Root-Based Medication Eases Menopausal Symptoms
A new herb from Peru is gaining popularity as a potential relief for menopausal symptoms. Menopause occurs in menstruating women usually between the ages of 45 and 55 and can last for about a year until the menstruation process completely stops and the side effects subside, entering the postmenopausal state. These years of transition are oftentimes called the “change of life.” A San Francisco-based company has just released their formulated product made out of natural substances in order to curb menopause symptoms and balance women’s hormone levels.
Maca, a Peruvian herb which is also found in the Andes of Bolivia, is grown at a very cold climate in poor soil conditions at around 15,000 feet. Used as a root vegetable, much like its cousins the radish and the turnip, maca is a biennial or annual herbaceous plant growth known in scientific terms as Lepidium meyenii. For over 2,000 years maca has been a staple in cultural diets and as a traditional medicinal plant in the areas where it is found.
Highly nutritious, maca comes in different colors, which are traditionally cultivated for different uses. The roots can be a gold or cream, purple, black, red or green. Each color signifies different properties for therapeutic or nutritional value. Golden roots are a sweet Peruvian favorite while the bitter black variety is supposed to carry the most potent medicinal qualities. Maca has been used as an aphrodisiac, a strength enhancer, endurance raiser, and long ago as a Spanish currency.
Maca can be prepared in several ways but is always cooked in its traditional format. The fruit can be roasted in a pit, boiled and mashed like a potato, juiced, dried and used in milk as porridge, or ground into a type of flour for baking. Lesser known forms of the root have been made by fermenting it to make maca beer and the leaves have been chopped raw for consumption in salads or cooked and used like cabbage
Clinically and scientifically proven to reduce symptoms associated with the “change of life” like hot flashes, night sweats, fatigue, changes in mood, memory problems, insomnia, and the weight gain that most women incur. By targeting the different aspects of the hormonal imbalance, Maca-GO and its sisters MacaPause for postmenopause (after the symptoms) and MacaLife for perimenopuase (about a year before the stop of menstruation) seems to be a better solution than hormone replacement therapy (HRT) which can often cause more problems than solutions.
