American Ginseng Benefits in TCM (Who Should Not Eat!)

American ginseng is a very popular and expensive (if you purchase those cultivated in the wild) tonic in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).

American ginseng

While eating ginseng can cause the person to be heaty, eating American ginseng will not have this effect. In fact, american ginseng’s thermal nature is cooling. So it is very suitable for people who are heaty, having sore throat etc. Comparing to ginseng, American ginseng is more bitter when you first taste it.

American ginseng benefits the heart, lungs, and kidney.

Benefits of American Ginseng

The main benefit of american ginseng is it can boost vitality and increase energy when a person consumes it. However, only those cultivated in the wild have very good vitality-boosting effect. The other types (men-cultivated) have normal to weak effects in improving vitality. American ginseng is suitable for people with qi deficiency

Another benefit American ginseng has is that it can nourish a person’s yin. This means it is also suitable for people with yin deficiency. People who are over 40 years old and often sleep late or have poor sleeping quality are most likely to be deficient in yin. 

American ginseng is very suitable for people who are recovering from surgery or illness and are currently feeling weak and lack of energy. 

People Who Are Not Suitable To Eat American Ginseng

People who are not suitable to eat American ginseng are those with yang deficiency body type. For people with yang deficiency body type, I would recommend ginseng instead. American ginseng is also not suitable for people who is currently having flu symptoms (afraid of cold, fever, cough etc).

How To Eat And Get The Maximum Benefits Out of American Ginseng

One easy way to get the benefits out of American ginseng is to buy American ginseng (in slices form, as this form will release the effects to maximum) and put them in hot/warm water and drink it like tea. Do make sure you also chew and eat the American ginseng slices too.

American ginseng slices

When buying American ginseng, make sure you purchase those that are cultivated in the wild. Although they are more expensive, you will immediately notice the difference when you eat them. Their qi boosting properties are much stronger.

The recommended daily dosage is 3 to 6g.

Hope you find this post useful!

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