Does maca root help with night sweats during perimenopause?

Night sweats are among the most sleep-disrupting symptoms of perimenopause. Waking up drenched at 2am, needing to change your sheets or pajamas, and then struggling to fall back asleep creates a cascade of problems that affects everything from your mood to your cognitive function the next day. These events are caused by the hypothalamus misreading normal body temperature as too hot, a response triggered by fluctuating estrogen levels affecting the brain's thermoregulatory center. Maca root is one supplement with some clinical evidence suggesting it can help reduce vasomotor symptoms, including night sweats.

What the research shows

Meissner et al. (2006) conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial and found that women taking maca had improvements in estradiol and FSH levels and significant reductions in total menopausal symptom scores compared to placebo. Crucially, vasomotor symptoms, including hot flashes and night sweats, were included in the symptom score assessment, and the maca group showed meaningful improvement. This is one of the more important trials in the maca literature because it links maca's hormonal effect to real symptom outcomes.

It is worth understanding how maca achieves this. Maca (Lepidium meyenii) is not estrogenic. It does not contain plant estrogens and does not act on estrogen receptors in the body. Instead, research suggests it works through the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and appears to support more normal FSH and LH signaling. The hypothalamus, which is the part of the brain disrupted during perimenopausal night sweats, is also the top of the HPA axis. Supporting more regulated HPA function may help restore more appropriate temperature regulation, which could explain why some women experience reduced vasomotor symptoms with maca use.

Strength of evidence

The evidence for maca and vasomotor symptoms is promising but not yet conclusive. The Meissner study found a meaningful reduction in symptom scores, but night sweats specifically were not measured as a separate outcome. The sample sizes in maca trials tend to be relatively small. More research is needed before maca can be recommended as a first-line treatment for night sweats. What this means practically is that maca is a reasonable option to try, especially for women who are not candidates for hormone therapy or who prefer to start with non-hormonal supplements. It should not be expected to work as reliably as hormone therapy does for vasomotor symptoms.

Dose and form

Research has examined doses of 1.5g to 3.5g per day, taken as powder, capsules, or liquid extract. The Meissner study used a gelatinized (pre-cooked) maca product, which some researchers believe improves bioavailability and digestibility compared to raw maca. Most trials ran for 8 to 12 weeks. Talk to your healthcare provider about the right dose and form for your situation. If you have a thyroid condition, note that maca contains goitrogens at higher amounts, so provider guidance is worthwhile.

Tracking your response

Night sweats are one of the easier perimenopause symptoms to track because they are fairly binary: you either woke up drenched or you did not. Using PeriPlan to log your night sweats nightly gives you a clear record of frequency over time. This makes it much easier to see whether maca is having a real effect after a 6 to 8 week trial, rather than relying on general impressions that can be influenced by good or bad weeks.

Other strategies that complement maca

Environmental adjustments like keeping your bedroom cool, using moisture-wicking bedding, and keeping a fan nearby provide immediate relief regardless of what supplements you take. Reducing alcohol, spicy food, and caffeine, especially in the evening, can reduce the frequency of triggering events. For women with severe or frequent night sweats that are significantly disrupting sleep and quality of life, hormone therapy remains the most effective available treatment and is worth discussing with a healthcare provider.

When to see a doctor

Night sweats are a common perimenopausal symptom, but they can also be caused by other conditions including thyroid disorders, infections, certain medications, and in rarer cases, lymphoma. If your night sweats are severe, drenching, and accompanied by fever, unintended weight loss, swollen lymph nodes, or are occurring in a woman who is not in the perimenopausal age range, these warrant medical evaluation. Even classic perimenopausal night sweats deserve attention if they are severely disrupting your sleep and daily functioning, as effective treatments are available.

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