What Does Ginseng Actually Do, Anyway? (More Than You Might Think)

There’s a lot to be said for ginseng, and we’ve only touched on it here and there previously, for example in:

12 Most Powerful Supplements and Foods to Increase Energy & Slow Down Aging

…and once again for its metabolic benefits in:

Ozempic vs Five Natural Supplements

…and certainly it’s often taken to just generally boost energy, per: Ginseng as a Treatment for Fatigue: A Systematic Review

But ginseng’s benefits go far beyond metabolism management:

Hormone booster

It’s well-known for this in the broadest sense, but…

You may be wondering: does ginseng boost hormones for men or for women?

And the answer is: yes

Paradoxically, it seems to improve both male and female hormonal regulation, despite being more commonly associated with the former.

• It doesn’t necessarily increase or decrease testosterone or estrogen levels (but it can, even if indirectly)
• It does improve sexual function
• …and alleviates symptoms associated with conditions as varied as:
  • Late-onset hypogonadism (common for men from around age 45 onwards)
  • Benign prostate hyperplasia (again common for men from around age 45 onwards)
  • …and also counteracts unwanted side-effects of finasteride ← this is particularly relevant for many, as finasteride is often taken as a hair loss remedy or, less often but critically, in the case of an enlarged prostate.

But it also…

• Alleviates symptoms of PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome, which effects around 20% of women)
• May even be an effective treatment for PCOS (rat model only so far)
• It also may improve female reproductive fertility more generally (the studies are down to fruit flies now though)

In short: ginseng is popularly taken to improve natural hormone function, a task at which it appears to excel.

Scientists are still working out exactly how it does these many things it appears to do.

Progress has been made, and it clearly is science rather than witchcraft, but there are still far more unanswered questions than resolved ones!

immune improver, brain saver, and more?

More science has been done to this recently; for example, a recent research review noted the following, and we’ll present this in each case first with snippets from the paper, and then with a more comprehensible-to-the-layperson explainer beneath each point:

• Immunomodulatory effects: ginseng’s ginsenosides (Rg1, Rb1) regulate cytokines by reducing pro-inflammatory TNF-α and IL-6 while boosting anti-inflammatory IL-10; enhances NK cell activity through the TLR4/MyD88 pathway; polysaccharides like arabinogalactan stimulate macrophages and speed white blood cell recovery.
  • That’s a lot of big words to say: it doesn’t just dial up your immune system, rather, it dials up some parts while simultaneously decreasing unhelpful inflammation, thus making the immune system not just more powerful, but also more efficient
• Neural improvement: RCT data showed 85% improvement in sub-health scores after 30 days in young adults; benefits included less fatigue, better cognition, and improved mood; linked to ginsenosides’ neuroprotective and antidepressant effects.
  • Which means, in practical terms, that ginseng certainly improves brain health in many ways, but we’d like to see more data, and also in older populations too.
• Anticancer potential: ginsenosides (Rh2, Rg3, Compound K) may suppress tumor growth pathways (e.g. PI3K/AKT in prostate cancer), limit metastasis, and reduce cancer-related fatigue via AMPK activation; evidence so far remains preliminary and circumstantial, but this does look very promising.
  • In other words: we cannot at this point declare with a big banner “ginseng fights cancer”, but it looks a lot like it might, and we’ll know when more research has been done, and in fact not just more, but also in some ways, different types, some of which are hard to come by. For example, while there absolutely are many people who will reject traditional cancer therapies and try something like this, it’s hard to find enough of them at once to do a study on ginseng fighting cancer in live human patients by itself without chemotherapy, radiotherapy, etc—and even if enough people are found, the study still has to pass an ethics board before it can be done.

You can read this research review in full, here: Multifaceted Benefits of Ginseng and Its Extracts: A Brief Review of Immunomodulation, Quality of Life Improvement, and Antitumor Potential

Want to try some?

Before you do, please be aware there are some risks/contraindications, including:

• Nervous system disturbances (e.g. insomnia, restlessness)
• Gastrointestinal issues (e.g. nausea, diarrhea)
• Interaction with anticoagulants like warfarin, increasing bleeding risk
• Interaction with beta-blockers like metoprolol, affecting blood pressure control
• Inhibition of liver enzyme CYP3A4, which can raise toxicity of other drugs
• Potential severe reactions when combined with certain herbs*

*The above review cites aconite as an example of this. Now, aconite is a plant that contains a powerful poison (aconitine, which is a neurotoxin and cardiotoxin), but yes, it is also used in some medicines. Pharmacology is fun like this.

Lest this list seem very alarming, do remember that almost any medication has a similar list of warnings, if not longer. That said, we wouldn’t want you to be complacent, so please by all means do check with a pharmacist to be sure.

We don’t sell it, but here for your convenience is an example product on Amazon 😎

Take care!