Ashwagandha is a herb that belongs to the night shade family of plants. The nightshade family of plants is a very interesting one and includes a lot of vegetables that make up large parts of many diets. Notable nightshade members are potatoes, tomatoes, chili peppers, goji berries and even tobacco! Another name for the nightshade family is Solanaceae. This is where Ashwagandha gets its Latin name from; Withania somnifera. Ashwagandha is a short perennial shrub, with a large root system that develops small deep orange fruits. The fruits resemble a small cherry and the leaves look frosty due to the many tiny hairs that are on them. This one of the reasons why Ashwagandha is also referred to as ‘winter cherry’. Traditionally, the Ashwagandha root is used, however new research has found high concentrations of key components in the leaves too. Various manufacturers have taken notice of this. One of the most notable being Natreon who produce a specialized extract of Ashwagandha called Sensoril. Sensoril is made from the leaves of Ashwagandha, giving it a unique chemical composition, which produces noticeable calming effects.

The thing about maca that makes it a very sought after botanical, is also partially because it is quite hard to cultivate. This is no surprise given its harsh natural environment! Cultivating maca happens in two stages. The first of which is to grow the hypocotyls, which are commonly referred to as the maca “roots”. There is a common misconception about the hypocotyls, which is that specific colors can be cultivated, since there is yellow, red and black maca.

At this point, the rosettes become quite large and produce vast amounts of seeds. The maca farmers then remove the seeds from the rosettes and begin the process of sowing the next crop.

Sowing the next crop can also be quite challenging. Once maca has grown on a plot of land, the soil is quite depleted. This is because maca sucks a lot of minerals and nutrients out of the soil, which is great for us because maca is very nutrient and mineral dense, however, it poses a challenge for low impact farmers. This is because it takes about 10 years before the land is ready again for the next crop of maca.

The entire cultivation cycle for maca is clearly a very time intensive process, and with this being one of the only crops that can be grown at these extreme altitudes, it goes to show just how crucial maca is for farmers and local populations in the Peruvian highlands.

The maca farmers then remove the seeds from the rosettes and begin the process of sowing the next crop. Sowing the next crop can also be quite challenging. Once maca has grown on a plot of land, the soil is quite depleted.

This is because maca sucks a lot of minerals and nutrients out of the soil, which is great for us because maca is very nutrient and mineral dense, however, it poses a challenge for low impact farmers. This is because it takes about 10 years before the land is ready again for the next crop of maca. The entire cultivation cycle for maca is clearly a very time intensive process, and with this being one of the only crops that can be grown at these extreme altitudes, it goes to show just how crucial maca is for farmers and local populations in the Peruvian highlands.

As if the farming practices weren’t hard enough already, the processing of maca is also quite an art and is actually where the magic within maca comes from! As the maca grows, it starts to biosynthesize glucosinolates, just like most of the other Brassicaceae species. A highly popular example of this is, of course, broccoli which produces a glucosinolate called glucoraphanin, which later turns into the famed isothiocyanate compound, sulforaphane. Maca tends to produce high amounts of a glucosinolate called glucotropaeolin. Glucotropaeolin then later turns into benzyl isothiocyanate, one of the main bioactives in maca. This is quite fascinating because most of the macamides are benzylamides of fatty acids and they do not exist in fresh maca in significant amounts. Nor does benzyl isothiocyanate exist in large amounts in fresh maca hypocotyls. This means that as a medicinal plant, maca is practically useless in its fresh form.

