Does Maca really work?

Maca is not a common thing in our lives, but we have definitely seen or even eaten various medicines or foods that use it as raw materials. Maca is an expensive herbal medicine originating from South America. But maca has many benefits, such as nourishing the kidney and strengthening essence, replenishing qi and strengthening the spleen, beautifying the skin, quenching thirst and refreshing the mind. For men, maca can play its role very well, nourishing sperm and blood. Let’s take a closer look at the effects of Maca.

1. Maca is unanimously touted by "experts" for its protein content of up to 9%, as well as high levels of amino acids and active substances, and therefore has sexual health functions. In comparison, ordinary rice also has a protein content of 9%. Chicken breast of the same quality has an amino acid content several percentage points higher than maca, and chicken breast is rich in "selenium", which is far more powerful than maca! As for the active ingredient, honey exceeds its value by several times. Among them, the unique "macaamide" and "macaene" in maca have been confirmed by experimental data to be conventional active substances, and they do not have the magical effect of "sexual health"!

2. Experimental data on the various physical and chemical components contained in maca analyzed and studied by scientists around the world also show that maca is non-toxic and safe both inside and outside the body. The aqueous and alcoholic extracts of maca showed no hepatotoxicity in in vitro experiments, but were found to have weak cytoprotective effects. Maca water extract freeze-dried powder showed no cytotoxic activity against 3T3 cells or different human cancer cell lines; Maca water extract freeze-dried powder had no effect on the normal development of mouse pre-implantation embryos; Maca showed no acute toxicity to rats at a median lethal dose of 17 grams per kilogram of body weight; the usual dose of 2g/kg body weight given to rats showed that maca consumption was safe

3. Maca is not that magical. It is all hyped up by the marketing media. It is just a kind of wild radish. We have found a lot of wild radishes in Hefei these days. In terms of efficacy, it is much worse than orthodox radish seeds. White radish seeds, red radish seeds, and leek seeds are all good medicines for nourishing the kidney and replenishing qi, especially for problems caused by sexual life. It is indeed useless. Scarcity does not mean that something is good. Eating it will not make you immortal. In fact, the human body can synthesize everything except lysine. It is enough to have a richer daily diet on the periodic table. Eating so many strange and useless things will accumulate toxins.

4. In 1992, maca was recommended by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) as a safe food with no side effects, no addiction or food dependence, and its cultivation was promoted worldwide. The International Doping and Sports Nutrition Testing and Research Center has concluded that maca does not contain any drugs banned by the International Olympic Committee, and does not contain any stimulants, anesthetics, blockers, diuretics or steroid hormones that are banned. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has designated maca as space food for astronauts; the International Union of Mountaineering Associations (UIAA) has designated maca as a must-have nutritional supplement for mountaineers.