Ginseng: Facts and Folklore

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In 1981, a double-blind study of 120 men and women aged thirty to sixty indicated the age-specific benefits of ginseng. Participants aged forty to sixty who took two capsules daily of a standardized ginseng extract for twelve weeks showed an increased ability to perform visual and acoustic reaction tests; their lung function also improved. In the younger group, ginseng had no such effects.

In a 1991 double-blind, randomized, crossover study of fifty healthy male sports teachers between the ages of twenty-one and forty-seven, half received a ginseng preparation and half were given a placebo for six weeks; the groups then switched medications for six weeks. At a given workload, total oxygen consumption, carbon dioxide production, and blood lactate levels were lower in the ginseng group, suggesting that those participants used energy more efficiently and had greater endurance.

Mental sharpness: Results of studies conducted in the past fifteen years vary. In a 1982 study, forty-five patients suffering from a lack of blood flow to the brain received either a pharmaceutical drug called Hydergin, a standardized ginseng extract, or a placebo. Those who took the ginseng extract showed 34 percent improvement in blood flow compared with 58 percent for those taking Hydergin and 0.7 percent for those taking the placebo.

In 1980, a thirty-day, double-blind study of thirty-eight dental students who received as many as fourteen doses of either red ginseng root, American ginseng, or a placebo showed that ginseng did not significantly improve mathematical performance, proofreading error detection, or mood. But in a 1978 double-blind study involving thirty-two wireless operators and telegraphists ages twenty to twenty-three, those taking ginseng made fewer mistakes than those in the placebo group. And in 1980, a double-blind study involving sixty volunteers aged twenty-two to eighty found that commercial ginseng preparations improved reaction time, two-hand coordination, and physical fitness.

Increasing longevity: Ginseng has a longstanding reputation for prolonging life and fighting senility, and animal tests showing it increases production of various hormones and helps nerves regenerate may lend support to this claim. Clinical studies have not confirmed that ginseng prolongs life directly, though it may increase longevity indirectly through disease prevention.

Disease prevention: In a 1990 double-blind study, European researchers gave sixty volunteers either 100 mg of an aqueous ginseng extract, 100 mg of standardized ginseng extract, or a lactose capsule (a common ingredient in placebos) twice daily for eight weeks. Those who took the standardized ginseng extract showed increased counts of immune cells (including T helper cells) compared to those who received either the aqueous ginseng or the placebo.

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