In today’s world of widespread pollution and gender-bending chemicals, it can often be difficult to keep our hormones in balance. Even the most health-conscious of us are assaulted on all sides by a large number of poisons, such as BPA, that can disrupt our endocrine systems and cause havoc in our bodies. Consequently, many people have resorted to hormone-balancing drugs to help improve their health, which often cause even more problems in the long run due to their unnatural ingredients.<\/p>\n
Thankfully, nature does provide us with a small number of foods that contain noted hormone-balancing properties. Perhaps the most potent of these foods is maca, a plant native to the Peruvian Andes that bears edible taproots. The indigenous Peruvians have long considered the root of the maca plant to be beneficial for hormone health, and a great deal of modern research confirms these allegations. Maca appears to be a scientifically proven aphrodisiac. The herb enhances both male and female libido and even relieves some post-menopausal symptoms with no apparent negative side effects.<\/p>\n
Maca for balancing female hormones<\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n A large amount of research shows that maca can stabilize and boost female hormones. For example, a double-blind, placebo-controlled study published in the\u00a0International Journal of Biomedical Sciences<\/em>\u00a0found that organic maca stimulated the production of estrogen, suppressed follicle-stimulating hormones and reduced the severity of menopausal symptoms (especially hot flashes and night sweating) in postmenopausal women. These results led the researchers to conclude that maca offered “an attractive non-hormonal addition to the choices available to early-postmenopausal women in the form of a natural plant alternative to Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT).”(1)<\/sup><\/p>\n