Maca is often marketed as an energy booster, hormone balancer, fertility aid and libido supplement - all at once. That makes it difficult to separate what consumers hope it will do from what human research and the Canadian product licence actually support. The evidence is more specific: maca has limited human data for aspects of sexual health and menopausal mood, while claims about testosterone, fertility and physical performance remain much less certain.

What Is Maca?

Maca is Lepidium meyenii, a plant traditionally grown in the Andes. Health Canada’s current monograph recognizes the root or hypocotyl as the source material for oral natural health products. Biogénique uses a dry root extract rather than plain root powder.

The numbers on the label matter. One capsule contains 500 mg of a 7:1 extract with a quantity crude equivalent (QCE) of 3,500 mg. That does not mean the capsule physically contains 3,500 mg of powder. It means the 500 mg extract represents the equivalent of 3.5 g of dried maca root used to make the extract. This is why comparing only the front-label milligrams can be misleading.

What Maca Benefits Are Best Supported?

For Biogénique Maca, the licensed Canadian uses are narrow and useful: support for healthy mood balance during menopause and support for the emotional aspects of sexual health. Health Canada’s 2024 maca monograph also lists antioxidant uses at the ingredient level. These licensed or monograph-supported statements should not be expanded into promises to “balance hormones,” raise testosterone, treat sexual dysfunction, improve fertility or guarantee more energy.

Maca and Menopause: Promising, but the Trials Are Small

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study in 14 postmenopausal women used 3.5 g/day of powdered maca for six weeks. Psychological and sexual-dysfunction scores improved versus placebo, while estradiol, FSH, LH and sex-hormone-binding globulin did not change significantly. A second crossover study in 29 postmenopausal Chinese women using 3.3 g/day for six weeks found a similar pattern: some symptom improvements without meaningful changes in measured reproductive or thyroid hormones. An earlier systematic review of four randomized trials judged the overall menopause evidence promising but too limited for firm conclusions.

Does Maca Help Libido or Sexual Health?

The evidence is suggestive rather than definitive. A systematic review of four randomized trials found limited evidence for improved sexual function or desire, but the authors said the small evidence base prevented firm conclusions. In one 12-week trial, healthy men taking 1.5 or 3 g/day reported greater sexual desire beginning around week eight, while testosterone and estradiol remained unchanged. Biogénique’s licensed wording is appropriately narrower: support for the emotional aspects of sexual health.

Does Maca Increase Testosterone or “Balance Hormones”?

Current human evidence does not justify a testosterone-boosting or general “hormone balancing” claim. In a 12-week randomized trial of healthy men, 1.5 or 3 g/day of maca did not change testosterone, LH, FSH, prolactin, estradiol or other measured reproductive hormones versus placebo. Menopausal trials likewise reported symptom changes without consistent shifts in estrogen or androgen measures. Mood or libido can change without proving that sex-hormone levels increased.

What About Energy, Stamina and Exercise Performance?

Energy and stamina are popular reasons people search for maca, but they are not licensed uses on the current Biogénique label. A 2024 systematic review and meta-analysis reported performance-related effects across a literature base that included animal and human experiments using different preparations and doses. That makes the result interesting, but not transferable one-for-one to Biogénique’s 7:1 extract. Training, sleep and nutrition remain the stronger foundations for performance.

Does Maca Improve Fertility?

This is another area where marketing often runs ahead of the evidence. A 2022 systematic review and meta-analysis of five randomized trials found mixed results for semen parameters and no significant improvement in sperm concentration versus placebo. The authors concluded that the effects remained unclear because the trials and sample sizes were too small. Maca should therefore not be sold as a fertility treatment.

What Is Actually in Biogénique Maca?

Health Canada: What the NPN Means

NPN 80068289 identifies the licensed Biogénique Maca natural health product. The current label is the highest-priority source for dose, uses and warnings. Health Canada’s broader maca monograph explains ingredient-level claims and compendial dose ranges, but it does not convert every maca study into a Biogénique claim. Studies also use different powders, gelatinized products and extracts, so results cannot automatically be transferred to this 7:1 formula.

COA / 3X PUR™ Quality Check: Lot 240547

Biogénique’s finished-product Certificate of Analysis for lot 240547 was approved October 25, 2024. The lot was manufactured in May 2024 and expires in April 2027. The tested lot met the listed specifications. Biogénique’s 3X PUR™ framework organizes those results into Purity, Quality and Performance; it is an interpretation framework, not a laboratory-issued certification.

