Maca
A root from the Peruvian Andes, taken above all for libido and energy.
- Libido
- Energy and stamina
- Menopause and mood
- Fertility and sperm
A plain-English overview, not advice. Written from published reviews and trials and from what people say in public forums.
On this page
What is maca?
Maca is the root of Lepidium meyenii, a small plant of the mustard family that grows in the central Andes of Peru at four thousand metres and above. Andean communities have cultivated it for more than two thousand years, as food and as medicine, and it is still eaten there boiled, baked or fermented into a drink. It reached the rest of the world in the last thirty years, sold as powder or capsules and marketed as a Peruvian ginseng for libido and fertility.
Why do people take maca?
Libido and sexual function
The thinking. This is what maca is famous for, and what most people buying it in Britain are after. In the Andes the root has long had a reputation as an aphrodisiac, and that is what carried it onto the world market as Peruvian ginseng. Researchers have asked from the start whether it acts on desire itself rather than through the sex hormones.
What research has found. A review pooling four randomised trials, and three trials besides, measured desire and erectile function. Most came out in maca’s favour: desire rose in healthy men over twelve weeks; fifty men with mild erectile difficulties recorded a small but clear gain; and where antidepressants had dulled sexual function, scores shifted at 3 g a day but not at 1.5 g. One trial in healthy cyclists found nothing. Testosterone and oestradiol did not differ from placebo, and every one of these trials was small. Research here is still young: a few studies so far, mostly pointing the same way.
Energy and stamina
The thinking. Energy is the other everyday reason people reach for maca, and the older one: Andean households used the root as a tonic and a staple food long before anyone sold it in capsules. The thinking is that it is food as much as supplement, a starchy root of fibre, protein and minerals, with compounds barely found elsewhere on top.
What research has found. One small crossover trial has measured it. Ten trained basketball players took 2 g a day for a fortnight, and jump height, shooting accuracy, repeated sprints, a fatigue index and lactate clearance all came out the same on maca as on placebo. Few studies have measured this yet, so there is little to go on either way.
Menopause and mood
The thinking. Women around the menopause are one of the groups buying maca in Britain, often with mood in mind as much as anything. Reviews note that Andean use of the root took in female hormone balance, and the thinking is the familiar one: a tonic that makes a difficult stretch feel steadier.
What research has found. One review pooled four randomised trials in women before, around and after the menopause, all scored on standard symptom questionnaires and all favourable. Behind it sit two small trials: fourteen women on 3.5 g a day recorded lower psychological symptom scores, anxiety and depression among them, and twenty-nine on 3.3 g a day recorded lower depression scores and blood pressure. Oestrogen and the other hormones did not shift in either. Only a few studies have measured this so far, though they mostly agree.
Fertility and sperm
The thinking. Men buy maca for fertility, and in the Andes that reputation ran alongside the aphrodisiac one: reviews describe the root being given to people and to livestock with breeding in mind. The thinking is that its compounds act on sperm rather than on the hormones that govern them.
What research has found. Two systematic reviews and two randomised trials have measured semen quality, in men with fertility problems and in healthy men. Sperm concentration came out higher than placebo in one twelve-week trial but not in a sixteen-week one, and motility and shape mostly did not differ. One review read the pooled picture as favourable, the other found the pooled effect on concentration too small to count, and both note how few and how small the trials are. Studies here point in different directions, so this one is still being worked out; the dose, how long people took it and who took part all seem to matter.
What does maca do in the body?
Maca is not a nutrient the body runs short of; it is a root vegetable, and most of what is in it is food: starch, fibre and protein, with minerals, vitamin C, amino acids and fatty acids alongside. What marks it out from other roots is a small set of compounds found in few other plants: the macamides and macaenes, which are fatty molecules, and the glucosinolates.
What those compounds do once swallowed is the part the reviews say is unsettled. They describe laboratory and animal work pointing towards antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity and towards the nervous system, and then say plainly that clinical studies of the mechanisms are lacking. They also stress that maca is a moving target: genetics, growing conditions and processing change the mix of compounds.
What do people say about taking maca?
These are anecdotes people have shared, not evidence.
What people like
- The threads fall into two groups: British parenting forums, where people take it while trying to conceive, and training forums, where the aim is energy.
- In the conception threads several describe cycles becoming more regular, or returning after a long gap, and a few conceived during the months they took it.
- A handful report steadier energy or more stamina in training, and one describes premenstrual symptoms shrinking from a fortnight each month to about two days.
- A few like the taste enough to stir it into coffee or smoothies for that alone, without expecting anything else from it.
Common complaints
- Noticing nothing at all is the commonest report by far, and in the two training threads almost everyone who tried it for weeks felt no difference.
