Maca for Weight Loss
Disclaimer: This content has been produced purely for informational and educational purposes only and is never intended to be used as a substitute for professional medical guidelines including diagnosis, advice, and treatment.
Obesity or excess body weight is not only unhealthy in general but also puts you at an increased risk of developing diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disorders, stroke, etc.
Hence, overweight or obese people must try to lose weight to improve their overall health and prevent deadly diseases.
Lifestyle modifications such as diet and exercise are the best ways to lose weight naturally; however, they are not everyone’s cup of tea. If you are also someone who can not wrap his head around diet and exercise, then maca supplements can come in handy.
Maca is low in calories and helps regulate hormones and blood sugar levels. It also improves your sleep quality and boosts your mood. All these effects collectively benefit your overall health and help you lose weight.
Follow the article below to learn more about maca and its association with weight loss.
MACA
Maca, known as Peruvian ginseng, is a cruciferous vegetable native to the Peruvian Andes mountain range. It has been traditionally used as a food, fermented drink, and porridge. Andean people also used maca to treat different conditions, including rheumatic disease and respiratory disorders.
In today’s world, maca has become a popular dietary supplement due to its ability to manage sexual and reproductive health conditions and postmenopausal symptoms. It also benefits those trying to lose weight and adopt a healthy lifestyle.
MACA AND WEIGHT LOSS
An unhealthy diet and a sedentary lifestyle are the two most important causes of obesity. Apart from these two factors, hormonal imbalance, elevated blood sugar levels, lack of sleep, and stress can also lead to weight gain.
Regular consumption of maca supplements lets you manage all the above-mentioned causes of weight gain and, in turns, support your weight loss journey.
Below is a detailed description of how maca influences different aspects of your biochemistry and physiology and helps you lose weight effectively:
BALANCE BLOOD SUGAR LEVELS
Persistently deranged blood sugar levels can cause insulin resistance which may hinder your efforts to lose weight. Maca supplements help to regulate the glycolysis/gluconeogenesis-TCA cycle and gene expression involved in PPARα signaling pathway.
As a result, it improves glucose and lipid metabolism keeping blood sugar levels within the optimal range and reducing the risk of insulin resistance. Collectively these effects prevent further weight gain assisting your weight loss journey.
REGULATE HORMONES
Lifestyle choices such as unhealthy diet consisting of junk and processed food can often result in hormonal imbalance. Women during the menopausal transition also suffer an imbalance of hormones leading to a variety of changes in their body.
Estrogen, prostaglandin, follicle-stimulating hormone, and adrenocorticotropic hormone affect your metabolism and weight management. When these hormones are left unregulated, they cause unwanted weight gain.
Maca being an adaptogen helps to keep your hormones in balance so that you do not put on excess weight.
IMPROVE SLEEP QUALITY
Sleep quality is an often overlooked aspect of your overall physical and mental well-being. Lack of sleep negatively affects your metabolism, which may increase your blood sugar levels. Improper sleep may also result in hormonal imbalance and can lead to physical and emotional stress.
All these negative effects of poor sleep quality hinder your weight loss journey. Maca supplements regulate the sleep-wake cycle and not only improve sleep quality but also increases your total sleep time.
The sleep-enhancing effects of maca supplements also reduce inflammation and assist weight loss.
BOOST MOOD
Your mood and stress levels can play a significant role in weight management as they affect your motivation to shed some weight. Maca consumption regulates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and reduces your stress levels.
When your physical and emotional stress goes down, you naturally begin to feel good. This positive effect on your mood drives you to adopt a healthier lifestyle, ultimately supporting weight loss.
Apart from all the above-mentioned factors maca also helps to maintain optimal levels of iodine as hypothyroidism caused by iodine deficiency can impair your metabolism leading to weight gain as well.
PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES
Although maca supplements are safe to use in daily routine and no adverse effects have been reported related to maca consumption, you should use it with great caution if you fall under any of the categories described below:
PREGNANCY AND BREASTFEEDING
You must always be careful about what you eat or drink; however, pregnant and breastfeeding women require extra caution as anything inappropriate consumed in diet can harm the baby.
There is a limited amount of information available regarding the safety of maca consumption during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Hence, it is better to stay on the safer side and avoid maca intake while you are pregnant or breastfeeding.
HORMONE-SENSITIVE MEDICAL CONDITIONS
Maca consumption affects the level of estrogen hormone in your body and, as a result, can worsen hormone-sensitive conditions such as uterine fibroids, endometriosis, uterine cancer, ovarian cancer, breast cancer, etc.
In case you are also suffering from any of the above-mentioned health conditions, you must avoid maca consumption unless prescribed by your physician.
IN A NUTSHELL
Whether you are simply overweight or obese, you should try to work on weight management because excess body weight can put you at an increased risk of developing deadly conditions, including diabetes and heart disease.
Diet restriction and exercise are proven ways to lose weight but it is not always an easy task to incorporate them into your daily routine. For that purpose, people often find alternative ways to manage their weight.
Nowadays, dietary supplements are getting popular for their ability to assist weight loss. One such supplement that can help you lose weight is maca. It corrects hormonal imbalances, maintains healthy blood sugar levels, improves sleep quality, and enhances mood. All these effects collectively help you lose weight and adopt a healthy lifestyle.
It is recommended that you speak with your healthcare provider before starting maca supplementation, especially if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or taking medications for any underlying health conditions.
Here you can check out Vorst’s Premium Maca 500mg with 90 Capsules.
RESOURCES
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5313380/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5897445/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3614596/