Important limitation: the COA documents the declared formula and finished-product specifications, but its test table does not show a separate assay of maca marker compounds or an independent potency assay for the 500 mg extract. It should not be described as proof of a specific macamide level or of a guaranteed biological effect.

A Practical Decision Framework

• Choose maca for the licensed use you actually want to evaluate - menopausal mood balance or emotional aspects of sexual health - rather than for a vague promise to “balance hormones.”

• Do not use changes in libido or mood as proof that testosterone or estrogen increased; human trials have not shown that relationship.

• Treat energy, exercise performance and fertility as research questions, not guaranteed Biogénique product benefits.

• Follow the current Biogénique label: adults take 1 capsule once daily.

• For menopausal or post-menopausal use beyond 6 weeks, consult a healthcare practitioner as the label directs.

• Check the warnings first if you use antidepressants, blood thinners, have high blood pressure, are pregnant/breastfeeding, or have relevant psychological conditions.

FAQs

Does maca increase testosterone?

No reliable increase has been shown in human randomized trials. One study found greater sexual desire without raising testosterone or estradiol.

Is maca a hormone balancer?

That phrase is too broad. The current licence does not authorize a general hormone-balancing claim, and several trials found symptom changes without measurable shifts in sex hormones.

Can maca help during menopause?

Yes, for a specific purpose: Biogénique Maca is licensed to help support healthy mood balance during menopause. Small trials also reported psychological or sexual symptom improvements, but the evidence remains limited.

How long does maca take to work?

There is no single proven onset time. Some sexual-health studies measured changes after roughly 6-12 weeks; follow the product label rather than treating a study timeline as dosing advice.

Does maca help with fertility?

Evidence is unclear. A 2022 systematic review and meta-analysis found mixed semen results and did not establish a reliable fertility benefit.

Does maca boost energy?

They are common marketing claims, but not licensed uses on the current Biogénique label. Performance evidence is preliminary and uses varied preparations.

Bottom Line

Maca is more credible when its claims are narrowed rather than inflated. Limited human evidence suggests potential support for sexual well-being and menopausal mood symptoms, often without measurable changes in testosterone or estrogen. Evidence for energy, exercise and fertility is less certain.

Biogénique Maca provides 500 mg of a 7:1 root extract - QCE 3,500 mg - once daily under NPN 80068289. Its licensed uses are healthy mood balance during menopause and the emotional aspects of sexual health. That is a credible, useful position on its own; the product does not need exaggerated hormone or performance promises.

Related Biogénique Resources

• Biogénique Maca product page

• Biogénique Quality Control / COA information

• Biogénique Research & Innovation

• Biogénique consultation

References

1. Biogénique Maca current product label, NPN 80068289, lot 240547. Internal verified label.

2. Biogénique Certificate of Analysis: Maca lot 240547, approved October 25, 2024. Internal verified COA.

3. Health Canada. Maca - Lepidium meyenii monograph. September 27, 2024. Source

4. Health Canada Licensed Natural Health Products Database - NPN 80068289. Source

5. Shin BC, Lee MS, Yang EJ, Lim HS, Ernst E. Maca (L. meyenii) for improving sexual function: a systematic review. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2010;10:44. Source

6. Brooks NA, et al. Beneficial effects of Lepidium meyenii (Maca) on psychological symptoms and measures of sexual dysfunction in postmenopausal women are not related to estrogen or androgen content. Menopause. 2008;15(6):1157-1162. Source

7. Gonzales GF, et al. Effect of Lepidium meyenii (MACA) on sexual desire and its absent relationship with serum testosterone levels in adult healthy men. Andrologia. 2002;34(6):367-372. Source

8. Gonzales GF, et al. Effect of Lepidium meyenii on serum reproductive hormone levels in adult healthy men. J Endocrinol. 2003;176(1):163-168. Source

9. Lee HW, et al. Maca (Lepidium meyenii Walp.) on semen quality parameters: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Front Pharmacol. 2022;13:934740. Source

10. Huerta Ojeda A, et al. Effects of Maca (Lepidium meyenii Walp.) on Physical Performance in Animals and Humans: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Nutrients. 2024;17(1):107. Source

11. Lee MS, Shin BC, Yang EJ, Lim HJ, Ernst E. Maca (Lepidium meyenii) for treatment of menopausal symptoms: a systematic review. Maturitas. 2011;70(3):227-233. Source

Disclaimer

This article is for general educational purposes only and is not medical advice. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease. Always read and follow the current product label. Consult a healthcare practitioner before use when the label directs you to do so, or if you have a health condition, take medication, are pregnant or breastfeeding.