Subject: GINSENG AND THE BODY: INFORMATION

From: [email-masked] (Jacques M. GERIN)
Date: 22 May 1995 16:49:52 -0300

GINSENG

Ginseng is a short perennial plant of the Araliaceae
 botanical family.  It grows naturally on the slopes of
ravines and shady, well-drained mountainous
 hardwood forests.  It bears five compound leaves on
a single stalk at maturity.  An insignificant grey
flower blooms each spring and by late summer turns
into a cluster of crimson fruit from which the
ginseng seed is obtained.  The plant grows between
7 and 21 inches in height when wild.  The root is
creamy yellow or white, resembling a parsnip with
rootlets that branches off, sometimes taking the
shape of a human body.  The root is the part that
is consumed.  Ginseng is the most widely used
medicinal herb in the Orient.

Ginseng is very costly and difficult to grow properly
and bring to harvest.  World consumption of ginseng
has grown to such proportions that 98% of all
ginseng produced for market is cultivated.  An
interesting fact about ginseng is that once a ginseng
garden is grown and harvested, ginseng cannot be
grown in the same soil for at least 20 to 25 years and
possibly never.  It is known as the most expensive
legal agricultural crop in the world.

There are only two varieties of ginseng plant of
major commercial value:  Panax Ginseng (called
Chinese or Korean ginseng) is grown in Asia and is
the oldest known.  Panax Quinquefolium, called
North American Ginseng, is a plant native to eastern
North America.  Interestingly, the two varieties have
somewhat different effects on the body.  Panax
Ginseng tends to warm or stimulate the body, while
Panax Quinquefolium cools or soothes while giving
energy.

Today, there are an estimated 400 ginseng growers
in Ontario, Canada, farming about 1,600 hectares.
In 1994, the farm-gate value of ginseng in Southern
Ontario exceeded $50 million.  Ontario Ginseng
growers sell their product primarily as dried root but
there is increasing interest in value-added products
such as powder for tea, capsules, candies, hand
cream, moisture cream, soaps, etc.

To the native people of this land, Ontario Ginseng 
was already a valued part of the diet long before the
arrival of Asian and European immigrants.  Panax 
comes from the ancient Greek language and means
all healing or cure-all.  Historical information shows
that the trade of ginseng, including Ontario grown
root, was at one time, second only to that of the fur
trade.

THE  MANY  USES  OF  GINSENG

In ancient China and Korea, ginseng was used as an
aid and curative agent for a wide variety of
maladies.  Here is a partial listing of conditions that
ginseng was used for, taken from the herbal
pharmacology books of China and Korea:
Weakness and for revitalisation of strength,
bronchitis, asthma, malfunction of kidneys and
spleen, cold hands and feet, stomach or digestive
problems, nausea, arthritis, gout, rheumatism, high
blood pressure, insomnia, weakness after childbirth,
and the list continues.

With such an impressive record as a curative agent,
western medical researchers have become interested
within the past few years to determine whether this
unusual looking root has any medicinal value.
Results are coming in with almost all stating that
ginseng does have unique effects on the human
body.

In 1969, Drs Brekhman, W. Sterner and Kitagawa et
al., showed in test results that ginseng has an
antifatigue effect.  Based on Dr. Brekhman's
findings, ginseng has been made an integral part of
the Russian space program.  The interesting fact is
that test results support what the Orientals have been
saying for 5000 years.  Research is continuing in
many countries and we may expect continuing
favourable results.

Today, many people use ginseng to help combat
fatigue and to obtain an energy boost.  Many
serious advocates use ginseng regularly for a variety
of ills caused by stress, tension and overwork.
With newly found knowledge by western medical
science, some doctors have been prescribing
ginseng-made pharmaceutics for their patients.

KOREAN  RED  GINSENG

The Korean government licenses all ginseng farms
and supervises the planting of plots.  This is to
ensure that only the best quality ginseng is grown.
The growers are required to sell their crop of six
-year old roots to the Office of Monopoly.  The
roots are then sorted according to quality.  Roots
that do not pass stringent inspections, although they
may be of very good quality, are sold back to the
growers for use in the manufacture of Korean White
Ginseng products.  The chosen roots are then
cleaned and steamed by a special process, and dried
in a natural atmosphere.  This process changes the
colour of the ginseng root to a deep red colour.

