Rumery: I'm the manager of sales and marketing on the national level, and what we're talking about here is Maca Magic. Maca is from Peru. Known as the superfood of the Inca, it's been around for perhaps 10,000 years. When we first went to Peru 15 years ago, there were only two acres of maca left in production, so it was virtually extinct. Maca is now well known as an endocrine modulator, or an endocrine adaptogen, working on the pituitary through the hypothalamus, communicating with all the glands of internal secretion, the whole endocrine system.
Because of maca's function on the endocrine, a lot of people think that I'm a snake oil salesman when I start telling them about the many uses of maca, but the glands in the body are very basic to human function. We basically have five different target market groups, but our most valuable customers right now are women, to whom we sell more maca than any other clientele for perimenopausal reasons. We hear on an almost daily basis women saying things to us like, "Thank you, I haven't had a hot flash since I started taking maca."
Mike: Can you explain perimenopausal?
Rumery: Perimenopausal. "Peri" means "around," so it's pre-menopausal, during menopause and after menopause. There are even reports of benefits after hysterectomy, because maca is working on all of the glands, the adrenal glands, the ovaries. So it's the new premier herb as an alternative to hormone replacement therapy. It doesn't contain any hormones of its own, and it has all the building blocks of nutrition for the glands to build their own hormones.
It's also super-loaded with over 60 micronutrients. Maca is 40 percent potassium, and 10 percent calcium. It's high in iron, phosphorus, magnesium, silica and zinc. Maca contains vitamins A, B, C, D, E, B12, B1, 2 and 3. It contains 18 amino acids and 20 fatty acids. So it's perhaps the strongest root on earth, with no stimulants. Even though it doesn't have any stimulants, people feel energized right away. You get mental clarity, great stress relief and relief from anxiety.
Our second largest clientele to whom we sell maca are men who are looking for sexual energy. Maca is known to increase sperm count and motility in males, and egg follicle maturation in females. One of our other largest target market groups is the elderly. This is because, it being an endocrine adaptogen, maca is beneficial for osteoporosis. It contains all that potassium and calcium in a biologically available form for the hair, skin, nails and bones.
Mike: What form is it in? Is it in a tablet? What's the most popular form?
Rumery: The most popular form of maca that we offer is the whole, raw enzymatic powder. It's a smoothie drink, or you can put it in hot cereal. Our second most popular item is called "Maca Express." It's an alcohol-extracted maca. But what's reaching the top right now is our gelatinized organic vegetable capsules. When I say gelatinized, I mean the maca inside is what they call gelatinized maca.
Mike: Gelatinized?
Rumery: Right. So when we're talking about maca, what "gelatinized" means is that some of the complex sugars have been converted to glucose or more simple sugars so that it's more readily available for the body. There's a lot of talk about it right now. People are saying that it's stronger, but I think it's just more readily available biologically. It doesn't really differentiate it so much.
Mike: Do you have a good website to recommend if people want to find out more about maca?
Rumery: Sure, there's macaroot.com.
Mike: Really? How does the powder taste?
Rumery: It tastes delicious. It has a very complex taste. It's kind of like a liquorish extract, but it's also radishy; or it tastes kind of turnipy, malty -- it's really excellent.