Also called macca
My experience
2014-05-04 I started raw maca a few days ago. I only took half a teaspoon and during following days even less. I had a severe reaction: jittery, full of energy, thyroid was “busy” (feels as if there’s bees in there), mental clarity, stamina!, insomnia. A lot of good things, but all in all too strong a reaction to be comfortable.
So I started reading about maca. Reviews showed very different reactions to maca. Some also experienced the extreme reaction like I had, some didn’t.
If found this site: Gelatinized Maca vs Raw Maca. Where they explained the difference between raw and gelatinized ( = cooked) maca. I think I prefer the cooked maca. So tonight I roasted mine in the oven.
I will try it tomorrow and see what kind of effect this roasted maca has on me.
From what I’m reading you’re not supposed to take it every day. If you take it for a week, then stop taking it for one day of that week.
2014-05-30 The roasting left a smell in the whole house that stayed for a few days. It cleared completely though. I’ve been taking maca for about a month now and it has increased my stamina. I take about a 1/2 teaspoon a day. It also reduces my estrogen dominance.
Make gelatinized maca
This YouTube film explaines how: How To Roast Maca
- Set the oven to 350 F or 175 °C
- Use a wide baking pan, line it with baking paper if it’s not spotless
- Spread the maca out over the baking pan
- Put into the oven for about 7 minutes, or until the sides go brown
- Take the baking pan out. It will probably have formed a solid sheet. Break it up and make sure the brownest bits get to the middle.
- Put the baking pan back in. From now on use increments of 3 minutes max.
- Keep taking it out and mixing the maca through, so that none of it will burn.
- It took me three turns in total.
- Leave the maca to cool.
- Put the maca in an air tight container. Strangely enough, I needed a bigger container after roasting it!
Benefits
My Experience on the Benefits of Maca
Side effect from using maca
Q: I have been taking maca root capsules from another company (not Royal Maca®) and have been experiencing severe stomach spasms, gas and bloating. Do many people have problems like I have with maca or do some brands cause more of this than others. The brand I take uses raw maca.
Thanks, Jenny
A: Dear Jenny, What you describe is a very common problem for people using raw maca. Most of the maca powder and capsules sold in the U.S. are made from raw maca, yet the native people of Peru wouldn’t dream of eating raw maca! That is why Whole World Botanicals’ Royal Maca has always been cooked in a way called gelatinization. (No gelatin is added; this is a cooked and extruded form of maca root). Andeans in the maca growing region of Peru eat maca root either boiled for hours with sugar and drunk as maca juice, or boiled or roasted and eaten as a part of the meal along with quinoa, potatoes, and other Andean foods. Children in the maca growing region of the Peruvian Andes are served boiled maca roots (very small) to which sugar and oatmeal has been added 3 times a week to increase their stamina, growth, and brain power.
A few years ago, the University of Pedro Cayetano in Lima Peru did a study to find out if the native custom of eating only cooked maca had some underlying scientific basis. The study involved studying the birth weight and growth rate of the offspring of three different groups of mice: one group was fed raw maca and animal feed; another group was fed cooked maca and animal feed; the control group was fed animal feed only – without any maca. Guess which group’s offspring had the lowest birth weight and growth rate? If you guessed the raw maca group, you are correct. The control group with no maca had a higher average birth weight and growth rate than the raw maca group. The baby mice fed cooked maca had the highest average birth weight and growth rate.
Sites
Where to buy
You can buy it in a lot of places. Gelatinized is more expensive than raw maca. So it pays to roast your own. These are all around EUR 30 per kilo (shipping to The Netherlands included)
German: http://www.ebay.de/itm/1-kg-reines-Macapulver-100-PUR-MACA-PULVER-NEU-TOP-/150518241581
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| http://www.ebay.nl/itm/Organic-Peruvian-Maca-Powder-1kg-Certified-Organic-/301009719613?pt=UK_Health_Beauty_Vitamins_Supplements&hash=item461593d13d&_uhb=1 This one is too expensive for me because of shipping costs. Without shipping: EURO 26 per kilo |