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American Ginseng and Sports
Brian Benjamin Carter
Question: "Hello, I'm an 18-year-old male and I
have started taking ginseng recently. I have searched the
Internet to find good information but I'm not sure who to
trust. I would like to know what is the limit to ginseng
consumption per day and possible dangers.
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I only take American ginseng in tea. Also I would really appreciate
it if you could tell me the physical benefits of ginseng in sports.
Thank you in advance..."
Answer: If you haven't read my introduction to ginseng
please do so! Especially note the points about whether you really
need ginseng or if some other herb might be better. A la that
article, I think the more important thing is to backtrack and
ask you why you want to take ginseng. The information in the popular
literature is pretty weak, so people equate ginseng with energy.
And that's not totally incorrect, but it's more complicated than
that. Let me illustrate by saying what kinds of things can go
wrong if you take chinese or korean ginseng and it's the wrong
herb for you: headaches, facial flushing, feelings of heat, anger,
rage, high blood pressure, and stroke.
American ginseng is more balanced in itself, but last time I
checked it was an endangered plant due to excess foraging... so
at least be aware of how aware the company you buy from is about
their sources.
I can't say strongly enough that I think that the amateur
self-prescription of herbs is one of the most dangerous legal
things out there.
In my view, the public has a couple of choices with herbs:
- Start developing a collection of herbs and vitamins that you
take because 'if you need energy you should take ginseng' or
'if you want to think better take gingko' or 'if you want to
sleep take valerian' and end up like some people who are taking
about 10 different things and have no idea how they might adversely
interact with one other and whatever pharmaceuticals they are
also taking, or
- Go see a health profession who is trained in these things
and can advise you. My bias is that you see an acupuncturist
who is trained in chinese herbs (find
a practitioner in your area). Going this route is safer,
more reliable, and more likely to improve things for you. It's
more expensive, but how important is your health to you?
Hope that helps! Yours in Health,
B
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