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Medical Expedition07/15/03Medical Expedition to the Amazon and The Andes Mountains Stephanie and Mark Smith traveled to South America in March as part of a fact finding mission for their company - Medicine Plants™. Stephanie is an RN, who is one of the Health Specialists employed by Medicine Plants. Mark Smith is an MD who is a family practice physician. This is a partial journal from their expedition. We stayed in a village with a shaman who stayed with during our time in the Amazon jungle. One night the shaman prepared a "flower bath". This "bath" is a spiritual purification ceremony that involves a day of fasting while the shaman gathered and cooked 7 different herbs for 12 hours. We then bathed in the cooled, drained water. The aroma of the flower bath water is extraordinary. It was amazing to us that we were free from mosquitoes from then on, that our senses seemed sharper and we experienced a powerful sense of well-being. Norma, our shaman, has been a practicing for 30 years. Her 12 years of "training" took place in the jungle where she lived by herself for that long period of time. Every 1-3 years training shamans emerge from the jungle and hold counsel with their mentors. Mentors are older shamans who are practicing in Amazon villages and have already spent their time in the jungle. Norma has begun her own shaman school in Iquitos, Peru. There is a great concern that the "art" of shamanism will be lost because of the cultural changes taking place in the Amazon. From the Jungle to the Andes Mountains After traveling for days through the hot, wet, thick Amazon jungle we prepared to move on to the next part of our trip. Meeting Dr. Gloria Chacon While in Lima and before traveling into the high mountains I was able to spend some time with Dr. Gloria Chacon, the biologist who did the first studies on Maca. Dr. Chacon is a gracious woman who saw and understood the magnificent benefits of Maca in 1961 while she was getting her degree in biology. She says that what first interested her about Maca was its ability to nourish so many impoverished people in the Andean Mountains. Without Maca these indigenous people would be chronically ill and eventually starve to death. They would certainly not be able to reproduce and their populations would have died out centuries ago. An Issue of Species We discussed the problems and conflicts surrounding the names of different species of Maca. It seems that there are at least two species of Maca coming to market and that no one knows exactly why one species is preferable over the other. Maca comes in 13 different colors or ecotypes. These colors range from black to almost white with some red and purple plants in between. Dr Chacon said that the dark Maca is probably more potent than the others but that more studies needed to be done to determine if that was true. There is currently one clinical study published in a medical journal in the United States about Maca. Maca, the Plant My initial interest in Maca began when I heard of the herb's ability to stop hot flashes. I remember how struck I was when I saw that the the plant even resembled a woman's reproductive system: fallopian tubes, ovaries, uterus and cervix. But in Peru I was learning that women's issues were just the tip of the iceberg when it came to Maca. Dr. Chacon told me about how the plant had been used by the conquering Spaniards to increase fertility in their livestock that was in danger of dying out at the high altitudes of the Peruvian mountains. And now in Lima old men of 80 have Maca clubs where they swap stories about their sexual conquests! Those working in the higher altitudes use Maca regularly to maintain their stamina and productivity. Dr. Chacon spoke about her studies that show an increase in estrogen production in women and sperm production in men taking Maca. Back to Top Medical Expedition continued At Dr. Chacon's I met two new friends, Helena and Guillermo who just happened to be extremely adventuresome. They had made plans to go out dancing that night in Lima. Dance clubs are everywhere in Lima and stay open until well past dawn. I was both surprised and happy when they decided to forgo the Lima dance clubs that night and to instead get on a bus with me and go on a seven hour ride to Cerro de Pasco! After saying goodbye to Gloria, packing and taking what would be my last shower for days, we climbed aboard a near-empty bus in Lima at midnight. Clint Eastwood Before the bus had even left town Helena and Guillermo had fallen asleep. I, however, remained awake and vigilant. Beginning at about 4000 feet I began to develop altitude sickness. On the bus overhead TV screens showed a black and white spaghetti western featuring Clint Eastwood speaking Spanish and shooting everybody in sight. Anyone who has seen these old movies of Clint knows that there is not much dialogue. Much of the movie is shots of Clint's face as he chews on a cigar and squints off into the distance for his next target. So the English subtitles were few and it was easy to follow the story. I tried to focus on Clint's escapades to take my mind off my growing high altitude headache. The bus began making stops to pick up passengers. Through the window I thought I noticed snow on the ground but couldn't be sure because of the darkness outside. Soon my suspicions were confirmed. Our newest passengers climbed aboard wearing hats, gloves, and very thick alpaca blankets. They looked very cold and seemed grateful for the meager warmth of the bus. I thought about the week I had just spent in the warm, moist air of the Amazon rainforest. The only gloves and hats I had were back in New York with my other ski clothes. I looked enviously at Helena and Guillermo, who remained comfortably asleep and tried to refocus my mind on Clint Eastwood's facial expressions. The road going up to Cerro de Pasco is treacherous. The bus swayed and climbed as the driver negotiated winding, hairpin turns, with no shoulders, with an unrelenting 150 foot drop down a cliff into a raging river. I developed a combination case of altitude sickness and car sickness that stayed with me for 2 days. During a combination bathroom, altitude adjustment stop on the way up I almost fell into the huge raging river that parallels the road going up into the mountains. It seems there was no wall behind me in the bathroom - just a big dark drop-off and the deafening sound of huge amounts of rushing river water below. Cerro de Pasco Peru is a country of geographical extremes. No other country in the world boasts vast expanses of rain forests, huge rivers and simply enormous mountains all within one political boundary. The Cerro de Pasco on the Junín Plateau is simply beautiful. This region of intense sunlight, even at 7am, and cold winds the plateau spreads itself out luxuriously in the midst of the Andean peaks. And it is here - at 13,000 feet above sea level that the MACA plant grows. The people who live this high in the