Maca, a great coffee substitute, from a lesser known Super-duper food everyone over 40 should know about.

If you are over 40 and never heard of Maca, it's worth 10 minutes of your life to look up maca's health benefits. Lab rat tests for "red maca" suggests it can possibly help shrink the size of prostate in men, and help women with PMS and menopause symptoms, and much more.

My personal experience is it gives you great energy and vibrancy. After years of tinkering, I have used  a Maca product called MaCafe, a powdered coffee substitute, and with my additions, I simply love it, and I'll never go back to coffee. It gives a "smooth" energy boost as opposed to that "jerky" caffiene jolt that can keep me awake occasionally at night.

My standard recipe is a half teaspoon or so of MaCafe powder, will vary from person to person depending on taste of course, added to hot water, then add a teabag of Tazo Organic Apple Red. I tried many different flavor teas but this one works best for me. I have this awesome blend of spices consisting of Cacao Chocolate powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, and real vanilla powder when I can find it. The other things I add are the standard things added to coffee, either and organic half and half cream (I am still evolving to grass fed dairy), or coconut milk, although I am trying to stay away from using canned products because of the linings of cans. So far as sweeteners, my article on coffee addresses the sweeteners I use, which can vary, but basically I use Sweet Leaf Stevia, Ultimate Sweetener Birch Xylitol (no aftertaste like stevia), or real raw honey. An important note is that the MaCafe is roasted and the enzymes and nutrients that give maca its wide array of health benefits are no longer there I think, so to really get the benefits of maca, you should use the raw maca in smoothies or sprinkled on cereal or elsewhere. It has the most amazing sweet nutty smell that will tell you it is something special and begs you to "try me". I buy my raw smoothie maca here which is red maca. But before I get into red maca for prostate health, I got my regular (yellow) maca from this HIGHLY recommended online company called Imperial Gold.  ~dw~

14 Responses

01.30.12

I just tried maca powder for the first time yesterday in my protein smoothie.  I think it is too early to tel if it does anything for me.  However I do feel like I am in a great mood today and my mental clarity is very keen!  Can you tell a difference if you use it consistently?
I take chlorella which gives me a big energy boost.  Is maca something that causes marked increases in energy?
-Vanessa

01.30.12

I definitely could tell the difference. I remember the first two weeks after trying it I had this crazy impulse to get up at 6 am and get on the treadmill. There are lot of factors that come into play however. For example, there is gelatinized maca with is supposed to be more digestible. That’s what I use. I’ve also learned it depends on how healthy your overall eating program already is. If you eat poorly then the effects may not happen. It was the maca that gave me my energy boost and the chlorella that gave me the intestinal cleanse, nice and smoothly. Then of course, you have to make sure you are buying a quality maca product. As I said in the article the maca coffee is roasted and the nutrients are mostly gone. I do remember the maca energy boos was unlike a caffeine boot in that it doesn’t jolt me, I just noticed a few weeks later I was feeling more alert and agile. It’s not like a cup of coffee where you drink it and feel the caffeine kick in an hour later. Its more of a smooth progressive feeling.

02.08.12

Thanks for stopping by and sharing this post on Traditional Tuesdays. I'm currently looking into maca for hormonal balance and reading everything I can find on it.  I enjoyed reading your post!

02.08.12

Thank you for commenting. That maca is something else. I don’t know obviously about the hormonal balance being a guy, but if you read some of the testimonials online, if they are legit, then a lot of women have been helped by it. I can’t speak for sure about these testimonials, but this company Sequel/Vega that sells MacaSure produces VERY high quality products, but in turn they are not cheap. Here is the link to the ladies testamonies. http://macasure.com/about-maca/testimonials/testimonials.html Just make sure that you get a quality maca. If you need some help evaluating certain brands I can take a peek at which one you are purchasing. Here is a link to a highly recommended company that I used for the first two years called Imperial Gold. They make what is called a “gelatianized” maca, that is supposedly easier to absorb. I simply loved it. I will put this company in the post come to think of it. http://www.imperialgoldmaca.com/order_here.htm

06.15.12

I disagree with the statement you've made: "I don’t know obviously about the hormonal balance being a guy" – Men too have hormons and they too can be off.
Well I advise you to read the following:
http://www.ehow.com/about_4671822_what-causes-hormonal-imbalance-men.html
 

06.15.12

That is a true statement in that I was saying I don’t know female’s hormonal issues being a guy. No different than saying I don’t know about the issues pertaining to a menstrual cycle being a guy. I am well aware that men have hormones, I just went to get my testosterone and other hormone levels checked. But I still don’t know a lot about them. If I leave out the “I’m a guy” part, then perhaps it would all make sense perhaps. Was just saying I’m not qualified to make comments on women’s hormonal imbalances because the commenter was a female………

09.17.12

Maca is an excellent ancient remedy for many conditions. It helps regain the overall well being. The fact that maca is an ancient remedy, convinced me to try it. And it is great! Maca is great, and ancients knew what they were doing, so we must return to nature and start living  healthy!

09.17.12

Well said !!!

10.04.12

I heard that treating depression naturally with maca powder is possible..  I think maca is one of the kept secrets in ancient times that only some people had access to. Mood is influenced by maca, so it has a lot to do in depression treating. Phytonutrients contained by maca help in anxiety and depression treating. But consult a doctor before taking maca as a depression treatment!

10.05.12

I don’t know about the subject matter, but I can easily see it. I know maca gave be such a good mood when I first started it. I am sure a component of at least some variations of depression is merely chemical imbalances. I know they have proven that with maca as it relates to PMS and Menopause.

06.18.15

Maca rocks! I combine it with pure propolis, spirulina and cod liver oil plus some herb teas yet I drink coffee too! 

06.18.15

Hey Ste,

Awesome concoction. That Cod liver oil is supposed to be one of the best sources of Vitamin D out there!!!!

Thanks for reading and commenting……

01.08.16

Hi Doug, 

Would love if you tried out our roasted Macaccino blends (original macha, mint, or black maca reserve)! We think you'll love them. https://solnaturalfoods.com 

Let us know what you think! 

Sincerely, 

Aaron Glassman

 

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