''P. quinquefolius'' American ginseng (root)
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, American Ginseng promotes Yin energy, cleans excess Yang in the body, and calms the body.
The reason it has been claimed that American ginseng promotes Yin (shadow, cold, negative, female) while East Asian ginseng promotes Yang (sunshine, hot, positive, male) is because, according to traditional Chinese medicine, things living in cold places or northern side of mountains or southern side of rivers are strong in Yang and vice versa, so that the two are balanced.
Chinese/Korean ginseng grows in northeast China and Korea, the coldest area known to many Koreans in traditional times.
Thus, ginseng from there is supposed to be very ''Yang''.
Originally, American ginseng was imported into China via subtropical Guangzhou, the seaport next to Hong Kong, so Chinese doctors believed that American ginseng must be good for ''Yin'', because it came from a hot area.
However they did not know that American ginseng can only grow in temperate regions. Nonetheless the root is legitimately classified as more ''Yin'' because it generates fluids.
The two main components of ginseng are in different proportions in the Asian and American varieties, and may well be the cause of the excitatory versus tonic natures.
The ginseng is sliced and a few slices are simmered in hot water to make a decoction.
Most North American ginseng is produced in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and British Columbia and the American state of Wisconsin, according to Agri-food Canada. ''P. quinquefolius'' is now also grown in northern China.
A randomized, double-blind study shows that an extract of American ginseng reduces
influenza cases in the elderly when compared to placebo.
A study shows that Red ginseng reduces the relapse of gastric cancer versus control.
A study of ginseng's effects on rats shows that while both white ginseng and red ginseng reduce the incidence of cancer, the effects appear to be greater with red ginseng.
A study by Sung H, Jung YS, Cho YK. shows potentially beneficial effects of a combination of Korean Red Ginseng and highly active antiretroviral therapy in HIV-1-Infected patients.
Falcarinol, a seventeen-carbon diyne fatty alcohol was isolated from carrot and red ginseng, shown to have potent anticancer properties on primary mammary epithelial (breast cancer) cells.
Other acetylenic fatty alcohols in ginseng (panaxacol, panaxydol, panaxytriol) have antibiotic properties.
Wild ginseng
Wild ginseng is ginseng that has not been planted and cultivated domestically, rather it is that which grows naturally and is harvested from wherever it is found to be growing.
Wild ginseng is relatively rare and even increasingly endangered, due in large part to high demand for the product in recent years, which has led to the wild plants being sought out and harvested faster than new ones can grow (it requires years for a ginseng root to reach maturity).
Wild ginseng can be either Asian or American and can be processed to be red ginseng.
There are woods grown American ginseng programs in Maine, Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina and West Virginia and United Plant Savers has been encouraging the woods planting of ginseng both to restore natural habitats and to remove pressure from any remaining wild ginseng, and they offer both advice and sources of rootlets.
Woods-grown plants have comparable value to wild grown ginseng of similar age.
Further Reading
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