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| Courtesy of: http://newspaper.li/ginseng/ |
The ginseng plant, a slow-growing perennial found mostly in the Northern Hemisphere, bears the genus name 'Panax', meaning "all-heal", and its name is quite fitting too. Only the roots are used in medicine as they contain the majority of the active compounds called ginsenosides. Throughout the ages, ginseng has been prescribed to:
· help reduce stress and anxiety
· toughen the immune system
· fight fatigue
· correct blood sugar
· increase libido/treat impotence
Recent
findings suggest that the Ginseng root can even improve memory, regulate sleep,
and protect cells against oxidative damage from radicals and heavy metals.
In a study conducted at the Sungkyunkwan University of
Suwon, Korea, red ginseng was found to prevent hydrogen peroxide induced
apoptosis, or programmed cell death, by regulating the expression of certain
genes. The ginsenosides responsible for this (Rg1, Rg2, Rg3, Rh1, Rh2, and
Compound K) all play an integral role in the activation and inhibition of
certain proteins and signaling molecules. This has enormous implications
on possible drugs for treating cancer and suppressing tumors.
A study published in the journal of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology highlights the
potent anti-allergy effect of red ginseng fermented with lactic acid bacteria.
Unfermented ginseng contains ginsenosides that first need to be broken down by
bacteria in the small intestine to be readily absorbed, but during the
fermentation process, bacteria metabolize large-chain ginsenosides into smaller
ones so that absorption and pharmacological efficiency is at its highest
Fermented ginseng has also been found to protect rats against
ischemia-induced brain injury, damage caused by restricted blood flow in the
brain, which can quickly result in shortage of glucose and oxygen to brain tissue. The
study, conducted at the College of Pharmacy of the Kyung Hee University, also
acknowledge that the rats treated with unfermented ginseng showed no
significant protection against brain damage. The unfermented ginseng showed high
levels of Rg3, Rb1, and Rb2, while the fermented batch showed high levels of
Compound K, Rg3, and Rh2. This suggests that either Compound K or Rh2 (or both)
are largely responsible for this pharmacological response.
Ginseng, due to its class of active compounds called ginsenosides with more
than 30 chemical species known, has a number of different health benefits. Most
of these compounds affect cells at the level of proteins, thus allowing for gene
expression. Some ginsenosides are better suited than others in achieving a
desired effect. Believe it or not, a lot of proclaimed health benefits are new to me, even after spending so much time at my parents’ herb shop. The only
customers I remembered that would buy ginseng on a regular basis were always
men of at least forty years of age. Go figure.
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