Dec 02
This article gives a good overview of ginseng.
DAAN offers a variety of ginseng products.
Did you know there are different types of ginseng and they are all considered potent herbs for helping the body adapt to stress – both mental and physical. Ginseng is best known for its ability to stimulate your immune system and fight fatigue and stress. Several dozen studies have shown that ginseng enhances physical and mental performance, improves mood, and aids metabolic function. Other studies suggest ginseng maybe anti-inflammatory and can provide a wealth of benefits including: improved blood cholesterol; lowered liver toxicity; lowered blood sugar levels; improved blood oxygen flow; control of respiratory diseases; and enhanced stamina.
Nov 30
Natural herbs like ginseng are encouraged to be used for treating diabetes. DAAN offers an array of ginseng products that can help you enhance your well-being.
Those who feel they are at risk for developing diabetes may want to start taking diabetes natural remedies such as ginseng and magnesium to help curb the severity of the disease, as it was recently found that costs for treatment could triple by 2034.
According to a study found in Diabetes Care, researchers found that diabetic cases across the U.S. will double to 44.1 million in the next 25 years, and costs for treatment will be upwards of $336 billion. Additionally, medicare spending on diabetes will increase to $171 billion from $45 billion in the same time period.
Tagged with: diabetes
Nov 27
Ginseng is known for its ability to increase energy and endurance, but it can also work wonders for your sex life:
To support my suspicions about what was causing my friend’s amorous behavior, the 2006 book “Ginseng Dreams: The Secret World of America’s Most Valuable Plant,” by Kristin Johannsen, reveals that one of ginseng’s medicinal properties is the aphrodisiacal effect. According to Johannsen, ginseng has a powerful aphrodisiacal affect based on several studies. Johannsen also discusses the research carried out by Laura Murphy, a scientist and instructor in the physiology department at the University of Southern Illinois. Murphy tested the effects of American ginseng on rats, and she was surprised at the results. She found the ginseng-fed rats’ libido and performance rate was much higher than that of the control group. The effects of ginseng were much more effective on the libido than cocaine, marijuana or prescription drugs. I think I will be cooking with ginseng oil all the time!
Ginseng is a perennial plant belonging to the Araliaceae botanical family, which includes carrots, celery and parsnips. The root is yellowish with a creamy texture like parsnips. The word ginseng literally means “man plant,” because the shape of the ginseng root is similar to that of a human being. Ginseng is also known as the tiger of the plant world, and as the plant that hides from man, because it grows slowly and favors the deep forests. The botanical name Panax was later given to ginseng, and it means “all healing” or “cure-all” in Greek.
History suggests that ginseng was discovered in the mountains of Northern China over 5,000 years ago. It is also believed that ginseng was used as a food source and a medicinal remedy over 3,000 years ago. Ginseng is highly prized and respected by American and Chinese herbalists. The belief is that ginseng helps the body and mind stay in balance. It is also believed that ginseng improves the function of the heart and nervous system, and that it stimulates the endocrine gland. The popularity of ginseng was so great at one point that the plant almost became extinct!
Three North American Indian tribes used the ginseng root for its medicinal power and health benefits. The American settlers discovered ginseng in the 18th century in the New England region of the United States. By 1850, so much ginseng was being harvested and exported to Asia that it almost became extinct. Initially, attempts to cultivate ginseng failed until the early 1900s, when the East Coast farmers began to grown ginseng in small gardens.
Nov 19
Ginseng has powerful effect in sexual virility. DAAN has extensive ginseng products.
Ginseng is a plant traditionally grown in Southern Asia especially in places like China, Korea, Eastern Siberia and Vietnam. Typically, ginseng thrives in cooler climates. However because of its highly potent curative qualities, the ginseng plant has been cultivated in America, parts of Europe and Africa including Uganda.
The word ginseng comes from the Chinese term renshen which literally means “man root”, referring to the root’s characteristic shape which is like the legs of a man complete with a penis-like structure. Its genetic name pinax ginseng portends its healing properties, for the word pinax means “all heal”, alluding to its power to cure a wide variety of ailments.
