Q: My cat frequently gets crystals in her urine which are sharp and cause her to bleed when she urinates. It’s very painful for her. I feed her only wet cat food as the vet recommended but the problem comes and goes frequently. I am taking your Royal Break-Stone Liquid Extract for a kidney stone. Would your product help dissolve the crystals in my cat’s bladder? Thank you.

A: Royal Break-Stone Liquid Extract works like a charm for dissolving these crystals. My cat has the same condition and I give her 3 drops in a small amount of water once a day for a few days. The bleeding stops within a couple of days. You could give this dosage twice a day – always about one half hour before you feed your cat—if one serving a day is not effective. DO NOT OVERDO THE DOSAGE OR IT COULD BE IRRITATING TO YOUR CAT.

A: Many pimples are related to hormone imbalances. That is why they are common in the teenaged years in both boys and girls. Many women also get pimples a day or two before her menstrual period. Certified organic, gelatinized (cooked) Royal Maca can be very helpful for clearing up these facial blemishes by improving hormone balance. According to studies, maca root acts to increase IGF (insulin growth factor) in human tissue. Sufficient IGF is critical for hormone balance.

A: You may have noticed that some Camu-Camu is dark and slowly dried without any additives and while other Camu-Camu is light colored and has been spray dried at a high temperature for a few seconds onto a maltodextrine medium.

Which product is better? If you are going for a high natural Vitamin C content derived from the Camu-Camu fruit itself, you will choose Light Camu-Camu with the maltodextrine. WHY?

Because maltodextrine helps stabilize the Natural Vitamin C Complex from the Camu-Camu fruit. You can test products made in this way a year later and it will have lost only a very small amount of Vitamin C – perhaps 10%.

If you test your Dark Camu-Camu product without any additives a year after manufacture, it will have lost close to 70% of its Natural Vitamin C content.

In the end, it’s the customer’s decision. Whole World Botanicals offers both types of products with no added synthetic ascorbic acid—only the natural Vitamin C from the fruit.

There is no simple, straightforward answer to this. First of all, most maca on the market is weak and you have to take one tsp. to one tablespoon—or more—for it to have any effect. Royal Maca is very different. It is concentrated, certified organic, sundried and gelatinized—a form of cooking that eliminates the enzymes that inhibit digestion and assimilation. (Native people of Peru NEVER eat raw maca.) When dosing Royal Maca it’s always important to start with a very small amount – to see how your body responds. If you are petite (115 lbs. or less) or if you know that you are very sensitive, you can start with 1/12 of a tsp. (half a capsule). If you don’t have these issues, you can start with 1/3 tsp. or two capsules daily. You will probably notice the effects within one to three days. If you feel a little more energy but would like to feel more, you can increase the dosage to one-half tsp. daily (3 capsules). Some people even do well with a whole tsp. of Royal Maca (6 caps a day).

Of course, it is important to get an accurate diagnosis from an excellent health care professional to make sure you are not overlooking a serious condition that is unrelated to your adrenals or that there is no complicating issue with your adrenal glands. If you are truly dealing with burnt out adrenals from chronic low level stress or a high level of stress, then Royal Maca could be very helpful towards the restoration of your energy.

Dear Maggie,

It is true that flax and soy contain a fair amount of phytoestrogens. So do all beans. But flax seeds, soy milk, soyburgers, tempeh, etc. can all be used in the diet while you are taking Royal Maca. It is dietary supplements made from soybeans–pills and capsules in most cases–in which the phytoestrogens have been extracted and concentrated–that must not be taken together with Royal Maca. It is a combination that overstimulates the body and creates increased hot flashes in most women that already have hot flashes. This combo also contributes to insomnia and irritability.

Viana Muller, Ph.D., Cofounder
Whole World Botanicals, Inc.

Q: I am 38 yr. old and have a regular menstrual period but a period with a lot of problems for the past year. I have been taking Royal Maca (1/3 tsp.) for 3 months to try to normalize my periods and to help with a heavy flow and clots. My last two cycles have achieved this. I just need to know if I should take a break from Royal Maca after a certain amount of time. And, if so, for how long.

