Ginseng has always been shrouded in folklore and magic. Like the rich mountain forests where it grows naturally, it’s use dates way back into the mists of antiquity.

Ginseng is a perennial herb belonging to the genus Panax, which is derived from the Greek word Panakos, or panacea in English, meaning an all-healing remedy.

Both the Asian and American varieties are employed medicinally, sharing the same growth habits and virtually the same appearance, with the only difference being that the Asian variety is larger.

American Ginseng
American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) is found throughout the deciduous mountain forests of Central and Eastern North America. The first specimens of American ginseng were transported to Europe in 1704.

It should come as no surprise that the North American Indians also knew of and utilized ginseng root for its medicinal qualities. They called it Garantoquen, which translates as “like a man,” in reference to its forked root structure, which closely resembles the shape of a man (albeit with the help of a little imagination). Interestingly, the Mandarin name for ginseng, ren shen, shares a similar meaning. In fact, the Chinese character for the “shen” also resembles the shape of the root.

American Indians have a particular method of harvesting the root whereby it is only harvested after the red fruit of the plant has reached maturity. They then bend the stem down to the ground before proceeding to dig the root. This method reportedly increases the germination rate and provides for a greater future yield.

The Sioux Indian women had especially well-developed ways of cleaning and processing ginseng, and were said to collect the finest root of all the tribes.

Asian Ginseng

Asian ginseng (Panax ginseng) is found primarily in the Northern Hemisphere and mainly in China, Tibet, Mongolia, and Korea. The Korean and Manchurian species are traditionally considered the most highly prized. Wealthy Chinese will pay up to $200,000 for the vitality-enhancing properties of a premium grade ginseng root.

These highly prized roots are found growing wild in the mountainous regions of Korea and the Changbai and Xiaoxinganling Mountains in China’s northeast. They grow on steep slopes at heights between 500 meters to 1,100 meters above sea level.

Wild ginseng growing in ancient forests with deep loamy soil and moisture-laden air is found to have a much greater potency than ginseng grown commercially out of its natural environment. This bears witness to the fact that the nature a plant possesses is intimately connected to its native environment.

According to Taoist philosophy, ginseng is described as having a slightly cold nature because it grows in the cold and shadowy mountains. It is said to possess more Yin. Ginseng is also slightly Yang since it grows on the mountain slopes, which are considered to be Yang.

Healing Qualities
Of the five elements known in Chinese medicine, ginseng is considered part of the Earth element since its growth habitat is in the mountains. It is slightly sweet in nature.

Each of the five elements has organs that correlate to them. The spleen and stomach belong to the Earth element; therefore, the sweetness in ginseng can fortify the Yang of the spleen and stomach, sending energy throughout the entire body. According to Chinese herbal medicine, a sweet taste can moisten, tone and improve vital energy.

Ginseng is indeed the most highly valued of all herbs by Chinese physicians and its use dates back at least 5,000 years. There are many health benefits attributed to it, leading many Western scientists to ponder how one herb can have such wide-ranging therapeutic uses. The answer to this is relatively simple when we understand what the traditional Chinese physicians knew very well: ginseng’s primary effect in the body is to normalized pituitary gland function.

The pituitary and the thyroid gland regulate the production of other hormones in the body

Related posts:

1. How ginseng can help keep you healthy
2. Exporting Korean red ginseng to China
3. Harvesting ginseng

DAAN offers quality ginseng products for your needs.

Worried about the swine flu? Worried about the H1N1 vaccination?

Staying healthy during the holidays is tough enough which is why Oprah’s favorite doctor, Dr. Oz, is giving tips on how to stay healthy this holiday season – Specifically recommending North American Ginseng.

“No matter where you’re going or how you are getting there, I recommend you always carry a travel kit,” says Dr. Oz. “Which includes hand sanitizer, antibacterial wipes and North American Ginseng.”

He adds, “North American Ginseng is the one thing that we have shown to be correlated with reduction in flu. In populations where people take it, there seems to be a lower incidence of viral spread.”

Dr. Oz offers other tips for how to fly safely and how to protect yourself and your loved ones when staying a hotel room. Read the full article from Us magazine

Related posts:

1. Singapore using TCM to fight H1N1
2. Chinese government recommends TCMs for H1N1 flu
3. TCM may be another alternative in fight against H1N1

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.

Related posts:

1. Ginseng may help with cancer pain and fatigue
2. Ginseng, what it is, what it does
3. Ginseng for inflammation

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.

Related posts:

1. Ginseng and diabetes
2. Managing diabetes with herbs
3. Herbs and diabetes

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.

Related posts:

1. Ginseng!
2. Ginseng
3. Deer threaten ginseng

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.

Related posts:

1. Ginseng, the amazing herb
2. The aphrodisiac qualities of ginseng
3. Ginseng

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.

Related posts:

1. Wisconsin Ginseng farmers face tough competition
2. Ginseng harvest
3. Ginseng may help with cancer pain and fatigue

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.

Related posts:

1. Ginseng soup
2. Chinese herbs and colds and flus
3. The healing power of soup

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.

Related posts:

1. Fruits and Vegetables with Right Mix of Antioxidants Helps to Boost the Immune System
2. Ginseng for inflammation
3. Ginseng for sexual health

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.

…

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.

Related posts:

1. Siberian ginseng
2. Tell your doctor if you take herbal supplements!
3. Herbs for depression