Is there a DOWN side to maca?

[MiahTay]

I've been taking maca in my smoothies for about 2 weeks and am loving the results. My question is, has anyone read anything about any down side to it, or that is should be limited? I'm taking about 1 TB a day in my smoothie.

Heather

[Shell]

Hi Heather! I was curious about this too.....here's (http://www.macaperu.com/why_our_maca.htm) a site that could help you out (you have to scroll down a bit to find dosage). Hope you find what you're looking for! Oh, and on a side note, I take about 1 tbs. per day too, and I've not had any side effects. I've read that 1 tsp. per day is a good dosage, but have also read that more is better, so there you go.

[maui_butterfly]

i was adding maca to my morning smoothies every morning for a bit, and my (normally strong) nails got brittle and broke off. my hair was not doing so hot either. brian yamamoto (prominent rawfoodie on another board) suggested i drop the maca, and when i did everything returned to normal. his point was that, in the traditional cultures where it is used, it is a medicine, not a food. it is a stimulant (like coffee, like cacao) and whatever boosts you from the outside in will take its toll SOMEWHERE in your body/life. something to at least consider (although i know when i suggest this about cacao people lose their minds!)

having phased out stimulants has resulted in my energy being through the roof. i am naturally maca-sized!

[Cabosun]

Maui, is it possible that your hormone levels were all within the normal range before you started taking MACA? If so, MACA does regulate the hormones and if the testosterone level is normal, you could have experienced hair loss and nail breakage due to having too much testosterone from the MACA.

Glad things are back to normal for you:)

[maui_butterfly]

exactly cabosan, i wasn't having any symptoms of imbalance in that area, i just started using it to get a boost because i read that it was a "superfood" that made you super-vital.

i've been a recreational drug user, a recreational nutritional supplement user, and a recreational caffeine user. i realize now in retrospect that this is part of the cultural learning that i am UNLEARNING, that we should recreationally boost ourselves.

a body in balance will give us more energy and vitality and sexual oomph than we know what to do with, we don't have to seek super-energy or super-anything from something outside ourselves as long as we are giving the body the correct fuel to function normally. as it turns out, normal is SUPER, and coming from SAD we don't have experience with that. i think something like maca works great for someone who is experiencing an imbalance (i read a very inspiring post from someone who had cleared up a very painful ovarian cyst problem using maca), but if they are not imbalanced in that area it can actually throw the body out of balance.

[Zuri]

In my opinion, anything that causes an initial reaction, excitement or a perturbation in the body such as maca, cayenne, cacao, sea salt, braggs, tamari, nama shoyu (sp?), or excessive garlic and onions, etc. will at first feel like it's adding to the life force, but after while you may find that you just cannot do without the substance in question. Physiologically, after a while it will take away from the life force.

Any substance you take in that makes you want more can't be that good for the body. If you don't realize you want more, well, that's a whole 'nother story. After being raw off and on for a year I realize even though I eat raw I am still dependent upon sea salt and onions to get that "kick" when I prepare certain raw meals.

Only when I began to stop using some of them like garlic and tamari did I realize how much of an affect they were having on me. I actually went through garlic withdrawal when I stopped using it. My last battle is sea salt and onions, which I'm not ready to tackle, though I use less of them than I did before.

Just ask yourself if you didn't have maca for a week or even adding sea salt or whatever seasonings you use daily, to your meals, how you would feel?

[RawSweetie]

I think I would feel unnecessarily austere...:)

If anything, using spices in raw foods makes me want to use WAY less of them than when I ate cooked food. I used to routinely use 4, 5 cloves of garlic in whatever recipe called for 1-2 cloves! Now, I can hardly handle 1 clove of garlic, or more than a dash of cayenne, etc.

Just my thoughts at this point in my raw journey.

[DharmaGirl]

Wow, glad to see this thread! I just bought some maca last week and started adding it to my smoothies, too....I was adding more than a Tbs., probably more like 2-3, not realizing the effect it would have on my hormone level.... After about two days, I started having hot flashes :eek: It took me about 4 days to figure it out... then, I ommitted the maca and the hot flashes went away! :D .......... Now I have a big bag of maca and am not sure what to do with it..... maybe smaller amounts would be okay??? Not sure I even want to risk that.....Any thoughts????

[lavendarJ]

This is a good thread. I just bought a raw hemp protein based supplement to add to my morning smoothies or drinks I whip up. I'm going to pay attention to how my body responds over the next two weeks (my concern is energy and protein intake)...this particular raw protein formula has maca in it. I definitely don't want to do anything to throw my healing journey off course.

[MiahTay]

So, much good feedback. I know there isn't much info out there (that I've found anyway). I have had hormonal issues since I had my tubes tied almost 9 years ago and I feel "normal" for the first time in a long time AND I have seen an increase in my energy level. I will watch for adverse side effects but for now I will keep my maca :D . Would love to hear anyone else's thoughts. Thanks everyone.

Heather

[MiahTay]

Wow, glad to see this thread! I just bought some maca last week and started adding it to my smoothies, too....I was adding more than a Tbs., probably more like 2-3, not realizing the effect it would have on my hormone level.... After about two days, I started having hot flashes :eek: It took me about 4 days to figure it out... then, I ommitted the maca and the hot flashes went away! :D .......... Now I have a big bag of maca and am not sure what to do with it..... maybe smaller amounts would be okay??? Not sure I even want to risk that.....Any thoughts????

Did you check out the link posted above by Shell. There is some info on how much to use. I have been taking 1 TB a day and have had no adverse reaction.

Heather

[lore-ah]

I started using about a tbsp of maca in my morning smoothie because I wanted some help with my ovarian cysts. WELL, it's been nothing short of a miracle. The excrutiating pain went away in just a couple of weeks. I stopped the maca for about a week and BAM, pain came back within a couple of days.

Started the maca again, pain went away. I have not had any ill effects from the maca. In fact, it's been a life saver for me. I have been dealing with ovarian cysts for a couple of years and nothing has been helping them. I was about at my wits end before I found maca