American Ginseng

Ginseng (American)

Scientific Name: Panax quinquefolium

Part used: Root

In a word: Boy energy plant

Uses: Male tonic, fatigue, poor sex drive, poor sexual performance, lack of endurance

When I sat down to write about ginseng, I did so with apprehension, partly because ginseng is a term that refers to several entirely different plants, partly because of the huge pile of papers I’d accumulated on the various ginsengs. They are after all the most-written-about and best-known herbal medicines in the world!

Let’s start at the beginning. There are several plants known as ginseng. Korean and Chinese ginseng are both Panax ginseng. American ginseng is Panax quinquefolium. Siberian ginseng is Eleutherococcus senticosus. These are three different plants each with a slightly different activity. In this fact sheet we will be discussing American ginseng (Panax quinquefolium.) What is said here about American ginseng does not always apply to the other species! When we talk about herbal medicine, we need to be specific. A grapefruit is not an orange though they too are related.

Despite the various ginsengs phenomenal popularity, many Westerners who have used "ginseng" say that it doesn’t work. And from the perspective of someone accustomed to Western medicine, they’re right. Ginseng doesn’t speed you up, slow you down, make you nervous, or do anything else that is immediately detectable. If you’re looking for something that makes feel different right away, something that acts like caffeine or an amphetamine, look elsewhere. This is not the way it works.

Ginseng, slowly but surely, improves vitality. As a consequence of improved health, one has more energy, feels better and looks better. However, it is not like taking a hit of speed. Western people are accustomed to a hit of speed. This is not it!

Perhaps the most important thing to realize is that due to its anabolic nature, ginseng acts in a manner that may not be noticeable at first. Give it time.

In talking about American ginseng, we will start by talking about Chinese ginseng. To the Chinese, Panax ginseng is the supreme tonic for both the treatment and the prevention of all illnesses. Incredible longevity is said to come with its daily use. At some point in time, every culture in the world has looked for the fountain of youth. The Chinese feel they have found it in ginseng. Inspired both by its power and by the unusual, vaguely human shape of its roots, countless myths surround the plant. One belief is that ginseng forms when lightning strikes the earth, and as such, it contains all the energy previously possessed by the lightning bolt, energy which is then conveyed to the eater. Perhaps the most colorful Chinese legend holds that over time the root of the ginseng develops an increasingly manlike form, and after 300 years, the root gets up and walks away from its spot in the ground. Though this being can pass for human, its blood is white rather than red; if the creature can be caught, its blood is so healing that is can resuscitate a dead man. But the capture has to happen soon after the root-man leaves the earth, as he is star-bound, on his way to live among the constellations.

Whether you believe ginseng can get up and take a walk or not, there is something special about the plant that does not yield to rational explanation. Throughout their history, the Chinese have more than believed in ginseng, they have gone to great extremes to get their hands on the substance, and in the early 18^th century, the insatiable demand spread from Asia to the Americas. The North American ginseng, Panax quinqefolium, came to the attention of Europeans when Father Joseph Lafitau, who had been a missionary in China, identified the similar North American plant growing near a Mohawk village in Canada in 1716.

Lafitau learned of the plant from a Father Jartoux, who two years earlier had written A Description of a Tartarian Plant Called Ginseng. In this work, Jartoux detailed his personal experiences with the plant while in China and correctly predicted the discovery of ginseng in North America, based upon a comparison of the climates of China and Canada. Jartoux set up ovens for curing the roots, and had the Mohawks gather and process them to be sold to the Chinese. By 1717, ginseng was being brought from as far away as Green Bay, Wisconsin, by the Fox Indians, and shipped to Hong Kong via France!

However, in 1752, a shipment of spoiled roots so shattered the faith of the Asian buyers and the market dwindled. However, in the process American ginseng came to the fore as a formidable tonic plant. The high demand in America for the drug threatened to eradicate what was always a rare plant. By 1798, John Drayton of South Carolina said of ginseng, "It is so much sought after by the Cherokees for trade, it is by no means as plentiful as it used to be in this state." Ginseng gathering had begun to be a way of life for many pioneers. A man could go "sang hunting" and return with a fortune, or, in those perilous times, never return at all.

Both the Native Americans and the early colonists who gathered the roots for trade also used ginseng for a variety of medicinal purposes themselves. The colonists made it into tea to encourage the appetite or strengthen the digestion, particularly of elderly persons or puny children. Ginseng plus black cherry and yellowroot made a potent tonic, especially with the addition of some homemade whiskey, and an early herbal suggested gathering ginseng root and steeping it with chamomile flowers for fainting females. Colonel William Byrd, in his History of the Dividing Line, wrote:

To help cure fatigue, I used to chew a root of ginseng as I walked along. This kept up my spirits. It gives an uncommon warmth and vigor to the blood. It cheers the heart of a man that has a bad wife, and makes him look down with great composure upon the crosses of the world. It will make old age amiable by rendering it lively, cheerful, and good humored.