mountains wear colorful woolen wraps made of alpaca. The women wear big hats to protect themselves from the sunlight, but the high red color of their face is a signature of Andean natives. Mate de Cocoa is the thing to drink. This tea has a rather unpleasant taste but it is reputed to be the remedy for altitude sickness - which I had - bad. I can't say I noticed a difference after drinking the tea. Many people have asked me if I got high from it - I didn't and that wasn't my plan anyway. But the cocoa leaves are the source of the refined cocaine that comes from South America and natives will chew on the leaves to prevent altitude sickness. Except for a slight bluish color around their mouths (circumoral cyanosis) from lack of oxygen, my companions, Helena and Guillermo seemed untouched by the altitude. However my breathing felt thin and rapid, I had a headache and my stomach felt constantly queasy. Guillermo even ate a huge meal of bread, MACA stew and cooked grains for breakfast. Helena, who is actually Chinese, chewed on cocoa leaves Back to Top Maca Pies? My visit to the Peruvian Andes to see the Maca fields took place in March - South America's early winter. Maca harvests take place in June and July along with other crops such as corn and potatoes. In Huancayo the Peruvians hold a Maca festival to celebrate the harvesting of the crop and the beginning of their long, very cold winter. The festivities include everything you might find at a 4th of July celebration in the USA except the apple pie is Maca pie. And the cookies, cakes, noodles, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages are all made from the Maca plant. There is even a bake-off contest with a prize going to the person with the best Maca recipe. The Mighty Maca Plant The Maca fields are not hard to find. Maca grows everywhere on the plateau. The plant is cultivated by families or small companies that hire the locals. Everything on the plateau is low tech. There are no machines to dig up the plants. All work is done by human hands. Product is carried by basket to small trucks and then transported to the local mill where the roots are dried, ground and packaged into cellophane bags containing kilos. Raw product is sent to the herb markets in the larger towns and some of the Maca is purchased by families or local restaurants that eat boiled Maca root. How the Maca is dried after harvest is of the utmost importance in the final product. Some entrepreneurial types are using oven heat. There are strong indications that heating Maca using this process changes its properties and it is best to find out before making a purchase just how the Maca was prepared. Proper drying takes months. Another production issue is sterilization. The soil at such high altitude has a low microbe (germ) count. However some producers choose to use gamma radiation to sterilize the finished product. There are some American processors who are using alcohol to sterilize the Maca. The most natural method of sterilization available at this time is a grapefruit method. However the general consensus is that Maca does not need to be sterilized anymore than radishes or carrots. Incidentally, the darker Maca is more potent. Sometimes however in the cooking process some processors use to dry the Maca it becomes burned making it turn a darker color. It is best to stick with the light creamy colored Maca unless you go up there to the fields and select your own dark crop Growing Maca Cerro de Pasco and the Junín Plateau is an amazing sight - miles and miles of MACA plants surrounded by the huge Peruvian Andes Mountains is a sight to behold. I mentioned the species issue earlier. The man who seems to know more about MACA than anyone else in Peru is Cesar Barriga. I had read about Cesar on another MACA website and that writer had said the same thing. Cesar is employed by several of the growers as a kind of MACA field overseer or manager. He says MACA is the best plant in the world. Cesar is very affable and enjoyed showing us the various MACA fields and production factories. Guillermo, Helena and myself visited the growing fields as Cesar explained the species Lepidium peruvianum Chacon, Lepidium meyeni, and Lepidium sylvestri. There are actually many other different species of MACA. The sylvestri species is used only for seeds. Lepidium peruvianum Chacon is the name given to the species studied by Dr. Gloria Chacon but it is apparently no different in medicinal or nutritional properties than Lepidium meyenii. I remembered that Dr. Chacon had told me that the only difference between the two is that no one has ever asked her to study the plant called Lepidium meyenii.It is said that the species being called Lepidium meyenii is actually the species Lepidium peruvianum Chacon. Cesar and others believe that they are one and the same and that Lepidium peruvianum Chacon is Lepidium meyeni that was found and studied by Dr.Chacon and renamed to reflect a new cultivar. To look at these plants only the sylvestri species different looking in that it grows hugging the ground and has a noticeably different leaf structure. The Peruvian Government through its special direction for Forestry conservation (INRENA) has forbidden the international trade of whole roots and/or cut and sifted form since 1999. Lepidium peruvianum Chacon and Lepidium meyenii are the two leading names being exported from Peru at this time. No matter what Maca they are selling, most exporters, either out of habit or because of a reluctance to change, call their Maca, Lepidium meyeni . The bigger issue according to Cesar is the richness of the soil used to grow MACA. Because the demand for this herb is increasing worldwide the practice of letting the earth lay fallow for 5-10 years between plantings is becoming a thing of the past. More and more farmers are using fertilizers and are replanting annually. The MACA plant is rich in minerals and vitamins at least in part because of the rich soil in which it grows. Smaller growers have better control over their crops can limit their production to what the soil can handle and not use chemical fertilizers. To read more about the amazing Maca plant click on any Maca article located in the "Articles A-Z" drop-down box on the home page. Back to Top To order MACA750™ from the Medicine Plants™ FDA certified, GMP facility use the secure order page by clicking on MACA750™ at the top of this page. Be well, Medicine Plants™ Health Disclaimer! The information presented on this site should not be construed as personal medical advice or instruction. You should consult appropriate health professionals on any matter relating to your health and well-being. The information and opinions provided here are believed to be accurate and sound, based on the best judgment available to the authors, but readers who fail to consult appropriate health authorities assume the risk of any injuries. The publisher is not responsible for errors or omissions. |
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