A: First of all, Isn’t it remarkable that after only two months of taking Royal Maca your periods have “normalized” in your own words! This is a common story and is one of the many virtues of a premium quality, organic, sundried, precooked maca root product. Although we used to advise taking a break of one month after three months—because that’s what the Peruvian doctors were advising their women patients on maca therapy to do—we no longer suggest this. Reason: too many women had trouble getting the same good results again the second time around after abruptly stopping Maca for an entire month.

Now our advice is the following: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” As long as you are getting great results – 80% improvement in your symptoms, or better – keep on taking Royal Maca on a daily basis. If the improvement in your symptoms begins to diminish after some months, then you can either take a break of one or two days a week – OR you can reduce your dosage. (Don’t do both!) Usually it’s the cumulative effect of maca that makes a dosage that was perfect before no longer perfect. So you need to readjust how you take your Royal Maca.

EXCEPTION: If you are transitioning from perimenopause over into full blown menopause, you may actually need to increase your dosage, as your symptoms become more acute.

Q: I am 50 years old and have a tendency towards high blood pressure if I don’t adhere to a strict diet. I have just started taking Royal Maca and within an hour or so my blood pressure spiked and my heart rate was racing and erratic. I’m not sure if it was the maca or because I had just eaten some food with gluten (I’m gluten intolerant)…Can maca have that effect on your heart?

A: Maca root if taken in excess can raise blood pressure in people with a tendency towards high blood pressure, but it can also help lower or stabilize blood pressure if taken at a very minimal dosage or a period of several months.  In fact, there is one doctor in England who has his high blood pressure patients take one capsule of Royal Maca daily to help stabilize their blood pressure at a healthy level..  It’s best to start with either ½ capsule daily (you can twist the capsule apart and tap out half) or one capsule daily depending on your sensitivity and your weight.  If you do have high blood pressure, it would be important for you to work with your physician on developing a protocol that is right for you.

I am 39 years old and have been taking Royal Maca for the last 10 months because I had developed perimenopausal symptoms at that time. I had irregular periods, horrible PMS and just felt exhausted. (I have been under severe stress for the last three years caring for my father who has cancer.) Taking Royal Maca my periods are regular now and I have a lot more energy and my PMS is much better but I still get it. I recently had a hormone panel test done and it came back that I am low in progesterone and in cortisol. My holistic doctor suggested adding Dr. John Lee’s progesterone cream to what I am already doing. (I also take Royal Camu and cod liver oil and Vitamin D.)

A: There is no problem in combining Royal Maca with a natural progesterone supplement. Most women don’t need to do this – Royal Maca, at the right dosage—usually straightens out a progesterone imbalance nicely. But there are always exceptional cases.

The testimonials keep pouring in. The language of gratitude of women for this product and other Royal Maca products is striking. Here’s one Whole World Botanicals received today from a woman who had been taking Estroven® previously but wanted to stop. – Dr. Viana Muller, Co-founder Whole World Botanicals

Date: Wednesday, January 27, 2010, 2:40 PM Hi
Viana,
I got that email about not taking your product until 4 weeks after Estroven, etc. is out of the system, but I had already started it… either way…. YOUR PRODUCT IS EXTRAORDINARY!!! I had had major hot flashes at night and sometimes during the day which caused anxious feelings and all the things that go along with peri-menopause. (I have not had my period for over 2 months.) The Royal Maca Plus for Women with DIM has almost completely stopped my hot flashes and balanced me out big time in less than a week. I take one capsule three times a day… Hope it’s ok that I didn’t wait for 4 weeks…

Best, Cara C. (Denver, CO)

Of course, I will be seeing a dental specialist about this. But meanwhile, my doctor has prescribed one drug to reduce the pain and inflammation of the TMJ and the ulcerated tongue and another drug to reduce the side effects on the stomach (these pharmaceutical drugs destroy the body’s healthy inflammation response which protects the stomach lining from the hydrochloric acid needed to digest out food and can cause bleeding ulcers which in extreme cases can be fatal). These drugs totaled about $120! And all for pain relief! So, I just said, NO! Instead I decided to try Whole World Botanicals’ Royal Desmodium Liquid Extract. 4 squirts in the cup of tea I was drinking. Within half an hour the tongue pain and the ear-jaw pain was at least 80% better. And no side effects on the stomach! Royal Desmodium is so brilliant at relieving back pain and other muscle pain with its anti-spasmodic properties and so amazing as a fast-acting bronchial dilator that I sometimes forget how helpful it can also be for other types of pain.