The magic happens during the drying process, and thus it is no surprise that practically all traditionally consumed maca is first dried. However, this drying process is quite intensive too. A technique called “open field drying” is traditionally utilized for maca. This means that the maca is simply laid out in the open, at elevations between 3500-4000 MASL. This results in the maca being exposed to dry heat and massive amounts of solar radiation during the day, and freezing temperatures during the night. This then causes a freeze/thaw cycle when the maca is still fresh, which macerates the insides of the maca. While this is happening, the maca is also losing moisture, and enzymes within the maca hypocotyl start to respond to the damage that is occurring within the maca hypocotyl. The first thing that starts to happen in the early stages, is that free fatty acids start to get released from cells in the maca hypocotyl. While this is happening, enzymes are breaking down glucotropaeolin into benzyl isothiocyanate, which also produces benzylamine as a side product. The benzylamine and long chain fatty acids then start to interact, and macamides are formed. This is likely catalyzed by an enzyme, however it is not totally known what enzyme catalyzes this reaction. However, it has been hypothesized that it is perhaps an enzyme called fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) working in reverse to generate the macamides. This is quite fascinating, because in humans, a lot of the benefits of the macamides are mediated through inhibition of the FAAH enzyme! We will touch on this mechanism later in the blog.

What is so fascinating about this process, is that the macamides are the primary compounds within maca responsible for maca benefits. However, it is only contained in trace amounts in fresh maca hypocotyls. The full traditional drying process takes a whopping three months, which seems quite inefficient and adds to the already very long cultivation times for maca. However, it is clearly worth it, because without the crucial drying stage, we don’t end up with all of the beneficial compounds we want!

With such a complex cultivation process, followed by a lengthy drying stage, this plant clearly is crucial for the locals in the Peruvian highlands. Based on its long history of use, this certainly is the case. This is of course partially due to the fact that not much else grows at these extreme altitudes, however, maca plays an important role in traditional food and medicine. As the Spanish conquistadors quickly found out, life at these altitudes may very well depend on the regular consumption of maca. Having spent a bit of time at extreme altitudes myself, having something around that can boost your energy levels is vital, as every step you take feels like 10 steps at a more normal altitude. Even better if that energy booster is also very nutritious!

In Peru, maca is traditionally used in its dried, but raw form. However, Peruvians do not eat this raw maca without first cooking it. It is oftentimes made into a type of sweet porridge. This means quite a lot of nutrient-dense maca is being consumed, and a relatively high amount of macamides are consumed. However, most important to note here, is that the maca is first getting cooked! This is something that is often neglected in the western world, where somehow the idea has spread that raw maca is best. However, it has been found by lots of people that completely raw dried maca can have some undesirable effects on our GI system. With this in mind, the consumption of raw maca is not desirable at all and the local Peruvians who have been consuming maca for thousands of years, always appear to cook their maca. Instead, for the western market, where cooking with maca is not common, a new process has been invented. This process very rapidly cooks the maca, and is commonly referred to as “gelatinization”. The change in maca powder from raw to gelatinized is quite drastic! First, the somewhat pungent and brassica-like flavor associated with raw dried maca quickly fades and turns into a lovely butterscotch/caramel-type aroma. Secondly, the color rapidly changes from a pale off-white to a light caramel color. The resulting gelatinized maca now allows you to use maca in cold preparations like a smoothie, without having to first cook it.

Traditionally, maca appears to most frequently be used for improving vitality, energy, fertility, and perhaps also libido. This range of effects is crucial for thriving in these high-altitude environments that can quickly decrease your vitality and even appear to impact fertility. Maca is clearly the perfect companion to have when you are living at a high altitude!

Now that we have discussed the history, cultivation, processing, and traditional use of maca, it is time to get into some of the science behind it! As we mentioned earlier in the blog, there is a class of compounds in maca called macamides. If you have spent any amount of time looking at the various different endocannabinoids in our bodies, such as anandamide, you will quite quickly start noticing some big similarities between the endocannabinoids and the macamides. Check out the structure of macamide B, compared to the endocannabinoid anandamide below.

Now that we have discussed the history, cultivation, processing, and traditional use of maca, it is time to get into some of the science behind it! As we mentioned earlier in the blog, there is a class of compounds in maca called macamides. If you have spent any amount of time looking at the various different endocannabinoids in our bodies, such as anandamide, you will quite quickly start noticing some big similarities between the endocannabinoids and the macamides. Check out the structure of macamide B, compared to the endocannabinoid anandamide below.

