Ginseng is an adaptogen that has been used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for thousands of years. As an adaptogen, it supports living organisms to maintain optimal homeostasis by exerting effects that counteract physiological changes caused by physical, chemical, or biological stressors. What does that mean? It helps your body even out based on the stressors- ginseng, in particular, is a stimulating adaptogen that can affect your mood, sexual health, energy, and more.
- Boosts Immunity: Boosting the immune system is one of ginseng’s health benefits. A study involving mice with lung infection concluded: “that a ginseng extract treatment induced a Th1-like immune response (cellular immune response) in the mice with Panax aeruginosa lung infection”.
- Increased Energy: In today’s society with everyone on the go, individuals tend to sacrifice sleep for more time to do things. Even though there are many remedies for low energy, studies on ginseng suggest “Ginseng is a promising treatment for fatigue. Both American and Asian ginseng may be viable treatments for fatigue in people with chronic illness.”
- Lowers Blood Glucose: Glucose is an important fuel for our bodies but sometimes too much in the blood is not a good thing. Also having high blood glucose is the main factor for developing/having diabetes. Like many other diseases, there are medications but if individuals wanted to take a natural approach a study was done on the effects of ginseng for diabetes and resulted that “the anti-diabetic effect of ginseng is positive for type 2 diabetic patients but has no significant impact on prediabetes or healthy adults”, which the difference is important to notice for individuals that have other types of diabetes.
- May Help Reduce Flu Symptoms: Influenza, a.k.a the flu is a viral infection that affects millions of people every year. While getting the flu shot annually can help reduce the chances of getting ill from the flu, ginseng has been show to help shorten the flu if you do catch it. In a study on the Korean red ginseng (KRG) and its effects on influenza-like illness (ILI) the results concluded: “if this study will be successfully performed, the KRG extract may offer beneficial effects in reducing ILI incidence”.
- Lowers Stress: In our overstimulated society, many individuals are finding themselves perpetually stressed out. Ginseng has been traditionally used as a remedy to fight stress- with one study finding it “provides a potential approach to regaining homeostasis after abnormal physiological changes caused by the stress of everyday life. The efficacy of this preparation has been demonstrated in various experiments conducted using human cells and animal models.”
- Boosts Brain Health and Function: Cognition is known as the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thoughts, experiences, and the senses. Many different diseases affect this process, one being Alzheimer’s disease. In an attempt to find natural solutions, one study was done with Korean red ginseng (KRP) on cognitive performance in humans. The results “suggest that the decreased latency in ERP is associated with improved cognitive function.”
- Lowers Blood Pressure: In the United States, blood pressure is often called the silent killer because it may not show symptoms. It can also put people at risk for heart diseases, heart failure, and stroke. Ginsent’s affect on blood pressure has been studied multiple times and it was concluded that “a mixed aqueous extract of salvia miltiorrhiza and P. notoginseng demonstrated anti-hypertensive effects by inhibition of arterial myogenic responses. The collective observations indicate that ginseng normalizes blood pressure and improves blood circulation.”
- Improves Liver Function: The liver is an important organ of the body, known for metabolizing food, excreting waste, and producing bile. Since ginseng is known to have anti-inflammatory properties, it has been used in studies that test it’s efficacy in treating several diseases, including alcoholic liver disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and hepatitis. This review illustrates that “Ginseng and its principal components, ginsenosides, have shown a wide array of pharmacological activities including a beneficial role in the regulation of liver functions and the treatment of liver disorders of acute/chronic hepatotoxicity, hepatitis,” and many others.
- May Help with Erectile Dysfunction: This condition is when a male can not get or keep an erection firm enough for sexual intercourse. It is known to be a common issue for males in the U.S. While there are several different pharmaceutical medications to treat this, there are also studies that “provide suggestive evidence for the effectiveness of red ginseng in the treatment of erectile dysfunction.”
- May Aid in Reducing Tumors: Cancer is a condition that still holds many mysteries to the health/medical community. It can affect any organ or part of the body and its treatment is known to be very taxing. The studies on the use of ginseng in treating tumors are promising, and conclude that “good evidence from in vitro and in vivo animal studies showing enhanced antitumor effect when ginseng is used in combination with some anticancer drugs”.
