The effects of ginseng and red ginseng and the difference between the two

Ginseng is rich in nutritional value and has the effects of calming the nerves, promoting salivation, nourishing the spleen and relieving insomnia. After people take ginseng, it will make the brain more excited, making mental workers more efficient. It also has anti-fatigue effects and is very helpful to enhance the body's immune function. Ginseng also improves the body's circulation and endocrine system, thus helping people live longer and look younger. Many people don’t know that red ginseng is actually a product made from processed ginseng.

1. Ginseng Effects

1. Ginseng tastes sweet and slightly bitter, and is slightly warm in nature. It enters the spleen, lung, heart, and kidney meridians. It has a strong and moistening effect, and it rises more than it descends. It has the effects of replenishing qi and strengthening the body, strengthening the spleen and lungs, calming the mind and improving intelligence, and nourishing blood and producing body fluids.

2. Ginseng is mainly used to treat serious illness, long-term illness, blood loss, dehydration caused by loss of vital energy, fatigue, weak pulse; spleen deficiency with poor appetite, fatigue, vomiting and diarrhea; lung deficiency with shortness of breath, rapid breathing, and weak cough; heart deficiency with insomnia, dreaminess, palpitations, forgetfulness, physical weakness and sweating; thirst and polydipsia due to lack of body fluid; sallow complexion and dizziness due to blood deficiency; kidney deficiency with impotence, frequent urination, and external infection due to qi deficiency.

For weak people, abuse and long-term use of various types of ginseng can harm the body. White ginseng is sweet, warm and slightly bitter, and can quench thirst, promote salivation and replenish energy. It can calm the soul, nourish the internal organs, and unclog the blood vessels, and can eliminate spleen and lung qi deficiency.

2. Red Ginseng Benefits

Red ginseng is ginseng (the cultivated variety is called "round ginseng") that is processed by steaming.

Red ginseng is a cooked ginseng that is artificially processed. The processing steps include soaking, washing, sorting, steaming, airing, and drying. Red ginseng is sweet, slightly bitter and warm in nature; it enters the spleen, lung and heart meridians. They all have the effects of tonifying Qi, nourishing Yin, benefiting blood, promoting the production of body fluids, strengthening the heart, invigorating the stomach, and calming the nerves; their main indications and functions are to greatly replenish vital energy, restore the pulse and consolidate the body, and benefit Qi and retain blood. It is used for physical weakness and imminent collapse, cold limbs and weak pulse, inability of Qi to retain blood, metrorrhagia, heart failure, and cardiogenic shock.

3. Difference

Ginseng is a perennial herb that prefers a cool and humid climate. It mostly grows in mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forests or miscellaneous woods on gentle slopes or sloping lands at an altitude of 500 to 1100 meters in the mountains where the temperature difference between day and night is small. Because the root is enlarged, spindle-shaped and often forked, and the overall appearance is quite similar to a human head, hands, feet and limbs, it is called ginseng. In ancient times, ginseng was elegantly called Huangjing, Dijing, and Shencao. Ginseng is known as the "king of herbs". The cultivated ones are called “garden ginseng”; the wild ones are called “mountain ginseng”; the ones that are sown and grow naturally in the wild are called “forest ginseng”, commonly known as “seed sea”. It is mostly harvested in autumn; garden ginseng is sun-dried or oven-dried, and is called "raw sun-dried ginseng"; fresh roots are pierced with a needle, soaked in sugar water and then dried, and are called "sugar ginseng"; wild ginseng is sun-dried, and is called "raw sun-dried wild ginseng". After being steamed and dried, it is called "red ginseng".