What's the maca with maca?

Jennifer McNeill• 8 December, 2016

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Spend any time learning about making healthier eating choices and you’re bound to come across mention of 'maca'. While maca has long been considered a miracle food, it's only recently become a must-have kitchen ingredient amongst the health enthusiast community.

Image: Maca Root Review

Despite being part of the savory broccoli, radish and watercress family, maca has a sweet, nutty and almost chalky taste that makes it a delicious addition to a morning smoothie. And like the rest of the roots in the cruciferous family, it’s low in calories – one teaspoon of maca powder has only 10 calories.

Grown in the Andes Mountains, maca was the superfood to the Incas, one of the oldest and once most advanced civilizations who ever lived. Over the centuries maca has been called “magic", "the food of the gods", "a miracle drug” for a reason and for centuries people have been using it for everything from enhancing their fertility to boosting their immune system. But these days, people simply love the non-caffeinated burst of energy they get from putting maca in their smoothies. Most people report that a small teaspoon of maca added to a morning smoothie results in a subtle (sometimes jittery) type energy boost within just minutes.

And no - it's not because maca is made from magic fairy dust - there are very real and very scientific benefits to maca's effect on the body and to date. In fact, not a single negative effect has been uncovered. As a matter of fact, repeated use of maca is like repeatedly exercising – the body not only adapts, but also gets stronger over time each time you use it.

Here are 10 maca recipes that'll convert you to a maca-maniac in no time!