The wonder plant is said to act as a stress reducer and energizer for those suffering from fatigue. It is effective in regulating low and high blood pressure, giving mental clarity, physical stamina and generally bolstering the immune system. Scientists have also found the plant to normalise sugar in type two diabetes.
In the Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Herbs, the drug is classified as an aphrodisiac. It has complex compounds that scientists have not yet been able to synthesise yet. These compounds improve sexual performance of both men and women and can even be used to treat frigidity, impotence and erectile dysfunction.
On gardensablaze.com, a website of medicinal plants is a list of ailments ginseng can cure. For example it can clear chest congestion, wheezing, persistent cough and insomnia. Dr. Gerald Luzindana of Kisakye Nutrition and Reflexology Centre says that the herb also strengthens the liver, heart, pancreas, spleen and kidneys, which organs are the most essential for all body functions. Ginseng is not listed as one of the drugs banned by the International sports association. Therefore sports men and women can and do use it to improve their performance. It improves memory and can do wonders for one’s grades in school. However ginseng has to be consumed regularly over a period of at least two months if any tangible results are to be seen.
Nov 19
Wisconsin, a ginseng growing state, is looking to China to bolster its economy.
WAUSAU — In a cavernous warehouse amid rolling hills and dairy farms, a group of farmers recently gathered around a buyer in a conversation heralding a sea change in the United States.
“I don’t think you Americans get it,” said the buyer, dressed casually in designer brands and sporting a watch worth as much as the mud-splattered GM trucks in the parking lot outside. “We need quality. We demand quality. Top quality. If you work with me, we can win together. But if you don’t, there’s nothing I can do.”
Being harangued by a pharmaceutical company executive from China was new for these burly farmers, but no one complained. These tough men from the American Midwest treated their Chinese guest as a savior of sorts, in an important economic and cultural reality that has confronted President Obama on his first visit to China.
In China, Obama has encountered not simply a rising global power but a nation that is transforming and challenging the way Americans live overseas and at home, from college classrooms to real estate offices to the ginseng farms of central Wisconsin.
Americans have been selling “Panax quinquefolius” to China since 1784 when the first China-bound trading ship sailed from New York to Canton, today’s Guangzhou, weighed down with 30 tons of the root, prized in Asia for medicinal properties. But today the U.S. ginseng industry, centered here in Wisconsin, is on its back, kicked down by bogus imitations from Chinese competitors and state-subsidized crops from Canada.
Nov 16
Ginseng is known for its effectiveness in boosting one’s energy and maintaining one’s overall health. DAAN carries a variety of ginseng products, one of our best seller is the DAAN Pure American Ginseng Tea.
You all know the feeling. It starts with a whisper of discomfort, then the tell-tale scratchy throat, then suddenly, before you can even reach for a lozenge, you’re a goner: sneezing, runny nose, and then full-blown congestion and general misery. Despite best efforts to pretend you’re not sick, you inevitably utter those famous, cold-remedy commercial words: “Hudey, I’ve got a code id my dose.”
Yes, you’ve got a cold. Now what? Echinacea. Ginseng. Chicken soup: check, check, check. Some old, and some (relatively) new, all are purported cold remedies, recommended with varying degrees of vigour by friends, loved ones, and occasionally health practitioners. But what about the evidence? Last week, we looked at the research surrounding the use of vitamin C, zinc, vitamin D and garlic for preventing and reducing the severity of the common cold. This week, we follow up with some of the other most well-known cold remedies – including your mom’s favourite, chicken soup.
