Everything about Ginseng totally explained
Ginseng refers to species within
Panax, a genus of 11 species of slow-growing
perennial plants with fleshy roots, in the family
Araliaceae. They grow in the
Northern Hemisphere in eastern
Asia (mostly northern
China,
Korea, and eastern
Siberia), typically in cooler climates;
Panax vietnamensis, discovered in
Vietnam, is the southernmost ginseng found. This article focuses on the Series Panax ginsengs, which are the
adaptogenic herbs, principally
Panax ginseng and
P. quinquefolius. Ginseng is characterized by the presence of
ginsenosides.
Siberian ginseng (
Eleutherococcus senticosus) isn't a true ginseng at all. It is another adaptogen, but a different plant that was renamed as "Siberian ginseng" as a marketing ploy; instead of a fleshy root, it has a woody root; instead of
ginsenosides,
eleutherosides are present, (
see below).
Etymology
The English word ginseng derives from the
Chinese term
rénshēn (simplified: ; traditional: ), literally "man root" (referring to the root's characteristic forked shape, resembling the legs of a man).
The botanical/genus name
Panax means "all-heal" in Greek, sharing the same origin as "
panacea," and was applied to this genus because
Linnaeus was aware of its wide use in
Chinese medicine for muscle relaxant.
Traditional uses
Both American and Panax (Asian) ginseng
roots are taken orally as
adaptogens,
aphrodisiacs, nourishing
stimulants, and in the treatment of
type II diabetes, including sexual dysfunction in men. The root is most often available in dried form, either in whole or sliced form. Ginseng leaf, although not as highly prized, is sometimes also used; as with the root it's most often available in dried form.
This ingredient may also be found in some popular
Energy Drinks: usually the "tea" varieties or
Functional Foods. Usually ginseng is in subclinical doses and it doesn't have measurable medicinal effects. It can be found in cosmetic preparations as well, with similar lack of effect.
Ginseng root can be double steamed with chicken meat as a soup. (See
samgyetang.)
Modern science and ginseng
It has been difficult to verify the medicinal benefits of ginseng using science, as there are contradictory results from different studies, possibly due to the wide variety and quality of ginseng used in studies. High-quality studies of the effects of ginseng are rare.
Ginseng is promoted as an
adaptogen (a product that increases the body's resistance to stress), one which can to a certain extent be supported with reference to its anticarcinogenic and antioxidant properties, although animal experiments to determine whether longevity and health were increased in the presence of stress gave negative results.
A
comparative,
randomized and
double-blind study at the
National Autonomous University of Mexico indicates it may be "a promising dietary supplement" when assessed for an increase in quality of life . It should be noted, however, that exclusion rates in this study were high. 124 participants were excluded from this study "due to lack of compliance with the treatment" whereas 164 participants in the control group and 338 participants in the ginseng group completed the study.
P. ginseng appear to inhibit some characteristics associated with cancer in animal models; nevertheless, this effect is unclear in humans.
There are references in literature, including authoritative compendiums, that show interactions with ginseng. Herbalist Jonathan Treasure of the United States
National Institute of Mental Health traces the growth of misinformation on an alleged adverse herb-drug interaction between the monoamine oxidase inhibitor
phenelzine and Asian ginseng (
P. ginseng C.A. Meyer). This originally was mentioned in a 1985 editorial by Shader and Greenblatt in the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology. Shader and Greenblatt devoted a couple of lines to the case of 64 year-old woman who took an undisclosed dose for an undisclosed time of a dietary supplement product called “Natrol High” while concurrently taking
phenelzine 60 mg qd. She experienced symptoms of “insomnia, headache, and tremulousness”. Treasure contacted Natrol by email and discovered within ten minutes that there was no
P. ginseng in the formula, but instead
Eleutherococcus which was then called by the popular name "Siberian ginseng" and it was given in a subclinical dosage mixed with a variety of other herbs. The purported interaction effects are well-known side effects of phenelzine alone, which had been given in a high dosage and are not at all suggestive of
Eleutherococcus. However this misinformed article with a misidentified herb has been picked up in literature searches, megastudies and is now documented by conventional medical authorities such as Stockley’s, and is repeated in several botanical monographs for example World Health Organization (WHO
1999).
Ginseng and reproductive activity
A 2002 study by the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine (published in the annals of the New York Academy of Sciences) found that in laboratory animals, both Asian and American forms of ginseng enhance
libido and copulatory performance. These effects of ginseng may not be due to changes in hormone secretion, but to direct effects of ginseng, or its ginsenoside components, on the central nervous system and gonadal tissues In males, ginsenosides can facilitate penile erection. This is consistent with traditional
Chinese medicine and
Native American medicinal uses of ginseng.
