The South American country of Peru is home to numerous beneficial plants, including maca, a legendary sex-enhancing root passed down from the Inca. Extracts from the popular and beneficial maca plant are now available as a supplement in U.S. health food stores after investigation and research into maca's health benefits in Peruvian culture and are also an important ingredient in the Natural Gain Plus male enhancement pills.

Maca, also known scientifically as Lepidium meyenii, is an annual plant which produces a radish-like root. The root of maca is typically dried and stored, and will easily keep for seven years. The plant is cultivated in the Junin plateau of Peru's Central Highlands, and was highly revered by the Inca. During the height of the Incan empire, legend has it that Incan warriors would consume maca before entering into battle. This would make them fiercely strong. But after conquering a city the Incan soldiers were prohibited from using maca, to protect the conquered women from their powerful sexual impulses. Thus as far back as 500 years ago, maca's reputation for enhancing strength, libido and fertility was already well established in Peru.

Today, maca's popularity is very much on the increase, as people discover that the plant really does boost libido, sexual function and overall energy. Acreage in Peru dedicated to Maca cultivation is increasing every year to meet demand, and a number of scientists have turned their attention to the properties of the root. In Peru, maca is used by men and by women who want to put more fire into their sex lives. And in the U.S., Europe and Japan, dietary supplements containing maca are gaining ardent devotees after clinical trials. In-depth analysis of maca nutrition conducted in 1998 by Dr. Qun Yi Zheng and his colleagues at PureWorld Botanicals shows that maca contains about 10 percent protein, almost 60 percent carbohydrate, and an assortment of fatty acids. These natural ingredients are common and nothing special, however the investigators also discovered two groups of novel compounds, the macamides and the macaenes. These agents are believed to be directly responsible for maca's reputed sex-enhancing effects and sex-boosting powers.

Another effective natural ingredient of Natural Gain Plus is Muira puama. This Brazilian Muira puama herb, also referred to as murapuama, is mostly known for its effective help with erectile dysfunction and increasing libido and it also used as an aphrodisiac. But Muira puama is also an excellent tonic for increasing general well-being and mental tiredness.

Muira puama is a bush or small tree up to 5 meters in height and produces pungent flowers with a jasmine like fragrance. The indigenous tribes in Brazil have used the roots and bark internally in a tea as an aphrodisiac, for treating sexual debility and erectile dysfunction, nervous system disorders, neuralgia, baldness, impotency, gastrointestinal disorders, neuromuscular problems and rheumatism. Murapuama has been used as a herb in Europe for some time and is listed in the British Herbal Pharmacopoeia, a source on herbal medicine from the British Herbal Medicine Association, and is recommended for the treatment of dysentery and impotence. Although many people are skeptical about sexual stimulants or "herbal viagra" as such, the muira puama herb has been shown by Dr. Jacques Waynberg, a world authority on sexual functioning, of the Institute of Sexology in Paris, France, it is scientifically proven and effective in assisting in increasing sexual desire as well as attaining and maintaining an erection.