Nov 12
This time of year colds and the flu are all around us and we need to keep our immune system strong to ward off their effects. Ginseng can help strengthen your immune system:
Long used in traditional medicine to boost energy and stimulate the immune system, ginseng got a shot in the arm after a much-publicized 2005 study from the Canadian Medical Association Journal. The placebo-controlled trial (which means that some subjects were given pills that contained active ingredients, while some were given pills that did not) examined the benefits of COLD-fX, a ginseng-derived product, on otherwise healthy individuals who had a history of upper respiratory tract infections. The results were impressive: When taken regularly, not only did the product, which is made from a proprietary extract of North American panax ginseng, reduce the frequency of upper respiratory tract infections, it also reduced the duration and severity of symptoms when subjects did get sick. Other studies on elite athletes and the elderly have produced similar results.
It seems that ginseng stimulates the immune system in a couple of different ways, though the mechanisms are only now being understood. For the average person, however, all they need to know is that it seems to help you feel better, faster. And for most people, it seems ginseng is safe, though it should be avoided by individuals taking anti-coagulents (like Warfarin), pregnant or breastfeeding women and those with kidney and liver problems. Of course, most of the research has been limited to this one particular – and proprietary – strain of ginseng; it remains to be seen if other preparations work as well.
Oct 20
We have to remember that alternative medicines ARE medicines. It’s very important to talk to your physician if you are taking herbal remedies. This article contains some useful information about certain herbs and their interactions with drugs:
About 70 per cent of people now use herbs and other supplements routinely but are not necessarily aware of the dangers that may be associated with them when mixed with health problems, drugs, general anaesthetics and surgery.
A survey showed that the most used herbs are echinacea, ginseng and gingko biloba, but St Johns Wort, which has some special side effects, is also commonly used.
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Siberian ginseng was used for over 2000 years in China, and Russian cosmonauts used it for alertness and energy and to aid adaptation to the stresses of life in space.
This herb helps to balance and protect from stress. It also helps the immune system and athletes use it believing it helps endurance performance and power.
It can help reduce the bad cholesterols, LDL and triglycerides and has generally been used for stress, nervous exhaustion and anxiety, as well as fatigue.
It is generally well tolerated but care must be taken because of some significant theoretical interactions with blood thinners, chemotherapy and diabetic medications.
In addition, care should be taken when taking Siberian ginseng if you have hypertension, heart disease, diabetes and you should not take it while pregnant.
Oct 18
Some good advice for fighting the flu using herbs:
Another way to enhance immune function is to take immune-boosting herbs. A great deal of research shows that some herbs activate the immune system against colds, flu and other diseases. For example:
* Andrographis Chilean researchers gave either a medically inert placebo or Andrographis (1,200 mg per day) to 158 adults who felt colds coming on. After five days, “Andrographis had a high degree of effectiveness in reducing symptoms.” The herb cut the severity and duration of sore throat and nasal symptoms in half. A Swedish study compared Andrographis and a standard antiviral drug (amantadine, Symmetrel) for treatment of flu. The herb worked almost as well as the more costly drug. Andrographis is available at health food stores and supplement shops. Take 1,200 mg a day or follow package directions.
* Echinacea “Echinacea is my favorite immune booster,” says James Duke, Ph.D., retired director of medicinal herb research for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But Echinacea is controversial. Some studies show strong immunity rallying against colds. Others show no benefit. Swiss researchers analyzed what they called “the three best studies” and found that Echinacea cuts cold risk in half. It’s available at health food stores and supplement shops. Follow package directions.
* Ginseng Asians revere ginseng as an immune booster and total-body health promoter.
Canadian researchers gave 279 adults, ages 18 to 65, either a placebo or dose of ginseng (200 mg twice a day). Four months later, the ginseng group suffered fewer than half as many colds — and the ones they did develop were brief and mild. Likewise, University of Connecticut researchers gave flu shots to 43 people over 65 years, plus a placebo or ginseng (200 mg twice a day). The ginseng group was 50 percent less likely to develop flu. Finally, at Eastern Virginia Medical School, researchers gave flu shots to 198 nursing home residents, plus either a placebo or ginseng (200 mg twice a day). After three months, the ginseng group was an astonishing 89 percent less likely to catch flu.
Ginseng is available at health food stores and supplement shops. Take 200 mg twice a day or follow package directions.
