ingredient. Which is why we put it in Bloom, not Holiday.

Formulations Featuring Maca Root

Bloom — Love & Libido ($80 / 30 capsules) Maca root per capsule: 150mg | Also contains: Ginseng 100mg, Ceremonial Cacao 100mg, Golden Teacher 150mg

Bloom is our formula for the people who want to feel more alive in their bodies — more warmth, more connection, more sensory richness. The maca root at 150mg is paired with ginseng (which has its own evidence for sexual function) and ceremonial cacao (a vasodilator that increases blood flow). The psilocybin microdose adds sensory enhancement on top of the physical effects. Together, the formula addresses libido from multiple angles: hormonal regulation (maca), circulation (cacao), energy (ginseng), and perceptual openness (Golden Teacher). It’s the capsule for date night, or honestly, for any day when you want the volume turned up a little.

View Bloom product page ->

Pairs Well With

Ginseng — Both are traditional energy tonics, but they work through different mechanisms. Maca modulates the hypothalamic-pituitary axis; ginseng boosts nitric oxide and supports adrenal function via ginsenosides. Together they cover hormonal regulation and raw energy output. Combined in psilocybin + maca + cacao + ginseng formulations. Read about Ginseng ->

Ceremonial Cacao — Cacao is a vasodilator. Maca is a hormonal regulator. When you pair increased blood flow with increased drive, the math works out. The Aztecs and the Incas didn’t share notes, but they independently arrived at the same insight: if you want to feel more, start with the blood and the brain. Both are in Bloom. Read about Ceremonial Cacao ->

Psilocybin (Golden Teacher) — Maca provides the physical baseline — energy, warmth, hormonal balance. Psilocybin opens up the perceptual and emotional channels. Microdosed together, the combination produces a heightened embodiment: more present in your body, more responsive to touch, colors a little brighter, music a little richer. It’s not a party drug stack. It’s a “fully alive” stack. Read about Golden Teacher ->

Safety & Interactions

Consult your healthcare provider if you:

• Are pregnant or breastfeeding (maca has been used traditionally during pregnancy in Peru, but clinical data is insufficient for a recommendation)
• Have a hormone-sensitive condition (breast cancer, endometriosis, uterine fibroids) — while maca doesn’t contain phytoestrogens, its effects on the hypothalamic-pituitary axis warrant caution
• Are taking thyroid medications (maca contains glucosinolates, which can affect thyroid function in people with existing thyroid conditions)
• Are taking blood pressure medications (maca may lower diastolic blood pressure)
• Are under 18

Known interactions:

• Thyroid medications: glucosinolates in maca may interfere with thyroid hormone production in susceptible individuals. If you have hypothyroidism, discuss with your doctor.
• Hormone-sensitive conditions: while maca doesn’t directly supply hormones, its regulatory effects on the endocrine system mean caution is warranted.
• No significant adverse effects reported in clinical trials at doses up to 3g/day over 12 weeks.

Dose considerations: Clinical studies have used 1.5-3.5g of maca powder daily. Each Bloom capsule contains 150mg of maca root extract. Our recommended dose of 1 capsule per day is well below clinical study ranges, providing a supportive rather than therapeutic dose as part of Bloom’s multi-ingredient formula. Even at the maximum suggested 3-4 capsules, the 600mg maca dose remains within safe studied ranges.