It has not been proven or shown in any studies that maca is to blame for acne explosion or that maca is responsible for acne cure. But, there are different kinds of reports and claims on the Internet related to maca and acne. To some, maca does help to cure acne, and to some, it does not. The reasons for that are almost simple. We take maca daily as our regime. So we wanted to write our thoughts on using maca to treat acne.
About Maca
It is a fact. Maca does improve overall well-being (it has already improved health in both men and women for centuries). It puts your entire endocrine system into balance, your hormones, and so on (for more on maca benefits for men and women, see here). However, whether or not you will have more or less acne when using maca will depend mainly on your skin type and what type of acne you have. You are different from your friend, and your friend is different from a third person. Each has another way of living, varied diet, various physical and/or daily mental habits, and each takes additional supplements and or medications. You get the point.
What is the Most Common Cause of Acne?
A few factors can trigger acne, but the number one and the most common factor is hormones, such as a rise in androgen (male) levels. Acne happens when oil (sebaceous) glands are activated at puberty, stimulated by male hormones in both boys and girls. (1)
Do You Have Hormonal Acne?
Hormonal acne sucks. They might occur during puberty due to hormonal fluctuation, and they can be a problem for a long time. They often occur around the jawline, chin, and lower mouth area. But teenagers are not alone. Also, adults of any age can be affected by hormonal acne. One reason is a hormonal imbalance affected by a medical condition or by using some supplements, which can affect hormones directly. Other factors which can cause hormonal imbalance are stress, an unbalanced diet, and poor skin hygiene. Many people, primarily women, report that maca has worked for them. While I never had acne problems, my partner did have deep, painful, and inflamed acne, especially when a teenager. After taking maca (as an adult), it took one month to notice positive results. I’d say almost 50% was gone. After two months, there was no more acne present, except for small red pimples and blackheads here and there.
In our opinion, maca could quickly help people get rid of acne, especially if this is hormonal acne. How? As an adaptogen, maca will bring the necessary healthy balance to your hormones. So if you have too many estrogen levels (which may cause acne), maca will not increase or decrease this specific hormone. It will only give your body what it needs to bring hormones back into balance. So maca helps: – Down-regulate hormones – Supports the body’s natural production of hormones – Reduces stress levels. Perhaps maca alone could have been enough for us, but to speed up the process, in addition to taking maca, we also did a few changes externally.
Chemical in Your Kitchen
Anything from the food you are eating to medicines you are using to how you store your foods can cause a hormonal imbalance. For example, there are harmful environmental toxins in plastics, which could be causing a hormonal imbalance that leads to acne. These are called Xenoestrogens, and they act like estrogens in the body. So, if our bodies cannot filter them out, they can create estrogen dominance. So, when we peeked into our kitchen more carefully, we realized it needed a good overhaul. So we took small steps and changed the way we store our food. Nowadays, we use glass jars when possible. We buy Manson gars; they are inexpensive, come in different sizes, and are super practical for storing different sorts of food, from liquid to solid. Also, they will not retain the smell of foods with intense aromas such as garlic or onion. And, we avoid as much as we can using plastic water bottles, Ziploc bags, saran wrap, and so on. However, if we do sometimes use plastic containers (who does not), we not heat these and not leave them in the sun.
Eating Habits
Saying no to refined sugars, processed foods, carbs, and junk food. If you really want to find out what kind of effect maca has on your acne: avoid using sugar, coffee, alcohol, and starch, exercise (sweating and perspiring are suitable for your skin), reduce animal products intake and prevent or eliminate for a while cosmetics rich in chemicals and if possible hormonal birth control. These are essential healthy habits for making your skin look radiant and acne free. Allow your skin to breathe. After realizing that our skin color improved and it now looks more vibrant, plus my partner’s skin issue was finally resolved, we went on a two-week alkaline diet and then continued with a high whole food diet and little or no carbs or sugar. Alcohol, coffee, and black tea were also out from our menu (oh, I missed my delightful, friendly cup of coffee in the morning). One speculation is that when people with many toxins in their bodies start using healthy food, the body begins to dump waste, often through the skin. So, it could be possible (not proven) that due to detoxification or cleansing, one gets acne for a short period or until the body has dumped all the waste out. Our results were excellent. Not only is the skin on our face and body clear, but it also improves our elimination, which is one significant factor in causing you to have acne.
Regular Elimination
Quite often, a reason for many illnesses, as well as acne, is found in the gut (there is a link between gut health and skin health). Indeed, a clean gut will not bring the same results for everyone. But regular elimination will keep your body clean, disease-free, and possibly acne free. This is why we engaged in the two-week alkaline diet. Almost 100% of that diet was veggie smoothies. If something, we felt more energetic, lighter, and focused, the skin was (is) perfect.
