Ginseng, the Black Magic of the East!

Ginseng Plant.

I raised an interesting point the other day. I proceeded to ask the world the following question: "Why it is that when we talk of herbal remedies and potions and apply it to people of African descent, we end up with a certain type of rhetoric i.e witchdoctors, black magic, curses, JUJU?" When the same idea is applied to the same practices in the west or east it yields more sophisticated candor which involves phrases like, "Herbal practitioner" or "alternative doctor."

The same style of medicine whose application is vile in one case is the subject of social status and exorbitant expenditure in another. Personally, I might hypothesize that all such practices border on "magic." There are extracts out there that even after scientific study have turned up a huge, "WTF, we don't know exactly what it does or how it does it, but it works!"

Ginseng Root

Gingseng is a good example of a "WTF" extract.....

Ginseng is one of eleven species of slow-growing, perennial plants with fleshy roots, belonging to the genus Panax of the family Araliaceae. Ginseng is found only in the Northern Hemisphere, particularly in North America and in eastern Asia (mostly Korea, northeastern China).

There are three main species of ginseng, Oriental, Siberian and American. Oriental ginseng has been used in Traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years. Native Americans have likewise used American ginseng for all of their recorded history. Siberian Ginseng is not technically a ginseng but a distant cousin of the oriental type. Here is an example of Ginseng in capsule form on SolsticeMed.com .

Is there anything Ginseng doesn't do?

The root of Asian ginseng contains several active substances called ginsenosides or panaxosides that are thought to be responsible for the medicinal effects of the herb.

Ginseng has been demonstrated to:

- Improve the health of people recovering from illness.
- Increase a sense of well being and stamina,
- Improve both mental and physical performance.
- Assist with erectile dysfunction.
- Help fight hepatitis C.
- Alleviate symptoms associated with menopause.
- Treat hypertension.
- Lower blood glucose.
- Reduce the levels of stress in both men and women.

Now tell me that is not "Black Magic." I think I'll be putting Ginseng into my cereal from now on.

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