5 Powerful Ways Ginseng Benefits Your Health

Ginseng is a perennial plant part of the Araliaceae family of plants. They are typical to eastern Asia and cooler climates. Ginseng is part of a species within Panax, which is a genus of 11 species. The most common members are American ginseng and Asian ginseng.

It is a very traditional plant used both for medicinal and culinary purposes throughout the world. There are great health benefits to using ginseng, much of them due to the fact that it is an adaptogen, which means that it enables the body to restore itself without too many serious side effects.

Benefits to cardiovascular health

Ginseng benefits cardiovascular health and especially blood cholesterol levels. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center’s report in 2011, there are preliminary studies showing that ginseng reduces the levels of unhealthy cholesterol LDL and improves the levels of healthy cholesterol HDL in the body. A Veria Living article reports that ginseng has compounds called saponins that stimulate cholesterol transportation and metabolism in the blood.

Ginseng benefits also extend to the fact that it has good amounts of antioxidants, which make it a very good supplement to use to increase the overall health of your heart.

Benefits to blood sugar

You can also use ginseng to help with the control of blood sugar levels, for example in the case of diabetes. A 2000 study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine revealed this ginseng benefit – the study found that people with diabetes controlled their blood sugar levels effectively with ginseng. The study saw nine diabetes patients and ten participants without diabetes take ginseng supplements before consuming their meals. The post-meal blood sugar levels were better controlled when ginseng was consumed.

According to an article published in 2012 in Veria Living, ginseng has an active compound called ginsenoside which helps in this control. They also report that ginseng can help the pancreas to function properly and help increase the response to insulin by insulin receptor stimulation.

Benefits to your brain function

There is also great evidence that ginseng benefits your brain function, especially regarding cognitive skills. A Zeenews India article from 2013 says that ginseng is great in stimulating the brain cells that are responsible for improving concentration, memory and the ability to think.

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