Using Royal Maca after a Complete Hysterectomy

Women write to Dr. Viana Muller with questions on using Royal Maca® for various health conditions.

Q: I recently purchased your organic Royal Maca and have some questions. I am post-menopausal – having had a complete hysterectomy at 43 years old (I’m 52 now) and for years had been on Estratest HS. I stopped the Estratest a month ago and first tried Black Cohosh and Red Clover combination. That did not work very well. I am now taking Royal Maca, ½ tsp. and after one week I increased the dosage to 1 tsp. a day. I have just begun this new dosage today and already have noticed a reduction in my hot flashes this morning. (They had been occurring every 2 or 3 hours throughout the day and evening.

1. What is the normal range for estrogen in a postmenopausal woman?

Unsupplemented (with hormones) post-menopausal women virtually always have an estradiol (a predominant type of estrogen in premenopausal women) level below 30 on a blood test. The most popular laboratory in America does not bother to report a woman’s estradiol level if it is below 30. This seems very wrong to me, because a woman whose estradiol is 28 will feel completely different from a woman whose estradiol is 4. On the hormone tests we have seen of women taking Royal Maca (before and after), the perimenopausal women and the newly menopausal women tend to see a jump in their estradiol level from “under 30” to over 30 – often in the 40’s range after they start taking Royal Maca. This shift is enough not only to stop a woman’s hot flashes, but also to greatly reduce her vaginal dryness, help her sleep better, and help her mood. But the curious and interesting thing is that in a woman who has been postmenopausal for 8 years, for example, and who still has hot flashes, night sweats, and other menopausal symptoms, we often do not see any change in her estradiol level – or only a couple of points. Yet, her hot flashes and night sweats cease, her sleep improves, etc. So how is the Royal Maca working?

We have a couple of clues to this. One, her estradiol level may be significantly increasing and this type of estrogen, whose production increases after menopause while her estradiol is steadily decreasing, may be helping her symptoms. Since insurance does not cover the measurement of a woman’s estradiol level, we don’t really know if this could be an important factor.

Another factor, which may be more important, is that Royal Maca may be helping with the binding of a woman’s own estrogen to her estrogen receptors. Hormones fit into receptors like keys fit into locks. If there is a more perfect fit, the hormone will have an enhanced effect. Maca may also help the body produce more estrogen receptors (this phenomenon is well known to research physiologists), thereby helping the body to “capture” more of the estrogen circulating in the blood for use by the tissues. In short, there is not enough research to answer this question with certainty. But what is not in doubt is that postmenopausal women whose test results we have seen often show very little change in their estradiol level but a huge reduction in their menopausal symptoms.

2. Is there an upper limit on how much Royal Maca I should take?
No, there is not. If you gradually increase a little every week until your symptoms are 80% improved, it doesn’t matter whether that optimum improvement comes at ½ tsp. or at 2 tsp. – or even more. Remember, if you start experiencing any “side effects” it means you are taking too much.

3. If I decide to start taking the Royal Maca capsules, what is the conversion of the powder to the capsules?
1/3 tsp. = 2 caps. ½ tsp. = 3 caps. 1 tsp. = 6 caps.

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