What’s your take on maca as a supplement for HPA-D? It’s an ingredient in some adrenal support products such as Integrative Therapeutics HPA Adapt. I’ve tried it on myself, but it disrupted my period. Being Chinese, we call it ‘unable to tolerate the yang’ or ‘a weakness that isn’t suited for replacement therapy with yang.’

Chris Kresser: Yeah, I look at it from that perspective too. Maca is pretty potent, and it can have a strong effect on hormones in both men and women. That’s why I didn’t include it in the HPA axis unit, and I don’t use it typically because I have seen some pretty strong reactions to it. I would tend to avoid it in most situations.