PARTS USED:
- Root
USES:
Adaptogen
- Helps the body adapt to stress
- Increases energy levels
- Fatigue resistance
- For extreme exhaustion when the body can’t fall into a deep sleep
- “Poor man’s Ginseng” – good when Panax would be too strong
Neuro
- Improves learning and memory
- Helps maintain function and postpones
dementia/senility
- Improves cell function, reduces
neurodegeneration
- Protects astrocyte damage induced by lack
of nutrients (glucose, oxygen)
Immune System
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Allergies/asthma
- Regulates the immune response during
sepsis
- Reduces anti- DNA antibodies in Lupus
Respiratory
- Lung deficiencies
- Asthma
- Shortness of breath
- Improves lung function
- Chronic cough
- Soothes and moistens respiratory components – helps move along stagnant phlegm
- Great herb to use when quitting smoking, or as harm reduction while continuing to smoke
- Convalescent support after URTIs
Cardiovascular
- Improves blood pressure
- Supports and revitalizes abnormal cardiac function
- Palpations
- Coronary artery disease tonic
Hematologic
- Alterative
- Increases hemoglobin and RBC levels – good for anemia
- Invigorates the spleen
- Increases lymphocyte production
- Inhibits erythrocyte hemolysis
GI
- Gastritis (works even better in combination with pharmaceutical medications)
- Protective effect on mucosa – reduces ulcer formation
- Nausea, gas, bloating, diarrhea
- Blocks the progression of gastritis to gastric cancer
- Motility agent
- Appetite stimulant
- Dyspepsia
- Colitis
- Inflammatory diseases of the GI tract
Endocrine
- Metabolic diseases
- Decreases fasting blood glucose
- Might slow or halt the progression of diabetes (animal studies)
Hepatic
- Hepatoprotective
- Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
- Hepatitis
Musculoskeletal
- Promotes muscle protein synthesis – good for Muscular Dystrophy and other weak muscle issues
- Good for de-energized muscles or lack of strength
GU
- Protects kidneys
- Diuretic
- Protective effects on ischemia-reperfusion injury after kidney transplant
Antioxidant
- Free radical scavenger
- Promotes activity of antioxidant enzymes
- Anti-aging
Anti-tumor
- Adjuvant therapy for
- Breast cancer (clinical studies)
- Gastric cancer (clinical studies)
- Non-small cell lung cancer (clinical studies)
- Colon cancer
- Inhibits proliferation of epithelial ovarian cancer cells (in vitro studies)
- Inhibits actions of hepatic carcinoma cells (in vitro studies)
- Cytotoxic to lung adenocarcinoma cells (in vitro studies)
- Helps reduce the side effects of chemotherapy
- helping to reduce the side effects of chemotherapy and other medical treatments that utilize powerful chemicals and drugs.
PREPARATION:
- Decoction
- Tincture
- Syrup
SIDE EFFECTS AND TOXICITY:
- None known. Considered safe during pregnancy and lactation
MISCELLANEOUS:
- Often used in herbal formulas in place of ginseng
- The root is used in TCM for pelvic organ prolapse – specifically the vagina (clinical trials)
- A balancing herb that nourishes and tones the whole body without being too extreme