CHINESE  GINSENG

Fusong County of Jilin Province, known as the
birthplace of ginseng, along the upper reaches of the
Second Songhua River has a 300-year history of
planting ginseng.  In 1983, the area produced 850
tons of ginseng.  Almost every family grows ginseng
in addition to the four state-run plantation farms.  In
recent years, ginseng growers have made great
progress in controlling plant diseases and insect
pests, increasing the output from 1949's one jin (one
half kilogram) per square meter to the present 2.5 jin
(l.25 kilograms) per square meter of land.

A wild ginseng can be more than 100 years old.  Its
white, fleshy, spindle-like roots with many odd
-looking branches often resemble the shape of the
human body.  The vast Changbai Mountains were
rich in wild ginseng 300 years ago when people
could freely collect and sell ginseng.  In the Qing
Dynasty (1644-1911), the royal court enacted strict
decrees.  Those who hired people to excavate
ginseng, whether of the Manchu or Han nationality,
were exiled to the Yunnan frontier.  Those obtaining
one liang (50 grams) of ginseng without permission
were flogged 60 times, and served one year of hard
labour, and those caught with 50 liang (2.5 kg.)
were flogged 100 times and exiled to the frontier,
3,000 li (1,500 km) away from their homes.
However, in the late Qing Dynasty, a limited
number of people were allowed to collect ginseng,
with the good quality ginseng presented to the royal
court.  The ginseng collectors led miserable lives
under the heavy exploitation of the rulers and
traders.

Ginseng can “build up health, ease nerves, brighten
eyes, develop intelligence and lengthen life"
according to Li Shi-Zhen's Outline of Herb
Medicine, written in the Ming Dynasty (1368-
1644).  Ginseng is widely used in medicine as well
as a flavouring agent in food and drinks.  China has
records of ginseng's medical usage in the Qin and
Han Dynasties (221BC-220AD).

CANADIAN  GINSENG  RESEARCH

Approximately 29 different ginsenosides have been
identified as the active ingredients of the ginseng
plant.  Twenty of these are present in varying levels
in both Asian Ginseng and North American Ginseng.
Although common to both varieties, the most recent
studies show that Ontario Ginseng contains a
higher concentration of these common ingredients.
Most notable are the higher concentrations of the Rb
and Rg ginsenosides.  The nine other ginsenosides
which are present in only the North American
Ginseng are known as adaptogens, the ingredients
responsible for relaxing the body systems.

Ginseng research in Canada is in its youth, but is
growing at a rapid pace.  The most promising
research has been conducted as a result of the
isolation of the Rb1 component from the many
naturally occurring compounds in Panax 
Quinquefolium.  Tests were performed to discover
any beneficial effects that this very special
component could have on memory retention.  As a
result, Dr. Lawrence Wang, a zoology professor
associated with the University of Alberta's research
into traditional medicines has patented, and recently
secured registration with the US Food and Drug
Administration, the use of Rb1 for the treatment of
Alzheimer's disease.  A highly knowledgeable team
of doctors, professors, and researchers have joined
together to form the Canadian Ginseng Research
Foundation.

Dr. T. Francis of the University of Toronto will be
examining the effects that Ontario Ginseng has on
stress levels.  Dr. C. Chan of McMaster University
is studying the power of Ontario Ginseng as a
potential calcium blocker for use in the treatment of
heart disease.  Dr. Larry Wang is furthering his
studies with Ontario Ginseng and its role in
memory functions.  In the Fall of 1995, scientists at
the University of Toronto will commence a research
project on the effects of Ontario Ginseng in the
treatment of diabetes. Canadian research into the
potential medicinal properties of Panax
Quinquefolium is on the leading edge and ongoing.

“Help the body help itself”.  Energize the body!
NOT ALL GINSENG SOLD IN STORES IS THE
SAME.  We provide Ontario ginseng (i.e.  Panax
quinquefolium) capsules and other products.  We are
authorized agents.  For more info, please contact
Jacques M. GERIN at Internet address
<[email-masked]>.