Jump start your life with ginseng

Ginseng is best understood as a product category rather than a single product. choices include: American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius), Asian ginseng, including Korean ginseng and Chinese ginseng, both from the same source plant, Panax ginseng.

James A. Duke, the world's foremost expert on ginseng -- whom some may call a ginseng and medicinal plant guru -- says in his 1989 book, Ginseng: A Concise Handbook (Reference Publications, Inc.), that "the species of [the genus] Panax [ginseng] may be regarded as living fossils" but notes that "there are only about a dozen species of Panax in the world." Duke is a recently retired medicinal plant expert of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, author of 15 technical books on medicinal herbs, as well as a songwriter and poet. In fact, he has an album of herbal songs, simply entitled Herbalbum, on which there is even a bluegrass-style ginseng song.

Ginseng, as an adaptogen, is most often associated with increased energy

Sophisticated ginseng users and retailers more often relate ginseng use to increased energy than any other benefit. While the term "tonic" has often been applied to ginseng, a new word has emerged to more accurately describe the activity of herbs such as ginseng -- "adaptogen."

Simply defined, an adaptogen produces an increase of "non-specific" resistance of adverse influences to an organism. It must also be a substance which is not harmful and causes minimal changes or symptoms in the physiological functions of an organism. It must have a nonspecific action, such as the ability of well-defined ginseng preparations to modulate stress and improve performance under a wide variety of stressful conditions. And an adaptogen must usually have a normalizing action irrespective of the state of health or disease.

In a traditional Chinese medicine context, ginseng is considered a true "tonic" or "adaptogen." According to one industry expert, "A true tonic adds `qi' (or `ch'i') also known as `vital energy,' to a meridian function or an organ function, rather than simply making qi `move' or `disperse'."

Asian ginseng is considered the only herb that actually "makes" qi, which may explain why the plant is so highly regarded in Asian medical traditions.

Of course, to be absolutely correct, ginseng is more than one plant or one product. Ginseng is better understood as a product category rather than a single product.

Explore an array of ginseng choices

Choices include: American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius), Asian ginseng, including Korean ginseng and Chinese ginseng, both from the same source plant, Panax ginseng. Spin-offs are now firmly established in the ginseng category, especially eleuthero or Siberian ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosus), which is not thought of as a type of "ginseng" in a traditional context. Another plant with a legitimate claim to the ginseng category is tien-chi or san-qi (Panax pseudoginseng), which, while not considered a "seng" producing plant in traditional Chinese medicine, is nevertheless a member of the genus Panax in the ginseng family.

Another species of ginseng is on the horizon

In the future, we could see another ginseng enter world markets. While America was entrenched in the Vietnam War in 1973, Russian and Vietnamese botanists discovered a new species of ginseng which they named Panax vietnamensis.

According to a joint Japanese-Vietnamese team that has investigated the chemistry of the root, the plant has been a secret medicine of the Sedang ethnic minority of the South Annamitic Range and has been used for numerous diseases and for enhancing physical strength.

Many of the active compounds of Panax ginseng are found in the roots of the new ginseng species, along with two new previously unknown compounds. Perhaps now that Vietnam and the United States have normalized relations, we could see imports of this new type of ginseng, if it becomes available on a commercial scale. Until then, it is another interesting curiosity in the historical writings on ginseng.

To best understand ginseng, it is important to understand its word origins. "Seng" is a term used by Chinese herb gatherers for fleshy rootstocks used as tonics in Chinese medicine. There are over 60 "seng" producing plants, but only one "gin-seng." The word ginseng is roughly translated into "essence of earth in the form of a human." From a strict interpretation in traditional Chinese medicine there is but only one ginseng.

Which species is the best-known?

