Maca functions perfectly as an adaptogen...

Each of its phytochemicals aids in the functioning of the body in its own way, but some of them team up to form compounds which have their own unique functions.

Dr. Hans Seyle, in his Nobel prize winning work on General Adaptation Syndrome described how the human organism adapts to stress and the stages it passes through when the stress goes unmodified. In his work he described how adaptogens work on the human organism and promote its well being even when the stress goes unmitigated.

This means that certain substances have the ability to work positively on your body even while negative influences attack your body. In today's world, adaptogens take on a greater significance because almost all of us live in a world of constant stress.

While the term adaptogen may be unknown in the Andes mountains, the indigineous people are no stranger to maca's adaptogenic qualities. Andean folk medicine tradition describes how maca helps the highlanders thrive at high altitudes of 14,000- 18,000 feet above sea level where oxygen levels in the blood are lower.

Is it any wonder that Peruvian maca possesses several qualities that can help transport oxygen in the blood? As it grows, maca's diminutive roots extract more than 60 phytonutrients from the sun, soil, and air and store them in their tissue. These nutrients include unique alkaloids which increase the body's endocrine and immune function and permit maximum absorbsion of the very nutrients contained in the root!

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