30 Day Maca Root Experience – More Erections and Less Anxiety

“Do you have any experience with maca root (Lepidium meyenii) it’s promoted as erection booster and aphrodisiac.”

Yes, I have tested alot maca root powders and supplements. In this article, I share my experiences with a maca root. What exactly happened when I took maca root 30 days straight.

What is Maca root?

maca root benefits
Maca root

Maca (Lepidium meyenii) is a plant which belong to the crucifer and cabbage family and is usually grow in high altitudes (7000-11000 feet) Peruvian Andes.

Traditionally maca has been mainly consumed as a food source (like a potato or stocked as powder and consumed with hot drinks), but they also believed that maca can increase fertility. Currently, maca root is marketed as a “superfood”, mostly with wild claims that really don’t have any scientifical evidence behind them.

Apparently maca root is used by athletes and bodybuilders to boost energy levels and strength. Even supermodels like Miranda Kerr uses maca in her smoothie and some women use it to enlarge their butt.

I recently made a experiment with a maca root powder. In this maca experiment I took gelatinized yellow maca powder for 30 days straight. Here is the real benefits I noticed.

Maca root increases sex drive and erections

maca root erection
Maca root erection

The first thing I noticed with this maca supplementation experiment was notable libido increase (sexual desire and more erections). This benefit started about one week after I started to take maca powder.

Subjectively, this did not come as surprise, because increased sex drive is the most common benefit of maca root.

There are multiple trials and studies where maca root has found to be effective in improving sex drive and erection.

This study tested maca 1500mg and 3000mg doses on healthy adults and noted 24-42% increase in self-reported sex-drive:

“An improvement in sexual desire was observed with Maca since 8 weeks of treatment. In conclusion, treatment with Maca improved sexual desire.1Gonzales GF, Córdova A, Vega K, Chung A, Villena A, Góñez C, Castillo S. Effect of Lepidium meyenii (MACA) on sexual desire and its absent relationship with serum testosterone levels in adult healthy men. Andrologia. 2002 Dec;34(6):367-72. doi: 10.1046/j.1439-0272.2002.00519.x. PMID: 12472620.

In this pilot study maca extract (ME) improved sex drive on trained male cyclists in just 14 days:

“ME administration significantly improved the self-rated sexual desire score compared to the baseline test (P=0.01), and compared to the placebo trial after supplementation (P=0.03).”2Stone M, Ibarra A, Roller M, Zangara A, Stevenson E. A pilot investigation into the effect of maca supplementation on physical activity and sexual desire in sportsmen. J Ethnopharmacol. 2009 Dec 10;126(3):574-6. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2009.09.012. Epub 2009 Sep 23. PMID: 19781622.

Placebo controlled maca study found that 2400 mg of dry maca extract for 12 weeks improved mild erectile dysfunction (ED) in Caucasian men.

“After 12 weeks of treatment, both Maca- and placebo-treated patients experienced a significant increase in IIEF-5 score(International Index of Erectile Function), but the Maca group higher than that of placebo group.”3Zenico T, Cicero AF, Valmorri L, Mercuriali M, Bercovich E. Subjective effects of Lepidium meyenii (Maca) extract on well-being and sexual performances in patients with mild erectile dysfunction: a randomised, double-blind clinical trial. Andrologia. 2009 Apr;41(2):95-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1439-0272.2008.00892.x. PMID: 19260845.

Maca worked even on SSRI-induced sexual dysfunction in this study:

” Maca was well tolerated. Maca root may alleviate SSRI-induced sexual dysfunction, and there may be a dose-related effect. Maca may also have a beneficial effect on libido.4Dording CM, Fisher L, Papakostas G, Farabaugh A, Sonawalla S, Fava M, Mischoulon D. A double-blind, randomized, pilot dose-finding study of maca root (L. meyenii) for the management of SSRI-induced sexual dysfunction. CNS Neurosci Ther. 2008 Fall;14(3):182-91. doi: 10.1111/j.1755-5949.2008.00052.x. PMID: 18801111

Even though these were small trials with small sample size, maca root shows promising results as a sex drive booster and it may be even effective for people suffering with a sexual dysfunction. I noticed improved libido roughly after 1 week of supplementation, but according studies, it seems that maca root starts to work even better after 4-6 weeks of supplementation.

Learn more sex drive boosting foods, supplements and strategies from: How to get stronger erection article.

Maca root increases well-being

does maca root make you happy
Does maca root make you happy?

After 2 weeks of maca experiment, I noticed increased well-being (happier mood). Does maca root have some kinda component that affects mood?

I started doing some research and found a couple of studies:

Maca root has anti-depressant effect according to animals studies:

“Black Maca appeared to have more beneficial effects on latent learning in OVX mice; meanwhile, all varieties of Maca showed antidepressant activity.”5Rubio J, Caldas M, Dávila S, Gasco M, Gonzales GF. Effect of three different cultivars of Lepidium meyenii (Maca) on learning and depression in ovariectomized mice. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2006 Jun 23;6:23. doi: 10.1186/1472-6882-6-23. PMID: 16796734; PMCID: PMC1534053.