Ginseng is known to contain
phytoestrogens.
Side effects
One of
P. ginseng's most common side-effects is the inability to sleep. Other side-effects can include
nausea,
diarrhea,
euphoria,
headaches,
epistaxis, high
blood pressure, low
blood pressure, and
mastalgia.
Overdose
The common
adaptogen ginsengs (
P. ginseng and
P. quinquefolia) are generally considered to be relatively safe even in large amounts.
P. ginseng isn't recommended within Chinese Medicine to be administered along with anti-infective herbs unless a person is quite debilitated, because of the fear that the pathogen will be tonified. Herbalists in China believed this and according to Xu Dachun in his brief essay on ginseng (1757 A.D., during the Qing Dynasty):
"if one administers Ginseng of a purely supplementing nature, then one will merely supplement the evil influences and help them settle down. In minor cases, the evil influences will, as a result of such mistaken therapy, never leave the body again. In serious cases, death is inevitable."
Common classification
» Ginseng that's produced in the
United States and
Canada is particularly prized in
Chinese societies, and many ginseng packages are prominently colored red, white, and blue.
According to
Traditional Chinese Medicine, American Ginseng promotes
Yin energy, cleans excess
Yang in the body, calms the body. The reason it has been claimed that American ginseng promotes Yin (shadow, cold, negative, female) while East Asian ginseng promotes Yang (sunshine, hot, positive, male) is that, according to
traditional Chinese medicine, things living in cold places or northern side of mountains or southern side of rivers are strong in Yang and vice versa, so that the two are balanced. Chinese/Korean ginseng grows in northeast China and Korea, the coldest area known to many Koreans in traditional times. Thus, ginseng from there's supposed to be very
Yang. Originally, American ginseng was imported into China via subtropical
Guangzhou, the seaport next to
Hong Kong, so Chinese doctors believed that American ginseng must be good for
Yin, because it came from a hot area. However they didn't know that American ginseng can only grow in temperate regions. Nonetheless the root is legitimately classified as more
Yin because it generates fluids.
» The two main components of ginseng are in different proportions in the Asian and American varieties, and may well be the cause of the excitatory versus tonic natures.
(External Link
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» The ginseng is sliced and a few slices are simmered in hot water to make a
decoction.
Most North American ginseng is produced in the Canadian provinces of
Ontario and
British Columbia and the American state of
Wisconsin, according to
Agri-food Canada.
P. quinquefolius is now also grown in northern China.
» A
randomized,
double-blind study shows that an extract of American ginseng reduces influenza cases in the elderly when compared to placebo.
A study shows that Red ginseng reduces the relapse of gastric cancer versus control
A study of ginseng's effects on rats show that while both
White ginseng and
Red ginseng reduce the incidence of cancer, the effects appear to be greater with
Red ginseng.
Falcarinol, a seventeen-carbon
diyne fatty alcohol was isolated from
carrot and red ginseng, shown to have potent anticancer properties on primary
mammary epithelial (breast cancer) cells.
Other
acetylenic fatty alcohols in ginseng (
panaxacol,
panaxydol,
panaxytriol) have antibiotic properties.
Wild ginseng
Wild ginseng is ginseng that hasn't been planted and cultivated domestically, rather it's that which grows naturally and is harvested from wherever it's found to be growing. It is considered to be superior to field farmed ginseng by various authorities, and it has been shown to contain higher levels of
ginsenoside. Wild ginseng is relatively rare and even increasingly endangered, due in large part to high demand for the product in recent years, which has led to the wild plants being sought out and harvested faster than new ones can grow (it requires years for a ginseng root to reach maturity). Wild ginseng can be either Asian or American and can be processed to be red ginseng.
There are
woods grown American ginseng programs in Maine, Tennessee, Virginia and North Carolina. and
United Plant Savers has been encouraging the woods planting of ginseng both to restore natural habitats and to remove pressure from any remaining wild ginseng, and they offer both advice and sources of rootlets. Woods grown plants have comparable value to wild grown ginseng of similar age.
Ginseng alternatives
These mostly
adaptogenic plants are sometimes referred to as ginsengs, but they're either from a different
family or
genus. Only Jiaogulan actually contains compounds closely related to ginsenosides, although ginsenosides alone don't determine the effectiveness of ginseng. Since each of these plants have different uses, one should research their properties before using. Descriptions and differentiation can be found in David Winston and Steven Maimes book
Adaptogens
Other plants which are referred to as ginsengs may not be adaptogens (although notoginseng is in the Panax Series):
Angelica sinensis (Female ginseng, aka Dong Quai)
Panax notoginseng (Known as san qi, tian qi or tien chi, hemostatic ingredient in Yunnan Bai Yao)Further Information
Get more info on 'Ginseng'.
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