Andrew Huberman· PhD
But on the whole, the studies on Maca are quite convincing that consumption of two to three grams per day of Maca, which generally is sold as a powder or a capsule, typically consumed early in the day, because it can be somewhat of a stimulant, meaning it can increase alertness and you wouldn't want it to interfere with sleep by taking it too late in the day. But in studies that include both men and women of durations anywhere from eight to 12 weeks of athletes and non-athletes, and different variations of Maca, turns out there's black Maca, red Maca, yellow Maca. There are a bunch of different forms of Maca. But that they can increase subjective reports of sexual desire, independent of hormone systems. Meaning, it does not seem at least based on the existing literature that Maca increases testosterone or changes estrogen, at least not on the time scales that these studies were done, or with the measures that were performed in these studies. But that Maca, again, consumed in doses of anywhere from two to three grams per day, has been shown to significantly increase libido.