In this above-mentioned study it was noted that maca also improved physical and social performance-related SAT-P score:

“However, only Maca-treated patients experienced a significant improvement in physical and social performance-related SAT-P score compared with the baseline”6Zenico T, Cicero AF, Valmorri L, Mercuriali M, Bercovich E. Subjective effects of Lepidium meyenii (Maca) extract on well-being and sexual performances in patients with mild erectile dysfunction: a randomised, double-blind clinical trial. Andrologia. 2009 Apr;41(2):95-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1439-0272.2008.00892.x. PMID: 19260845.

Maca has been also shown to reduce anxiety and depression in postmenopausal women:

“Preliminary findings show that Lepidium meyenii (Maca) (3.5 g/d) reduces psychological symptoms, including anxiety and depression, and lowers measures of sexual dysfunction in postmenopausal women independent of estrogenic and androgenic activity.”7Brooks NA, Wilcox G, Walker KZ, Ashton JF, Cox MB, Stojanovska L. Beneficial effects of Lepidium meyenii (Maca) on psychological symptoms and measures of sexual dysfunction in postmenopausal women are not related to estrogen or androgen content. Menopause. 2008 Nov-Dec;15(6):1157-62. doi: 10.1097/gme.0b013e3181732953. PMID: 18784609.

Studies are very limited but it seems that maca root might have some kinda component that affects mind and mood.

It might be maca root’s ability to reduced anxiety and depression that might explain why many people experience energy and sports performance boost when using maca. However, there is also studies where maca did not beat placebo in sport performance.8Stone M, Ibarra A, Roller M, Zangara A, Stevenson E. A pilot investigation into the effect of maca supplementation on physical activity and sexual desire in sportsmen. J Ethnopharmacol. 2009 Dec 10;126(3):574-6. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2009.09.012. Epub 2009 Sep 23. PMID: 19781622.

For the best natural supplements for anxiety and well-being see -> Natural Ways To Combat Anxiety

Uncommon benefits of maca root

Maca root has many alleged benefits from enlarged butt size, larger sperm volume, strength and muscle size gains and so on. But most of these claims do not have any reliable science to back them up.

Next we will look at maca benefits that has at least some kinda scientific evidence behind them.

Increasing sperm count with black maca?
Traditionally maca root was used for increasing fertility and many marketers are claiming that maca is good for fertility.

While there are not many studies about this subject, black maca could potentially be a good thing for men, as it seems to increase sperm volume, according to animal studies.

“In conclusion, Black maca affects sperm count as early as 1 day after beginning of treatment.”9Gonzales GF, Nieto J, Rubio J, Gasco M. Effect of Black maca (Lepidium meyenii) on one spermatogenic cycle in rats. Andrologia. 2006 Oct;38(5):166-72. doi: 10.1111/j.1439-0272.2006.00733.x. PMID: 16961569.
Black Maca appeared to have more beneficial effect on sperm counts and epididymal sperm motility.”10Gonzales C, Rubio J, Gasco M, Nieto J, Yucra S, Gonzales GF. Effect of short-term and long-term treatments with three ecotypes of Lepidium meyenii (MACA) on spermatogenesis in rats. J Ethnopharmacol. 2006 Feb 20;103(3):448-54. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2005.08.035. Epub 2005 Sep 19. PMID: 16174556.

If you are interested to increase sperm sperm volume black maca can be found on iHerb (capsules) or Amazon.

Red maca might reduce prostate size according to multiple animal studies

Red Maca but neither Yellow nor Black Maca reduced significantly ventral prostate size in rats.”11Gonzales GF, Miranda S, Nieto J, Fernández G, Yucra S, Rubio J, Yi P, Gasco M. Red maca (Lepidium meyenii) reduced prostate size in rats. Reprod Biol Endocrinol. 2005 Jan 20;3:5. doi: 10.1186/1477-7827-3-5. PMID: 15661081.

“Freeze-dried aqueous extract of red maca, hydroalcoholic extract of red maca and finasteride reduced prostate weight in rats with prostatic hyperplasia. “12Gonzales GF, Vasquez V, Rodriguez D, Maldonado C, Mormontoy J, Portella J, Pajuelo M, Villegas L, Gasco M. Effect of two different extracts of red maca in male rats with testosterone-induced prostatic hyperplasia. Asian J Androl. 2007 Mar;9(2):245-51. doi: 10.1111/j.1745-7262.2007.00228.x. PMID: 17334591.

“The prostate weight diminished in a dose-dependent fashion in rats treated with Red Maca.”13Gasco M, Villegas L, Yucra S, Rubio J, Gonzales GF. Dose-response effect of Red Maca (Lepidium meyenii) on benign prostatic hyperplasia induced by testosterone enanthate. Phytomedicine. 2007 Aug;14(7-8):460-4. doi: 10.1016/j.phymed.2006.12.003. Epub 2007 Feb 7. PMID: 17289361.

If maca can transform prostate size, its not so strange that it could alter buttocks size too?

If you are interested trying red maca powder you can find it on iHerb (it’s not currently available for all countries).