- Disliking the taste comes up repeatedly; several mask it in smoothies or hot drinks, and for a couple it was reason enough to stop.
- In the conception threads a minority describe spotting or a shifted cycle, and one stopped within a week with stomach cramps and diarrhoea.
- One describes lasting hormonal changes she puts down to months of use, and a couple say a clinic or practitioner advised them against taking it.
How people take it
- Powder stirred into smoothies, porridge, coffee or hot chocolate is the commonest form; capsules come next, and a few take it inside a blend.
- Most take it daily, but in the conception threads several take it only from the start of the cycle until ovulation, then restart next period.
- Training-forum posters tend to use it a few times a week, often after a session or in a recovery shake, rather than every day.
- Doses are rarely stated; those that are run from a heaped teaspoon or a tablespoon of powder up to four grams a day.
- It is nearly always taken alongside other supplements, and several say that leaves them unable to tell which one did anything.
Read from these public discussions:
- Macca Root (Mumsnet, 2023)
- Maca Root (Mumsnet, 2024)
- Has anyone tried Vitex or Maca powder for fertility? (Mumsnet, 2014)
- To ask if anyone has had something work for libido? (Mumsnet, 2020)
- Has anybody try maca root powder (TrainerRoad forum, 2019)
- Maca root powder (StrongFirst forum, 2023)
What forms of maca are there?
| Form | What’s different | Per serving, on products we list |
|---|---|---|
| Raw powder | Dried root milled to a powder, with its starch, fibre and protein still in it. | 15 g |
| Gelatinised | Root powder given a further processing step after harvest, which reviews say changes what it contains. | not in our price tables yet |
| Extract | Concentrated from the root, so a 4:1 or 10:1 label says how much root went in. | not in our price tables yet |
What else is worth knowing about maca?
- Labels give the amount of root per serving, and a serving is often more than one capsule or scoop; an extract marked 4:1 or 10:1 states the weight of extract, not of root.
- The trials used 1.5 g to 3.5 g of maca a day, mostly for twelve weeks and none for longer than about four months. Two reports from the early 2000s used the same Peruvian preparation at the same two doses; one measured sexual desire and the other reproductive hormones, which did not change.
- One review describes maca as generally safe in the laboratory and animal work, with rare adverse effects and good tolerance in people. In a ninety-day study in adults with metabolic syndrome, though, the group taking maca powder alone showed a moderate rise in a liver enzyme and in diastolic blood pressure, a caution the authors flagged for high doses.
- Maca is sold in different colours, yellow, red and black the usual ones, and reviews say colour, growing conditions and processing all change what is in the root.
If you take medication, are pregnant, or have a health condition, check with a pharmacist or GP first.
The research behind this page (18 studies)
- Maca (L. meyenii) for improving sexual function: a systematic review. (2010, systematic review)
- 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. (2009, randomised trial)
- A double-blind, randomized, pilot dose-finding study of maca root (L. meyenii) for the management of SSRI-induced sexual dysfunction. (2008, randomised trial)
- Effect of Lepidium meyenii (MACA) on sexual desire and its absent relationship with serum testosterone levels in adult healthy men. (2002, randomised trial)
- The Impact of Lepidium meyenii (MACA) Supplementation on Basketball-related Performance and Antifatigue Ability: A Double-blind Crossover Study. (2025, randomised trial)
- Maca (Lepidium meyenii) for treatment of menopausal symptoms: A systematic review. (2011, systematic review)
- Maca reduces blood pressure and depression, in a pilot study in postmenopausal women. (2015, randomised trial)
- 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. (2008, randomised trial)
- Maca ( Lepidium meyenii Walp . ) on semen quality parameters: A systematic review and meta-analysis. (2022, systematic review)
- The use of maca (Lepidium meyenii) to improve semen quality: A systematic review. (2016, systematic review)
- Evaluation of the effect of Lepidium meyenii Walpers in infertile patients: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. (2021, randomised trial)
- Does Lepidium meyenii (Maca) improve seminal quality? (2020, randomised trial)
- Chemical composition and health effects of maca (Lepidium meyenii). (2019, review)
- Exploring the chemical and pharmacological variability of Lepidium meyenii : a comprehensive review of the effects of maca. (2024, review)
- Medicinal effects of Peruvian maca (Lepidium meyenii): a review. (2020, review)
- Not All Maca Is Created Equal: A Review of Colors, Nutrition, Phytochemicals, and Clinical Uses. (2024, review)
- Is the hype around the reproductive health claims of maca (Lepidium meyenii Walp.) justified? (2018, review)
- Ethnobiology and Ethnopharmacology of Lepidium meyenii (Maca), a Plant from the Peruvian Highlands. (2012, other)
How much does maca cost?
That depends on the form and the pack, so we work out the price of the same dose of every maca product we can find and rank them.