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Ginseng versus Viagra Article
The Equity, Wednesday, June 3, 1998
Paul McGee
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Equity reporter
Wyman
Forget crossing the U.S. border to smuggle the new sexual potency
drug Viagra into Canada. An old remedy - ginseng - may already be here.
Heralded and harvested in China for thousands of years, the herbaceous plant
is being touted - and grown - locally as essential to prolonged life, vitality,
and sexual potency.
"I always warn people that sexual potency is determined by overall health,
not just ginseng," says Katharina Kuhn, who, in partnership with husband
Alfons, has been growing ginseng on their Wyman farm since 1982. "The Chinese
always use it in combination with other herbs, and is highly prized ...as a
tonifier for endocrine. It regulates blood pressure, and is useful in hypo-
and hypertension.
"It is believed to be quite effective for benign prostate hypoplasia (enlargement)."
"It (claim of the plant's contribution to sexual potency) doesn't really
do justice to ginseng," says Alfons, adding the plant, nonetheless, is
more known for its sexual connection.
More than 40 participants in a natural vegetable products symposium organized
by the International Research and Development Center and the University of Quebec
at Chicoutimi converged on the Kuhns' ginseng crop Thursday to get a close-up
look at the dark green, five-leaf plant which grows best in the shade.
Kuhn's crop is separated into two-, three-, and four-year-old patches under
a six-foot high perforated nylon canopy. The plants will grow in this artificial
shade until they are ready for harvesting in October of their fourth year. Kuhn
harvests his crop after four years."I did sell some five-year-old roots,
and made a little more money," he says. "However, with the cost of
growing ,and the work involved, I was not getting much more."
Last year the Kuhns' crop was sold in San Francisco; the year before it went
only as far as Toronto. The roots are dissimilar to those the Chinese are accustomed
to, Alfons says, due to the different growing condition here, as well as the
tendency of roots to take on the coloring of the soil they are grown in.
Ginseng Science
With the accumulation of scientific data on the medicinal and pharmaceutical
properties of ginseng since the 1950s, and the supposed role it plays in increasing
sexual potency, the plant his garnered interest by health food aficionados and
academic and government research groups alike. University of Ottawa biologist
Prof. John Arnason says one of his students is doing a doctoral dissertation
on ginseng's medicinal properties. Arnason says research is also being done
on the multi-million dollar Canadian crop to "establish genotype and agronomy."
"It's a well-established industry in Canada, with two major producers,
Atkins Ginseng in southern Ontario and Chai Na Ta in British Columbia,"
he says.
"In terms of medical efficacy, in the traditional scene ginseng was considered
to have certain characteristics which were well known.
''Now there is research being done to evaluate the herb to see if it benefits
as complementary therapy in tumor biology. As well, it is believed to have stress
relieving properties. One area being studied is its role as an immune system
stimulant."
Arnason cautions consumers to watch for on-the-shelf products which claim to
be ginseng, or ginseng extract.
"Most (producers) are ethical, but, certainly, some are fraudulent. Some
commercial resellers are selling stuff below the potency level they claim.''
Arnason says Health Canada "abrogated" its role as a consumer watchdog
when "about 1994 they fired its natural products division'' as a cost-cutting
measure.
University of Ottawa PhD candidate Valerie Assinewe is doing her doctoral dissertation
on "the chemical valuation of American ginseng."
"There are a lot of testimonials to the efficacy of ginseng, but it's only
in the last 10 to 15 years we put them to the test."
Assinewe's study in conjunction with the university's Cellular and Molecular
Medicine laboratory is being conducted to determine "whether ginseng's
compounds affect the immune system.''
"A lot of studies show that if you take ginseng, chances are it will help
fight off stress-related viruses, such as the common cold," she says "
I'm looking at ginsenosides, testing the plant extract to see if they affect
the immune system.
"The whole plant compound is what (producers) are selling as a cash crop,
we are looking for what compounds in the plant do we breed it for."
Tradition
However, recent research may prove to be merely confirmation of the information
supplied by a school of physicians known as the "eclectic doctors"
in the King's American Dispensatory of 1898.
The "eclectics " believed herbal medicines were superior to and less
harmful than synthetic drugs. American ginseng was recommended then as a counter
to appetite loss, "slight nervous debility, and weak stomach."
•Ginseng Information and Farm Background •Information de Ginseng et la ferme
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