The best-known ginseng on a worldwide basis is Asian ginseng (Panax ginseng), which is the source plant of the majority of products in the ginseng category. Panax ginseng gives us both Chinese ginseng and Korean ginseng. It occurs in northeast China, adjacent Korea and southeastern Siberia, extending southward to the northern island of Hokkaido in Japan. Harvested from the wild for over 2,000 years, it has become extremely rare, almost harvested to extinction; therefore, the vast majority of Asian ginseng that enters the market is cultivated, primarily in northeast China, especially the province of Jilin, as well as in South Korea.

American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) has been one of the best-known American medicinal plants since its discovery over 275 years ago. It is found in eastern North America, from Quebec to Manitoba, south to northern Florida, Alabama, and Oklahoma. American ginseng is generally sold in simple dried form. Both cultivated roots and increasingly scarce wild roots are available.

The "yin" & "yang" of ginseng

The Chinese consider American and Asian ginseng to be distinct medicinal plants. In Chinese traditions, American ginseng is considered to be more "yin," helping to reduce the heat of the respiratory and digestive systems. Asian ginseng is stronger, and more "yang" -- a heat-raising tonic for the blood and circulatory systems, as understood in traditional Chinese medicine. Since American ginseng is a cold or mild tonic, one that will reduce "heat" in the system, while acting as a general tonic, it is often preferred by ginseng users in subtropical and tropical regions of Asia.

American ginseng is considered less potent than Asian ginseng and is often preferred for older or weaker patients. In the American herb market, this has been "translated" into the bias, either real or imagined, that Asian ginseng is preferred for men, while the more subtle-acting American ginseng is better for women.

Ginseng considered for a variety of healthcare uses

As mentioned on p. 64, in traditional Chinese medicine, Asian ginseng is considered a tonic and adaptogen to replenish vital energy (qi), increase strength, increase blood volume, promote appetite, quiet the spirit, and give wisdom. American ginseng benefits qi, nourishes yin, nurtures the lungs, promotes fluid production, and disperses heat. The vast majority of scientific research, including pharmacological and clinical studies conducted over the past 40 years, has involved Panax ginseng. Research has focused on: radioprotective, antitumor, antiviral, and metabolic effects; antioxidative activities; nervous system and reproductive performance; effects on cholesterol and lipid metabolism; and endocrinological activity. Research also suggests that ginseng has nonspecific immunostimulatory activity similar to that of the herb, echinacea.

Duke reports, in his Handbook, on a study by the late Russian ginseng researcher, I.I. Brekmann. Brekmann worked with 44 male subjects with two to five years of refractory impotence. After being administered a ginseng extract, 21 were reported to have a complete recovery, with marked improvement reported in another 11 subjects.

The active constituents of ginseng are called saponins. According to recent reports, there are at least 18 saponins found in Asian ginseng. American and Asian ginseng both contain different combinations of ginsenosides which can in part explain their different activities as understood by Asian traditional medicine practitioners.

Reliable studies on Asian ginseng also done in Europe

Most reliable clinical studies on Asian ginseng have been conducted in Europe. These studies have generally involved extracts of Asian ginseng standardized to 4 percent and 7 percent of ginsenosides. Results included a shortening of time to react to visual and auditory stimuli, increased respiratory quotient, increased alertness, power of concentration, grasp of abstract concepts, and increases in visual and motor coordination. Asian ginseng is also the subject of a German therapeutic monograph. The German health authorities allow Asian ginseng products to be labeled as a tonic for invigoration to treat fatigue, reduced work capacity and concentration, and as a tonic during convalescence.

In the 1993 book, The Complete Medicinal Herbal by Penelope Ody, an historical account of this herb reads as follows: ginseng has been "used in China for over 5,000 years; it was also known to 9th century Arab physicians.

"Marco Polo wrote of this prized wonder "drug," and when a delegation from the King of Siam visited Louis XIV, they presented him with a ginseng root. From then on, ginseng was widely used by wealthy Europeans for exhaustion and debility."

If history continues to repeat itself, ginseng will remain a subject of intense scientific research as world fascination with this extraordinary herb continues to grow.

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