Maca Root Powder, is it a super food?

Todays post is about a powder made from Maca root. This powder is something that we use quite regularly in our smoothies. I thought I would share a bit of information about it.

What is Maca Root?

Maca, known scientifically as Lepidium meyenii, has many names including Peruvian ginseng and maca-maca.

An edible herbaceous biennial plant that is native to South America in the high Andes Mountains of Peru. It is grown for its fleshy, bulbous root.

Related to radishes and turnips, its growth habit, size, and proportions are roughly similar. However it most closely resembles a parsnip. And it has a nutty, earthy slightly butterscotch-y taste.

The root is typically dried. Once dried, it may be further processed and is commonly available in powder form or as a supplement.

What makes it ‘super’?

In Peru, maca has been used for centuries as a food supplement to improve health and for its medicinal properties to enhance energy and fertility. In fact, the indigenous people of Peru have traditionally used it to improve children’s performance in school.

The root is an excellent source of essential amino acids, and calcium.  It has very high levels of vitamin K, which helps the blood form clots.

As well as high levels of iron and iodine, which promote healthy cells, and to help keep the metabolism on track. Its big doses of potassium help digestion and make muscles happy.

Lepidium meyenii also contains various unique plant compounds called macaridine, macaenes, macamides and maca alkaloids. These qualities contribute to it being known as an adaptogenic plant. This means it gives the body the ability to adapt to or resist what’s going on in and around it.

What are the health benefits?

Some studies of menopausal women found that maca, in conjunction with other supplements, helped alleviate menopausal symptoms. It does this by stimulating the endocrine system helping to maintain hormonal balance.

The body uses the plant compounds to improve adrenal function, ovarian and testicular function as well as the functioning of the thyroid, the pancreas and the pineal glands.

Additional studies suggest that it can enhance mood and also help protect bone health. Women have a higher risk of osteoporosis after menopause.

With so many benefits, no wonder it is sometimes called a ‘superfood’.

How to take it –

Easy to incorporate into the diet, Maca can be taken as a tablet supplement or the powder can be added to smoothies, oatmeal and many other recipes.

The optimal dose for medicinal use has not been established. However, the dosage of powder used in studies generally ranges from 1.5–5 grams per day.

It is generally considered safe as a food or as a supplement if you don’t take more than 3 grams (less than a teaspoon) a day for a period of up to 4 months.

However, if you’re on blood thinners, maca may not be right for you, as it may counteract your medication. The same goes for men with elevated blood PSA (prostate specific antigens). The plant’s extracts act like oestrogen for many people, so those who have hormone-sensitive conditions like breast, uterine, and ovarian cancers or endometriosis should avoid it.

We hope you found this information interesting.

Till the next post,

Live clean n prosper

(Sources – National Library of Medicine, National Centre for Biotechnology InformationWebMD – Medical News Today – Healthline )

Super Smoothies

Todays post is about Smoothies.

Now that the ‘silly season’ is over we are concentrating on getting back on track with our food choices and increasing our movement.

Starting with Breakfast….

We are big fans of ‘smoothies’ for breakfast, ever since we attended a seminar on ‘gut health’ by Dr Peter Dingle. It was at that seminar that we learned about the absorption of micronutrients, the ‘microbiome’ in the gut and how it is all linked to our overall health.

A healthy gut has several important jobs, including helping to fight off infection, as well as performing all of its usual digestive and regulatory functions, like absorbing and synthesising nutrients that are essential to keeping your body running at its best.

Probiotics and a healthy microbiome in our digestive tract is now recognised as one of the most critical conditions for our health and wellbeing. While it is obvious when it comes to many digestive disorders recent research has shown it can be involved in virtually every form of chronic illness. **Dinglewellness.com

Smoothies are one of the ways to get a bunch of good micronutrients into your gut. I have shared one of our favourite smoothie recipes.

 A Super Blueberry Smoothie

 approx. ½ cup frozen blueberries

 ½ a banana

approx. 20 raw almonds

1 tsp Maca powder

1 tsp chia seeds

1 tsp super greens powder (our choice is called ‘Green Qi’ from Modere)

¾ cup Coconut milk (You could use your preferred type of milk instead)

About the Ingredients 

Blueberries are rich in polyphenols, which have an antimicrobial and antioxidative effect. **Dr. Mercola.com

Almonds are an excellent source of protein, healthy fats, and antioxidants. Almond skins even contain beneficial phenols, flavonoids. and phenolic acids. **Dr. Mercola.com

Maca contains over 55 beneficial and naturally occurring phyto-chemicals (plant chemicals). It’s also a powerful adaptogen, which means it has the ability to balance and stabilise the body’s glandular-hormonal system, nervous system, cardiovascular system and musculature.

Chia is a legitimate superfood because of its nutrient content. The seeds are full of healthful omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, they have high levels of protein, fiber, and no cholesterol. They also contain minerals in significant amounts, including calcium, phosphorous, potassium, zinc, copper, and manganese. **Healthy Smoothie.com

We choose to use Coconut cream & water instead of milk as we try to keep our dairy milk intake to a minimum.

and get moving….

We are also making an effort to get moving and go for a morning walk on our days off as well as monitoring our incidental movement throughout the day.

This has been a bit of an eye opener; it’s really surprising some days how little we move. There are also some mornings when I really don’t feel like going walking, but you know, once I have made the effort and I’m walking down the street, I’m really glad I did. It wakes me up, gives me time to think about my day; what I need to do and what I want to achieve. Of course it gets the metabolism up and running for the day. Walking increases the heart rate, burning those calories and improving lung capacity.

 Till next post,

 Live clean ‘n’ prosper.