What maca does not do

Many marketers claim that maca promotes “hormone balance”. However, this is false claim, as it very clearly proven in studies that maca does not affect hormone levels (testosterone, estrogen, FSH, LH, or prolactin). Maca roots benefits to sex-drive are not hormone related.

There is no single human study where maca have changed hormone levels, but there are many where it did not change them:

  • No differences were seen in serum concentrations of estradiol, follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, and sex hormone-binding globulin between baseline, Maca treatment, and placebo”14Brooks NA, Wilcox G, Walker KZ, Ashton JF, Cox MB, Stojanovska L. Beneficial effects of Lepidium meyenii (Maca) on psychological symptoms and measures of sexual dysfunction in postmenopausal women are not related to estrogen or androgen content. Menopause. 2008 Nov-Dec;15(6):1157-62. doi: 10.1097/gme.0b013e3181732953. PMID: 18784609.
  • Serum testosterone and oestradiol levels were not different in men treated with Maca and in those treated with placebo”15Gonzales GF, Córdova A, Vega K, Chung A, Villena A, Góñez C, Castillo S. Effect of Lepidium meyenii (MACA) on sexual desire and its absent relationship with serum testosterone levels in adult healthy men. Andrologia. 2002 Dec;34(6):367-72. doi: 10.1046/j.1439-0272.2002.00519.x. PMID: 12472620.
  • Data showed that compared with placebo Maca had no effect on any of the hormones studied nor did the hormones show any changes over time. Multiple regression analysis showed that serum testosterone levels were not affected by treatment with Maca at any of the times studied. In conclusion, treatment with Maca does not affect serum reproductive hormone levels.16Gonzales GF, Córdova A, Vega K, Chung A, Villena A, Góñez C. Effect of Lepidium meyenii (Maca), a root with aphrodisiac and fertility-enhancing properties, on serum reproductive hormone levels in adult healthy men. J Endocrinol. 2003 Jan;176(1):163-8. doi: 10.1677/joe.0.1760163. PMID: 12525260.

As you can see, it’s now very clear that maca root does not increase testosterone levels or affect hormone levels. Everyone should stop making these claims, unless you can prove it with reliable science.

How maca should be consumed?

Raw maca root contains starch that is very hard to digest for humans, thus it might create stomach aches and other problems. Traditionally maca root was always heated or boiled to minimize stomach aches and other problems that raw maca root starch can cause. It’s always a good idea to heat your raw maca powder or at least take it with a hot drink (coffee, tea, chocolate).

Alternatively, you can get gelatinized version of maca powder. Gelatinization removes harmful starch and makes maca easier to digest, so you don’t necessary need to heat it as the starch is already removed.

In this experiment I took yellow gelatinized maca powder. I took about 2-4 grams daily (one teaspoon) and added it to hot drinks like coffee and hot chocolate.

Also, it might be a good idea to cycle maca supplements, for example, take a 1-month break after 3 months usage. If you use it all the time, you might not notice these benefits anymore. In studies, the best result were obtained after 4-6 weeks of supplementation.

Choosing maca products

Which maca your should take red, black or yellow?
There are more than 10 variants of maca root, but yellow, black and red are the most common in the market and has most studies behind them.

Yellow maca (also know as cream maca) is the most common variant of maca root in the market. It’s usually cheapest form of maca and works well in all aspects. I used this gelatinized version.
Red maca is the only maca variant which has shown to reduce prostate size in animal studies.
Black maca is a good choice for men, as animal studies have shown it to be the best maca variant for increasing sperm volume. Black maca seems to work best for anxiety and might also have neuroprotective benefits according to animal studies.

Update 2019: in this study, 175 participants were given 3 grams of placebo, red, or black maca.17Gonzales-Arimborgo C, Yupanqui I, Montero E, Alarcón-Yaquetto DE, Zevallos-Concha A, Caballero L, Gasco M, Zhao J, Khan IA, Gonzales GF. Acceptability, Safety, and Efficacy of Oral Administration of Extracts of Black or Red Maca (Lepidium meyenii) in Adult Human Subjects: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study. Pharmaceuticals (Basel). 2016 Aug 18;9(3):49. doi: 10.3390/ph9030049. PMID: 27548190 Both maca raised sex drive, but the red maca worked best.

I am using this red maca powder from iHerb.

As the new science has appeared, I would go mostly with a red maca but black and yellow maca are also viable options.

Gelatinized or raw maca?
I would go always with a gelatinized maca first. While there are some people who can tolerate raw maca, others can get serious stomach aches and even fewer after ingesting raw maca. If you can tolerate gelatinized maca you can always try raw maca later.

Is maca extract good choice?
Maca root in form of pills or alcohol extract is good choice for those who can’t tolerate taste of maca, or does not have time to make maca drinks or smoothies.

Money saving tip
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You get the discount code automatically from my links and while you’ll benefit from this, I also benefit by getting “iHerb credits” that I can use towards my next orders. Thank you for this!

Maca root benefits conclusion

Maca root is wildly over-hyped and marketed superfood and there is not yet enough human trials to prove most of the claims about it. However, maca root seems to be effective for libido boosting for men and women and might even lower anxiety and increase well-being in some people. If you are interested to boost sex drive and erections maca root might worth of try.

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