Ginseng is widely well-known as energy tonic and commonly related to stamina booster, especially for men. However, there are a lot of people out there don’t know about the fact that generally there are two types of ginseng, first is Asian ginseng from genus Panax ginseng and second is American ginseng from the same genus Panax quinquefolius. Asian ginseng itself is still divided into some sub genus such as Panacis japonicus which is well known as Japanese ginseng, Korean Red Ginseng, South China Ginseng and so on. However, when it comes to the health benefits of Asian ginseng, only one type of ginseng you should refer to which is Panax ginseng.
What Is Asian Ginseng?
Asian ginseng is type of ginseng which grows in Asia region whether they were cultivated commercially or growing widely. The fact that ginseng has been used as medicinal herbs could be traced back to ancient China as early as 196 AD. Some studies have conducted in order to proof how effective ginseng as traditional medicine is and those studies lead to the fact that ginseng contains some active compounds such as ginsenoside and gintonin that make ginseng so special if compared to other roots of plants. Ginsenoside has significant effect to cardiovascular health as well as immunity system while gintonin is well known for its contribution to cellular regeneration and may be helpful to prevent conditions such as Alzheimer and dementia.
Nutritional Value of Asian Ginseng
As mentioned above, there are two essential compounds found in ginseng, ginsenoside and gintonin. However, there are more health benefits you could get from Asian ginseng because it is also packed with certain vitamins and minerals that are essential for human body metabolism. To learn more about the health benefits of Asian ginseng, below is the brief list:
- Excellent Immunity Booster
A specific study conducted in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, USA have found out that ginseng contains some active compounds that could help fighting certain viruses like influenza by neutralizing the virus and increasing the antibody. So, it has proved that ginseng is an excellent immunity booster.
- Good for Cardiovascular Health
There are some reasons why Asian ginseng is great for cardiovascular health. The first is ginseng contains sterols and esters which well known to be effective to smooth the blood flow. Second, ginseng is packed with iron which could help optimizing the production of red blood cells since RBCs are very essential for human body metabolism.
- Super Food for Brain
A clinical study conducted in Columbia University stated that ginseng contains active compound that could help increasing focus as well as memory. The same study also found out the possibility of ginseng to prevent and treat some conditions like dementia and Alzheimer. The fact that Asian ginseng could optimize the blood circulation will affect the brain in positive way whereas oxygen and nutrients will be optimally distributed to every single brain’s cell to optimize its function.
- Stimulates the Blood Regulation
When your blood regulation is disturbed there are a lot of health conditions that may occur and most of them will be related to your heart conditions. There are some factors such as the narrow artery caused by blood clot and cholesterol. Ginseng could help reducing the symptoms of high blood pressure by optimizing the blood circulation and regulation.
- Solution to Insomnia
Ginseng has been proven to be effective to overcome insomnia. The specific compound found in ginseng could stimulate the production of edocrine gland. It is a specific property that optimizing the nutrient absorption. Optimal nutrient absorption will lead to optimal body metabolism and those who have healthy metabolism will get a better sleep at night.
- Increases Male Vitality
The fact about the health benefits of ginseng for males has been well known since over centuries ago because during sexual activity, men should have the vitality. Ginseng is excellent energy booster and exactly what you need to improve blood circulation. That is why ginseng could increase male vitality.
- Prevents Premature Ejaculation
Some studies have found out that ginseng could help preventing premature ejaculation due to its ability to stimulate the endurance of erection. The active compound that is responsible to do that well known as bionin.
- Improves Stamina
There are a lot of studies and personal testimonies that stated ginseng is an excellent stamina booster. Ginseng contains saponin; it is an active compound to help accelerating the stamina recovery so whenever you feel you need an energy or stamina booster, drinking a tonic made from ginseng extract could be the best solution in this matter.
- Manages Blood Sugar Level
Ginseng is one of the health tonic widely used to help managing the blood sugar level in patients diagnosed with certain types of diabetes because some active compounds found in ginseng proven to be effective in lowering the blood sugar level. However, since the effect is very potent, you should discuss it with your doctor especially when you are taking certain medications as well or your blood sugar will drop dramatically.
- Natural Stress Reliever
Some studies have proven that ginseng is an excellent stress reliever by improving the metabolism and enhancing the energy level. Those two things will affect the mood significantly and as the result stress level will be reduced and conditions like anxiety and even symptoms of depression could be prevented.
Cautions of Asian Ginseng
It is quite hard to find fresh ginseng even if you are living in Asia countries. However, there are a lot of products claimed to be made from the extract of ginseng you could find easily in the marketplace. Unfortunately, you have to be extra careful since there is no way you could make sure whether the ginseng used in the product is as what you’ve expected. So, some cautions below are supposed to be taken into account.
- Find ginseng product from the reputable supplier only. It is even better if you have direct access to the fresh product but if you don’t you have to be extra careful when choosing products that claimed to be made from ginseng’s extracts.
- The key to consume ginseng is in moderate amount only especially when you have plan to consume it in long term because ginseng contains stimulant effect and in high dosage could lead to conditions like insomnia.
- For women, too much ginseng in their metabolism could affect their menstrual circle.
- There is always a chance of allergy reaction for those who never have ginseng before. If conditions like nausea, dizziness and headache occur after you consume ginseng, contacting your doctor immediately is highly recommended.
One interesting fact about ginseng you should know is while there are a lot of people or even professional practitioners who are willing to share their experience about the health benefits of Asian ginseng but scientifically, studies about ginseng are still very little and even some health benefits are not supported with strong evidences.