Does maca root help with memory loss during perimenopause?

Memory slips during perimenopause are incredibly common and genuinely distressing. Walking into a room and forgetting why, losing a word mid-sentence, or struggling to retain new information can feel alarming. The good news is that perimenopausal cognitive changes are largely driven by the same hormonal fluctuations behind your other symptoms, and most women find them temporary. Whether maca root can help is a reasonable question, though the honest answer is that direct evidence for memory specifically is limited.

How maca root might affect memory

Maca (Lepidium meyenii) is an adaptogenic root vegetable from the Peruvian Andes. It does not work by replacing estrogen. Instead, research points to its influence on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, the system that regulates your cortisol and stress hormone output. Chronically elevated cortisol, which is extremely common during the perimenopausal transition, is directly harmful to the hippocampus, the brain region most associated with memory consolidation and retrieval. By helping moderate cortisol and stress load, maca may create conditions that are more favorable for cognitive function.

Several studies have also noted that maca supplementation improves energy levels and reduces psychological symptoms like anxiety and depression. Both chronic fatigue and anxiety are significant contributors to the experience of memory problems. When your brain is exhausted and running on cortisol, encoding new information becomes much harder. So while maca may not directly enhance memory in a pharmacological sense, reducing the stress burden that is impairing memory is a meaningful indirect benefit.

What the research does and does not show

Meissner et al. (2006) found that maca supplementation improved estradiol and FSH levels and significantly reduced overall menopausal symptom scores, including psychological symptoms. Stojanovska et al. (2015) found that 3.5g per day reduced anxiety and depression in postmenopausal women. Neither study measured cognitive performance or memory directly. Animal studies using maca extracts have suggested some neuroprotective and memory-supporting effects, but these findings have not been replicated in human clinical trials focused on cognition. The evidence is suggestive, not conclusive.

If you are looking for a supplement with stronger direct evidence for perimenopausal cognitive support, omega-3 fatty acids and some B vitamins have a more established track record for brain health generally. Maca can reasonably be considered alongside these, not instead of them.

Dose and form

Clinical studies have used doses of 1.5g to 3.5g per day, in powder, capsule, or liquid extract form. Most trials ran for 8 to 12 weeks before measuring outcomes. Talk to your healthcare provider about the right dose for your situation, especially if you have thyroid issues, as maca contains goitrogens at higher amounts.

Tracking your response

Cognitive symptoms are among the trickiest to self-assess because memory perception is subjective and heavily influenced by anxiety about memory. Keeping a daily symptom log in PeriPlan helps separate genuine trends from anxious self-scrutiny. Note your energy, sleep quality, and stress levels alongside any cognitive observations, since those factors interact strongly with how sharp you feel on any given day.

Other strategies that support perimenopausal memory

The interventions with the strongest evidence for cognitive health during perimenopause are aerobic exercise (which promotes neurogenesis), prioritizing sleep (which is when memory consolidation happens), stress management, and in some cases hormone therapy (which some research links to cognitive protection when started during the early transition). Maca may be a useful complementary tool, but it is not a substitute for these fundamentals.

When to see a doctor

Occasional forgetfulness during perimenopause is normal. However, if you are experiencing significant confusion, getting lost in familiar places, having difficulty with complex tasks you handled easily before, or if people close to you have noticed concerning changes, please see your healthcare provider. These warrant a thorough evaluation to rule out conditions that go beyond typical perimenopausal changes. Thyroid dysfunction, vitamin B12 deficiency, depression, and sleep apnea are all treatable causes of cognitive symptoms that a provider can identify.

This content is for informational purposes only and does not replace medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider about your specific situation.