VEGAN ATHLETE, NEED MORE ENERGY?

The following few days I will be posting articles by Brenden Brazier on some superfoods that you don't hear about in school.

The first one is Maca and I can tell you from personal experience that this has absolutely changed my ability to handle stressful training cycles and maintain a balanced healthy lifestyle while training hard.

Enjoy...

Maca

I include maca as a regular part of my routine for a host of reasons and rely on it to help me thrive whether I’m actively training or in the off-season—read on and I’ll explain why you’ll want to include it, too.
Maca is a turnip-like root vegetable native to the Andean mountains in Peru. Grown at altitudes of 14,000 feet where no other crops can survive, maca is a hardy, resilient plant that’s incredibly rich in amino acids, phytonutrients, fatty acids, vitamins and minerals. Maca earns its superfood status not merely on the grounds of this nutritional density, but from maca’s true super-power: its renowned—clinically proven—ability to regulate, support and balance hormonal systems in both men and women.
How can a lowly (albeit nutritious!) root vegetable balance your hormones? Maca (like ginseng) is classed as an adaptogen—an adaptogen is a substance that produces a response in your body which increases your power of resistance against multiple stressors and has a normalizing influence on your body’s multiple systems.
Maca has an uncanny ability to regulate and rejuvenate your adrenal glands—an especially important action in a modern life full of uncomplementary stresses that tire and overwhelm the adrenal system, sapping you of energy and making stress even more challenging. Properly supported, your adrenal gland will restore your stamina, improve mental clarity and your ability to handle stress.

If adrenal support isn’t enough to convince you of maca’s superfood status, consider this: maca’s adaptogenic properties restore hormonal balance in both genders (as proven by scientific studies and human clinical trials).
If you’re a man, maca’s reputation as “the Viagra of the Herbal Kingdom” may be of interest: used traditionally in Peru, maca as a fertility and libido enhancer, recent human clinical trials published in a peer-reviewed medical journal showed a 180% increase in libido and a 200% increase in sperm count. If you’re a woman, you’ll want to remember maca as you approach menopause—it’s a non-estrogen alternative to hormone replacement therapy known to relieve the hot flashes, depression and other symptoms of menopause.
Supporting the adrenal gland and balancing hormones with maca has another key benefit: it slows down the aging process and can reverse some of the physical signs of aging.
The impressive resume of the superfood maca can be capped off with one more thing: maca possesses the amino acid building blocks of serotonin, helping your body curtail stress, support mental health and reduce cravings for artificial stimulants, like refined sugar and caffeine. (I use MacaSure maca—it’s gelatinized to maximize digestibility.)

~The above is from "Thrive in Thirty, thirty days to optimum health and vitality with Brenden Brazier"