I have been using approximately 1 teaspoon of Maca every day for almost one year. I put it in my morning smoothie of fruits with coconut milk and omega 3 fish oil. I go to Crossfit for very vigorous workouts approximately 3 or 4 times per week and I am a long distance runner. I participate in 3 marathons per year and I run anywhere from 25 to 55 miles per week. Despite all my activity and my use of Maca, I have not noticed any weight loss. Perhaps you should make sure you are taking in a sufficient amount of calories or else continue to insist that your doctors perform more tests. Good luck!

I know this wasn't your question, but do some research on taking maca everyday... my understanding is that it can tax your adrenals after a bit and you should cycle it... something like 4 weeks on 1 week off.. or 8 weeks on 2 weeks off... whatever feels right to you...

Yes I believe Maca does help you to lose weight by speeding up your metabolism. I have experienced this in the last week whilst taking it, 3 teaspoonfulls per day lost about 4 or 5 pounds :)

Maca helps to regulate hormones. It doesnt give you a boost, just balances them. I can see this effect helping with weight loss.

This article is geared towards women but Maca will also help men balance their hormones. http://www.naturalnews.com/008422.html

While it's true that maca is a cruciferous vegetable, eating cooked crucifers is fine for people with thyroid conditions. It's the raw crucifers that need to be avoided. Gelatinized maca powder is cooked and is therefore fine for folks with thyroid conditions. My understanding is that the gelatinized is also more potent and doesn't cause digestive upset like the raw maca can.

I very much doubt that the maca has anything to do with your weight loss.

There are some people who find paleo type foods too filing and they can undereat while still feeling satisfied. I suspect that you are probably just not eating enough calories.

You could try increasing the amount of food and the amount of calories you are eating.

What kind of food are you eating in a day?

Maca is an adaptogen.....and it has a great effect on progesterone for men and women. Most post menopausal women are estrogen dominant and they benefit greatly with Maca. Also improves their sleep too. When weight is an issue I usually team up Maca with a small dose of parlodel to really help the post menopausal girls drop lbs. It does well form most.

For men I tell them to add it to their smoothies in the AM if they test out low......most guys who have shot progesterone have cortisol issues due to pregnenolone steal syndrome.

I took maca for about 6 months, two years ago..a heaping teaspoonful each day. My diet and exercise stayed the same and I gained weight! I don't use a scale so I don't know how much, but my waist went up from 27" to 29"! ( To me, my ideal waist size is 25". ) I stopped taking the maca and it slowly went back to it's original size. I was 46 years old at the time. Then I found a site devoted to women who were desperately trying to gain weight in their butts by taking maca: http://forum.blackhairmedia.com/maca-for-butt-growth_topic220278.html

There are apparently many women who have gained weight and attribute the gain to maca supplementation!

So I am not sure what the answer is.

Is maca bad or good when one has breast cancer predisposition?

Am I going to gain weight I cannot get off when I begin Maca? I am 22 years old, I amm 5'7'' and 129 lbs and if anything, going up in weight is enough to not make me take maca. I am considering Maca because I have Hashimoto's disease; fatigue, low sex drive, brittle fine hair, acne, mood swings, depression, etc... list keeps going! Levothyroxine evened out my TSH numbers, but my body doesn't feel any better, so more blood work showed my Testosterone level was low... which brings me to natural remedy: MACA! Is it really worth it if I am going to put on weight? How much weight? Will it come off or will it keep on coming?

Hmmmm, Since I have been taking it...2 months now, I have gained almost 10 pounds. Not happy with it. I haven't changed my eating habits, I am a vegetarian. I do have hashimotos Hypothyroidism and am taking 180 mg armour Thyroid. (yes I know that comes from pig) Definitly noticed the weight gain since I started on maca...3 capsules a day for 2 months now.

People with thyroid dysfunction should be very wary of taking Maca. It is a cruciferous vegetable, much like a turnip. Like all cruciferous vegetables, it can be goiterogenic and have a bad effect on the thyroid.

I have been taking maca capsuls for 2 months and have lost 9 Lbs. No vigorous exercising, only constant moving at work, just like before maca. I generally eat very healthy though, again just like before maca, so no diatery changes. It is just amazing how my Lbs are melting away without much change in my efforts :-)

I would guess yes. I have taken maca for a few weeks only myself. Maca is a dopamine enhancer IME: it enhancers sexual desire and energy. This basically kicks up your physical reward, and metabolism, although in a very mild way, it is comparable to stronger stimulants IME.

The nature of mechanism is not understood though at all, and the full range of metabolic effects either - some have suggested that maca has an effect on hormones (probably via dopamine, but actually a whole slew of studies dont support that at all).

I am surprised no one has done a dopamine level based study, or a binding study, but I guess scientific researchers are just clueless about very characteristic CNS actions. For some reason people have studies sexual performance, hormones and a bunch of related things, but nobody has looked for a CNS mechanism.

It may effect people differently, but the overall increase in energy would at minimum increase the tendancy to higher calorie expendature IMO, if not itself ramp up metabolism.

Do you find yourself more active on the energy enhancing herb? Or at least more stimulated feeling?

(Edit)

I would add to this a little background:

In my prior drug taking days, I have taken mephedrone, bzp, PEA, mdma, mda, amphetamines and some other stimulants which affect dopamine.

While very very mild, maca has the exact same character of effects - mood enhancement, energy and sexual feelings, that is in common with all these dopamine effecting substances.

Subjectively, as a former drug user, its pretty clear to me this substance effects dopamine, and that this is the primary mechanism of action of maca, despite a lack of studies on exactly what is the mechanism.

Take something like cocaine, or mephedrone which is powerfully dopamine and not much else, and then later try some maca, which wont give you any noticable buzz, but youll then see that the natural feeling energy and increase sexuality is totally characteristic of dopamine (i dont actually advise taking addictive drugs tho)

I would be very very surprised if the principle action of maca was not some form of dopamine enchancement.

I ve been using maca on and off for a decade. It's nutritional benifits are vast and can all be found on the net. I just started using it again and lost 10 pounds in 2 weeks. A few years ago, a friend of mine was saying, " I want to take what you're taking cause you are full of energy, always in a great mood and shedding weight like crazy!"

I told him about maca and so he went and got som and did the serving size I had suggested. Two weeks later he couldn't fit any of his pants and had to come to work in cover-alls! lol

So, yes maca IS a weight loss superfood.

From what I understand it has all the good sugars which use your own body fat to burn and digest. I've even lost weight with maca with little to no exercise! Although exercise is always benificial! lol

I have to say I disagree. I was on Maca for 2 months and, while I absolutely loved the energy, focus, and sex drive, it did make me gain weight. However, I'm a felmale and I think the reason I gained weight in my belly, hips, and butt, is because of how it stimulates hormones. I stopped taking it just due to the weight gain, but I'm thinking of trying again since I'm strict paleo now- hoping I can fight off the weight gain. I did absolutely love the results except for the weight gain, though.

I have been on Maca for about one month now. Although I love the fact that it has helped to stop my hot flashes and electrical shock sensations it has definitely caused me to gain weight. I'm so disappointed because I finally found a supplement that works for my menopause symptoms but I just can't continue it because of the rapid weight gain. I have not changed my diet and I have actually began a regular excercise program so that should have helped me lose weight not gain it.