So perhaps it is no surprise then, that the macamides act very similarly to the endocannabinoids. Now that we have discussed the history, cultivation, processing, and traditional use of maca, it is time to get into some of the science behind it! As we mentioned earlier in the blog, there is a class of compounds in maca called macamides. If you have spent any amount of time looking at the various different endocannabinoids in our bodies, such as anandamide, you will quite quickly start noticing some big similarities between the endocannabinoids and the macamides. Check out the structure of macamide B, compared to the endocannabinoid anandamide below.

This is where things start to become quite tricky! We know a lot about the macamides and their effects on the endocannabinoid system. This helps explain the bulk of maca benefits, however, a hallmark of maca are its energizing effects which are not explained by the endocannabinoid effects. It also leaves some of the other compounds in maca out of the equation such as macaenes, benzyl isothiocyanate, various alkaloids, and even pyrrolidone-type compounds called the macapyrrolins which closely resemble some famous nootropic compounds. Sadly, the research is still very much lacking for most of these compounds. In addition to this, there are still a lot of scientific knowledge gaps when it comes to maca’s effects on energy.

However, if we jump into the research, most researchers appear to attribute the anti-fatigue and energizing effects to the macamides. This somewhat helps explain the anti-fatigue effect, because the macamides appear to positively impact energy metabolism, and specifically, glucose utilization and fatty acid metabolism. The interesting thing to ponder here for a little while is where the macamides come from. The macamides are formed in the maca hypocotyl from benzylamine which is liberated while benzyl glucosinolate becomes hydrolyzed. The benzylamine then reacts with free fatty acids, to form the macamides. However, the macamides are fairly large compounds and thus would have a hard time absorbing intact in our bodies. This likely means that the macamides are being broken down prior to exerting their beneficial effects. What this means, is that perhaps benzylamine is liberated once again in our bodies. This would make sense because studies looking at oral benzylamine consumption have also found significant positive effects on energy metabolism. More interestingly, there is lots of research on benzylamine-based compounds which can inhibit the monoamine oxidase enzymes. Interestingly enough, benzylamine even seems to be a substrate for monoamine oxidase-B (MAO-B) itself. Furthermore, there are also lots of benzylamine-based compounds which can inhibit neurotransmitter reuptake, which may also help elucidate what is going on in maca, because it contains lots of different benzylamine-based compounds.

It seems to be an impossible question to answer currently with the limited amount of scientific data around, but it seems likely that benzylamine and its derivatives (which includes the macamides!) are involved here. This seems especially likely when looking at the impact maca can have on neurotransmitters. Research has shown that maca can elevate the levels of serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine, effects that would be expected when one consumes a monoamine reuptake inhibitor, a MAO-B inhibitor, or even a monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) inhibitor. Pair this with a great improvement in energy metabolism, and the picture for maca’s anti-fatigue and energizing effects becomes a little bit more clear. Considering the synergy between these monoamine effects and upregulated endocannabinoid activity, we end up with an incredibly unique cognitive effects profile. Hopefully, the future brings us more research and clarity on the stimulating effects of maca!

A Nootropics Depot blog certainly would not be complete without a stack section, and while maca is an incredible standalone product, we have certainly found a few stacks in which it can shine! When developing maca stacks, we split up maca benefits into three distinct categories:

● Mood enhancement

● Libido enhancement

● Energy enhancement

The idea behind this being that we can develop stacks which help dial in these unique maca effects while not adding too much of their own character to the mix. This allows the maca to really shine within these three different categories! However, for the first category, mood enhancement, we decided on two separate stacks each focused on a specific monoamine that maca can help enhance. Monoamines are crucial to mood, however, this is often grossly oversimplified. One of the interesting things to take into account here is that while some people react positively to increases in serotonin, others may not. On the flip side, the same is true for dopamine enhancement. Since maca already enhances all three monoamines, these stacks are aimed at bringing individual monoamines more to the forefront, thereby allowing you to dial in your ideal monoamine balance while consistently getting an endocannabinoid and norepinephrine boost in each stack.