Ginseng and Testosterone Levels

[LakeMountD]

Effect of Panax Ginseng on Testosterone Level and Prostate in Male Rats
Authors: M. S. Fahim a; Z. Fahim a; J. M. Harman a; T. E. Clevenger b; W. Mullins b; E. S. E. Hafez c
Affiliations: a Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Missouri School of Medicine, Columbia, MO, USA
b Environmental Trace Substances Research Center, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA
c Department of Gynecology/ Obstetrics, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, USA
DOI: 10.3109/01485018208990207
Publication Frequency: 6 issues per year
Published in: journal Systems Biology in Reproductive Medicine, Volume 8, Issue 4 June 1982 , pages 261 - 263
Subject: Andrology & Men's Health;
Formats available: PDF (English)
Previously published as: Archives of Andrology (0148-5016, 1521-0375) until 2008
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Abstract
Adult male rats were treated with 1% and 5% Panax Ginseng in their diet for 60 days. Control rats were used. There was an increase in daily food consumption without an increase in body weight of treated animals. Rats that received 5% ginseng experienced a significant increase in blood testosterone level (p < 0.001). Prostate weight in the treated animals was significantly reduced as compared to the control animals.

 

[Nightwanderer]

people have been popping ginseng pills since as long as I can remember, I'm skeptical since I haven't heard of it raising test before now. I remember taking it in my teens & early 20's and it did absolutely nothing noticeable for me
for my energy, mental clarity, or anything else.

 

[LakeMountD]

Yeah, take everything with a grain of salt of course. But since I hadn't seen this before either I figured I would stir the pot .

 

[Hyde12]

people have been popping ginseng pills since as long as I can remember, I'm skeptical since I haven't heard of it raising test before now. I remember taking it in my teens & early 20's and it did absolutely nothing noticeable for me
for my energy, mental clarity, or anything else.

You have to have Panax Ginseng to tell a defference. I buy it in a box of 30 bottles of Red Panax Ginseng and each bottle has 2 grams in it. I notice an increase in energy/endurance.

 

[kbtoy31]

There was only one time that I took ginseng and noticed a difference. It was a mix of a couple different kinds and I did notice very good mental clarity and improved energy. However I started breaking out on my my face from it, like hives or something so I stopped taking them. They were def. good and haven't been able to find any like that since, my G/F at the time had bought them for me at BJ's whsle.

 

[BodyWizard]

people have been popping ginseng pills since as long as I can remember, I'm skeptical since I haven't heard of it raising test before now. I remember taking it in my teens & early 20's and it did absolutely nothing noticeable for me
for my energy, mental clarity, or anything else.

"Teens & early 20s" is the time of life when ginseng will do the least for you (much like androgens - it really shows its value once your body begins to age (subtly in the 30s, more plainly in the 40s).

Ginseng iscalled an "adaptogen", which means it helps your body maintain homeostasis, regulating your chemistry & combatting the suppressive effects of stress, age, bad diet, etc.

Ginseng is mostly misused in the west, used for a "push", which it can give, but its best dosed low & taken over time, which will strengthen you as opposed to just giving you a burst of energy that's quickly burned off. It's why ginseng is also called a "tonic".

 

[Nightwanderer]

"Teens & early 20s" is the time of life when ginseng will do the least for you (much like androgens - it really shows its value once your body begins to age (subtly in the 30s, more plainly in the 40s).

Ginseng iscalled an "adaptogen", which means it helps your body maintain homeostasis, regulating your chemistry & combatting the suppressive effects of stress, age, bad diet, etc.

Ginseng is mostly misused in the west, used for a "push", which it can give, but its best dosed low & taken over time, which will strengthen you as opposed to just giving you a burst of energy that's quickly burned off. It's why ginseng is also called a "tonic".

Also i hear it's only one specific subspecies of ginseng, and most supps use a different one to cut costs, know anything about that? (like panax is the particularly effective type and they use siberian instead or vice versa, etc)

 

[BodyWizard]

Not sub-species, but different kinds of plants. Chinese medicinal plants were not categorized botanically, but by how they affected the body: to be a ginseng, a plant must affect the body in specific ways, mostly by strengthening, building resistance to stress and disease, and promoting "male function" (virility, libido, etc).

If memory serves, there are 4 main plants categorized as ginseng. of which Panax cinquefolia is "true" ginseng, or Chinese ginseng...which comes in a variety of "flavors", including Kirin, Shiu Chu, wild, semi-wild & Korean. The plant that gets used the most in combo supplements is Eleuthero senticoccus, or "Siberian" ginseng; there is also American ginseng, which is different from the others, as it lacks the whole "male function" aspect & is therefore considered yin & primarily restorative. The 4th is 'prince's ginseng' (no connection to the Artist Formerly Known As...), and right this second, I'm drawing a blank on it's botanical name as well.

When buying ginseng, the best thing to do by far is go to a Chinese herb shop...but that will involve a bit of preparation. What it will gain you is far higher quality & far greater freshness & potency than the rows of capsules @ GNC or the local Kroger. I buy the whole roots & cook them down myself - not too laborious, and well worth the extra effort. However, those little glass vials you may see by the register at your local Qwickie Mart (ginseng & propolis, ginseng & astragalus, ginseng & royal jelly) are actually pretty good - and vastly better than powdered root in capsules.

Just remember: you should NOT try to take so much that you can feel it - in much the same way (and for some of the same reasons) that you shouldn't gulp down 3 or 4 Superdrol & then decide whether to continue taking it based on how it feels.

And now for NightWanderer's questions.

Panax is the herb with the supreme rep in Chinese medicine; 'siberian' is what's in most supps, due to the fact that the Russians did tons of research on it as a performance-enhancer back 20-40 years ago. Siberian isn't *useless* by any means, but it's not the same & won't give the same benefits (there's actually a difference of opinion as to why the old herbalists never considered Eleuthero a ginseng). Yes, that's right, "Siberian ginseng" is not in the Chinese pharmacopeia as a ginseng. IIRC its main use is for endurance, distance & aerobics.

There's also the problem (alluded to, above) of quality. Ground / powdered anything begins losing its whatever immediately - coffee, spices, and herbs. Most of what ends up on the shelves in the US (outside of the Chinese shops, that is) is the lowest quality - worthless to the Chinese, and handled accordingly (since, to them, only idiots would waste money on the low-grade junk - 'caveat emptor', redux). once it's been bought, processed, capped, bottled, packed and shipped, this low-end product may have already lost half of whatever virtue it had initially. It may then sit on a shelf for 3 to 5 years while waiting for someone to buy it and use it up. Placebo himself would perceive no benefit from it after all that.

Contrast this w/ semi-wild Yi-sun ginseng, which was running about $3000 per ounce (yes, 50% more than Peruvian flake cost in its heyday).

 

[saludable24]

I have used Higher Power and Now's ginseng but didn't get any big booste from either. They did seem to help me not be quite as stressed with a touch more energy, but nothing significant. On the other hand I have tried SOBE's with ginseng in them and BANG, instant super libido.

I honestly don't know why one sold in a drink seemed to do so much, while the other sold in supplement bottles don't work like that or even nearly as well.