Combat fatigue, stimulate the immune system, reduce stress, increase physical and cognitive performance? What if all this was possible thanks to a plant? Focus on ginseng, this root used for more than 2000 years in traditional Chinese medicine and whose benefits are recognized.
The benefits of Ginseng.
Properties recognized by the European Commission:
- Restore intellectual and physical abilities in case of fatigue and during convalescence
- Promotes memory performance
- Increases cognitive performance: stimulates alertness, improves concentration and coordination
- Supports physical and mental performance
Traditionally, this root is used to treat diabetes, to stimulate libido and the immune system, and as a tonic especially among the elderly.
The benefits of this root are based on these active ingredients: ginsenosides (from the saponin family), active substances in ginseng which give it its antioxidant and neuroprotective properties.
Adaptogenic plants.
What is it exactly ? In 1947, it was the Russian pharmacologist Nicolaï Lazarev who introduced the concept of adaptogen characterizing “a pharmacological substance capable of inducing in an organism a state of non-specific increased resistance making it possible to counterbalance stress signals and to adapt to an exceptional effort.”
Three criteria, defined by Dr. Brekhman in 1968, make it possible to characterize an adaptogen:
- Increases the body's resistance against aggressors of different nature (physical, chemical or biological) in a non-specific manner;
- Presents a normalizing influence, regardless of changes from physiological norms;
- Shows an absence of toxicity and influence on the normal functions of the body.
The best known adaptogenic plant is of course ginseng, but we can also cite rhodiola, maca, echinacea, aloe vera and rosemary.
Botanical.
- There are several species of ginseng. The best known and rich in active ginsenoside molecules are: Asian ginseng (Panax ginseng) and American ginseng (Panax quinquefolium).
- We speak of white ginseng if the roots are 4 years old and only cleaned and dried.
- We speak of red ginseng if the root is at least 6 years old and it is heated and treated to improve the conservation of its active ingredients. Red ginseng contains the most ginsenosides.
- Ginseng is an herbaceous plant. It produces small white flowers which give rise to small red berries. It is its root that is used medicinally. This has the particularity of evoking the shape of the human body.
History.
- The generic name Panax comes from the Greek words Pan, meaning “all,” and Akos meaning “to heal.”
- The term ginseng comes from the Chinese words Gin, which means “man”, and Seng which means “essence”.
- Ginseng has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for almost 2,000 years. It is used as a general tonic for the body.
- It is the Russian researcher Nikolai Lazarev who names the effects of ginseng, defining the “adaptogenic” nature of certain substances. He was commissioned by Stalin to find natural substances that would increase the physical resistance and intellectual capacities of his people.
