Asian ginseng

Name: Asian ginseng

Other Names: Asiatic ginseng, Chinese ginseng, Korean red ginseng, Oriental ginseng, Ginseng, Panax ginseng

Description: Asian ginseng is a member of the Araliaceae family, which also includes the closely related American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) and less similar Siberian ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosus), also known as eleuthero. Asian ginseng commonly grows on mountain slopes and is usually harvested in the fall. The root is used, preferably from plants older than six years of age.
The botanical name Panax means "all-heal" in Greek, and was applied to this genus because Linnaeus was aware of its wide use in Chinese medicine.

Traditional uses

Both American and Panax (Asian) ginseng rhizomes are taken orally as adaptogens, aphrodisiacs, nourishing stimulants, and in the treatment of type II diabetes, including sexual dysfunction in men. The rhizome 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 rhizome it is 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 does not have measurable medicinal effects. It can be found in cosmetic preparations as well, with similar lack of effect. It is considered a wasteful use of important herbs by herbalists.

Ginseng root can be double steamed with chicken meat as a soup. (See samgyetang.)

Modern science and ginseng

As with herbalism in general, ginseng's medical efficacy remains controversial. It has been difficult to verify the medicinal benefits of ginseng using modern science, as there are contradictory results from different studies, possibly due to the wide variety and quality of ginseng used in studies. Another issue is the profit potential of corporate research since ginseng cannot be patented. As a result, high-quality studies of the effects of ginseng are rare. Ironically, one of the better studies involving ginseng actually uses a proprietary ginseng extract.

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 does indicate it to be "a promising dietary supplement" when assessed for an increase in quality of life.

Panax ginseng appear to inhibit some characteristics associated with cancer in animal models; nevertheless, this effect is unclear in humans.

There are references in the literature, including seemingly authoritative compendiums that appear to 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 (Panax 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 Panax 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 is documented by conventional medical authorities such as Stockley’s , and is repeated in several botanical monographs e.g. World Health Organization (WHO 1999).[6][7][8]

[edit] Ginseng, Nitric Oxide, 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[9]In males, ginsenosides can facilitate penile erection. This is consistent with traditional Chinese medicine and Native American medicinal uses of ginseng.

Side effects

One of Panax ginseng's most common side-effects is the inability to sleep. Other side-effects include nausea, diarrhea, euphoria, headaches, epistaxis, high blood pressure, low blood pressure, mastalgia, and vaginal bleeding.

Overdose

The common adaptogen ginsengs (Panax ginseng and Panax quinquefolia) are generally considered to be relatively safe even in large amounts.

Panax ginseng is not 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".

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 Panax quinquefolius. Ginseng is characterized by the presence of ginsenosides.

Also listed as: Asian ginseng; Asiatic ginseng; Chinese ginseng; Korean red ginseng; Oriental ginseng; Panax ginseng.

According to Traditional Chinese/Korean Medicine Panax Ginseng promotes Yang energy, improves circulation, increases blood supply, revitalizes and aids recovery from weakness after illness, stimulates the body. Panax Ginseng is available in two forms:
The form called white ginseng is grown for four to six years, and then peeled and dried to reduce the water content to 12% or less. White Ginseng is air dried in the sun and may contain less of the therapeutic constituents. It is thought by some that enzymes contained in the root break down these constituents in the process of drying. Drying in the sun bleaches the root to a yellowish-white color.
The form called red ginseng is harvested after six years, is not peeled and is steam-cured, thereby giving them a glossy reddish-brown coloring. Steaming the root is thought to change its biochemical composition and also to prevent the breakdown of the active ingredients. The roots are then dried.

One of Panax ginseng's most common side-effects is the inability to sleep. Other side-effects include nausea, diarrhea, euphoria, headaches, epistaxis, high blood pressure, low blood pressure, mastalgia, and vaginal bleeding