By 1800, several patent medicines on the market featured "seng" or "sang-tone," and between 1889 and 1905, ginseng farms popped up all over the United States, with centers in Amberg, Wisconsin, and Chardon, Ohio. Ironically, the United States buys ginseng products from Asia that are made with roots raised in America and shipped abroad for processing.

Few medicinal plants have been more widely or thoroughly researched than ginseng. One recent study shows that ginseng seems to do the work of the hormones which the adrenal cortex naturally produces in response to everyday stress. As a result, the body does not have to manufacture them in such large amounts, and the adrenal cortex does not become overworked.

In addition to sex hormones, the adrenal glands manufacture hormones that regulate sugar metabolism and hormones that regulate the mineral content of body tissues. Adaptive as it is, this vital organ was not designed to work well under conditions of frequent or prolonged stress. These are the conditions of modern life, and they can lead to a number of diverse symptoms, including high blood pressure, heart disease, ulcers, anxiety, and chronic fatigue. A variety of tests on animals confirm that ginseng plays a positive role in combating stress.

In one experiment, chickens were exposed to extreme cold over a two-month period. This normally tends to decrease their egg-laying capacity, but the hens that received daily doses of ginseng continued to produce as usual, laying over twice as many eggs as the control group.

In another experiment, mice were made to run on an inclined moving ramp. The mice treated with extracts of ginseng for 12 days prior to the test were able to run on the ramp 50 percent longer than the untreated group. Laboratory rats that were not treated with ginseng lived an average of about 659 days; those that were given ginseng lived an average of about 768 days. Similar tests have not yet been performed on humans, but the equivalent of this difference would amount to an extension of the average life span by about ten years. I would settle for an extra ten years.

An anabolic is a substance that builds up the general health of the body by regulating the burning of energy. The opposite of an anabolic is a catabolic (the drug amphetamine is a good example). It temporarily gives a person more energy, but does so by tearing down the body’s energy reserves. In a sense, one process is healthy and constructive; the other process is unhealthy and can be destructive if it is continued for a long period of time. The steroid constituents of ginseng are so similar in their structure to the body’s own anabolic agents that it is certainly very feasible that they act in a similar manner.

In addition to its steroid components, ginseng also contains vitamins B1 and B2, calcium, potassium, iron, sodium, silicon, magnesium, titanium, barium, strontium, aluminum, manganese, sugar, starch, mucilage, and a number of substances that are unique to the plant. These include panasen, which some researchers believe has a direct stimulant effect on the brain similar to that of caffeine; gensenin, which somewhat resembles insulin in its effects and probably explains the beneficial effect of ginseng in the treatment of diabetes; and panoxic acid, which facilitates the efficient functioning of the cardiovascular system, helps prevent the formation of cholesterol, and is thought to facilitate burning of the body’s fat deposits. Also present are panaxin, a substance that directly stimulates the central nervous system and acts as a tonic to the heart and circulatory system, and panaquilon, a substance believed to stimulate the endocrine system in general and to maintain proper hormone levels in the body.

The literature on ginseng’s healthful benefits is voluminous. Its anti-stress capabilities are well documented. For our purposes, though, perhaps the most important thing to realize is that due to its anabolic nature, ginseng acts in a manner that may not be noticeable at first. Give it time. Regular users of ginseng report that they are less tired at the end of a hard week. Many people with busy, hectic schedules say that they feel less tension under pressure and have more energy left over to do the things they want to do. And that’s something all of us could use.

Practitioners’ Advice

Ginseng can be used to generally increase vitality when vitality has been reduced by either age or illness. In the case of age, it is best used by men. Some of its constituents are male hormone like and regular use by women can cause hormone irregularities. This is especially true if the women is menopausal or suffers from hormone irregularities. So, for men, it is best used when the sun has begun to set a bit as a daily male tonic. For women, it is best used when one is recovering from a major illness and a little boost in vitality is needed. Men can also use it when they are recovering from an illness!

QUICK REVIEW

History: Long used in Asia to improve male health

Science: Contains steroids that increase testosterone levels

Practitioners opinion: Best used by men over age 45

Directions: Tablets: 2-200mg tablets twice daily

Tincture (1:5, 25% alcohol): 2.5ml 3 times daily