Maca for Menopause: What the Research Actually Shows

Maca does not seem to change your hormones.

That surprises most women who find it while searching for menopause help at two in the morning. The labels talk about "hormone balance." The forums talk about hot flashes. Yet in the two independent trials that measured blood hormones in postmenopausal women, nothing moved. The women still reported feeling better in specific ways.

So what is maca doing, if anything? We sell maca and we read the studies, so here is the honest version: what was tested, what was found, and where the evidence runs out.

A highland food before it was a supplement

Maca (Lepidium meyenii) is a small root in the mustard family. It grows above 4,000 meters on the Bombón plateau in Junín, in the cold flat country around Lake Junín where little else survives the frost.

Families there have eaten it for centuries. They dry the roots in the sun, then boil them into a sweet porridge or blend them into the warm maca drinks sold from carts on cold mornings in Huancayo and Cerro de Pasco. In the Andes, maca is breakfast first and a remedy second.

That food history matters when you read the research. The trials below used gram amounts, like a food, and ran for weeks.

What the menopause trials found

There are only a handful of studies. Here are the ones worth knowing.

The 2008 Australian trial

Published in the journal Menopause, this study gave 14 postmenopausal women 3.5 grams of maca powder a day for six weeks and a placebo for six weeks, in random order. Neither the women nor the researchers knew which was which.

Estradiol, FSH, LH and SHBG did not change. But scores on the Greene Climacteric Scale dropped in two areas: psychological symptoms, including anxiety and low mood, and sexual function. The authors also tested maca extracts in the lab and found no meaningful estrogen-like or androgen-like activity.

The 2015 Hong Kong trial

The same research group repeated the design in 29 postmenopausal Chinese women, using 3.3 grams a day for six weeks. The results appeared in Climacteric.

Again, no change in estradiol, FSH, thyroid hormone, blood sugar or cholesterol. The women did report lower depression scores, and their diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number) came down a little.

The 2006 product studies

A group working with a pre-cooked maca product published several small studies in early postmenopausal women. They reported fewer hot flashes and night sweats, and they did report hormone changes. These studies were run by people involved with the product, and the independent trials above did not see the same hormone shifts.

The 2011 systematic review

A team writing in Maturitas searched 17 databases and found only four randomized trials. All four showed favorable results on symptom scales. Their conclusion was still cautious: the trials were too few and too small to draw firm conclusions, and safety had not been properly tested.

That is a fair summary of where things stand today.

What maca has not been shown to do

This part gets skipped in most articles.

• Hot flashes: the independent trials did not find a clear effect. The Menopause Society's 2023 position statement on nonhormone options does not recommend maca for hot flashes, because the evidence is too thin.
• Weight: "maca for menopause weight loss" is a common search. We could not find a trial that tested it.
• Hormone levels: if a product promises to raise your estrogen, the better-designed studies do not back that up.
• Bone health: there are animal studies. There is no solid human trial.

What the studies do point to is narrower: mood, anxiety and sexual wellbeing after menopause. For some women, those are the symptoms that bother them most.

How much the studies used, and for how long

Both independent trials used between 3.3 and 3.5 grams of maca a day for six weeks. That is a real amount. A single small capsule a day is far below what was tested.

For reference, our Maca Root capsules hold 800 mg each, so four capsules come to 3.2 grams. Follow the label on whatever product you use, and start lower if you are new to it. Some people notice a little stomach upset or feel too alert if they take it late in the day. Morning with food is the usual advice.

Give it at least six weeks before you judge it. If nothing has changed by week eight, it is probably not your herb.

Who should check with a doctor first

• Hormone-sensitive conditions: breast, ovarian or uterine cancer, endometriosis or fibroids. Maca did not act like estrogen in the trials, but those trials were small. Ask your oncologist or gynecologist.
• Hormone therapy: no study has tested maca alongside HRT. Tell your prescriber.
• Thyroid problems: raw maca contains goitrogens, plant compounds that can affect the thyroid in large amounts. Andean families always cook or dry it first.
• Blood pressure medicine: one trial saw a small drop in diastolic pressure. Worth mentioning to your doctor.
• Any bleeding after menopause: this needs a medical visit, not a supplement.

Hot flashes that soak your sheets, low mood that will not lift, or painful sex all have proven treatments. Maca can sit beside that conversation. It should not replace it.

Frequently asked questions

Does maca help with hot flashes?

The evidence is weak. Product-linked studies reported fewer hot flashes, but independent trials did not confirm it, and The Menopause Society does not recommend maca for this.

Does maca increase estrogen?

In the 2008 and 2015 trials, estradiol and FSH did not change after six weeks of maca.

How long does maca take to work for menopause symptoms?

The trials ran for six weeks. Plan on six to eight weeks of daily use before deciding.

Which maca color is best for menopause?

The menopause trials did not compare colors. Claims that red or black maca is better for women after menopause come from animal research and marketing, not from human trials.

The bottom line

Maca is a traditional Andean food with a small, honest body of menopause research. Two independent trials suggest it may ease anxiety, low mood and sexual concerns after menopause, without changing hormone levels. The evidence for hot flashes is thin, and nobody has shown it helps with weight.

If mood and desire are your main concerns, a six-week trial at a studied amount is a reasonable thing to discuss with your doctor. You can compare it with our other options in the hormone balance collection, or read how it stacks up against a rainforest fruit in Aguaje vs Maca.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. This article is for education and does not replace advice from a qualified health professional.