Panax Ginseng, 8% Ginsenosides, 250mg

Description

Panax ginseng at 250 mg a serving, Korean red root standardised to 8 percent ginsenosides, 60 servings at about 48 cents each. Eight percent of 250 mg is 20 mg of ginsenosides, and that second figure is the one worth carrying between labels. Panax ginseng is also a different plant from the eleuthero sold as Siberian ginseng, which shares a common name and almost nothing else.

On the panel

Red, white and the three plants called ginseng

Red and white ginseng are the same species processed differently. White is peeled and air dried. Red is steamed before drying, which alters the ginsenoside profile and darkens the root. Neither is stronger in the abstract, they are different compositions, and the panel states which one is in the capsule.

The naming problem is worse across species. American ginseng is Panax quinquefolius, a relative with a different ginsenoside balance. Siberian ginseng is Eleutherococcus senticosus, not a Panax at all. A bottle reading ginseng and nothing further could be any of the three, which is why the herbals page insists on the Latin binomial, the plant part and the marker percentage.

Why the panax ginseng percentage matters more than the weight

A 500 mg capsule of ground root with no stated percentage may hold fewer ginsenosides than this 250 mg extract, and there is no way to know from the front label. Percentage times weight is the only comparison that holds. We print both numbers and the certificate carries the measured percentage rather than the target specification, which are not always the same thing.

What the trials administered

Controlled studies of standardised Panax ginseng extract have mostly used 200 to 400 mg a day over four to twelve weeks, with endpoints including fatigue rating scales, cognitive task batteries, fasting glucose and questionnaire scores. Several used an extract standardised to 4 percent ginsenosides, so the ginsenoside milligrams rather than the extract milligrams are what make those studies comparable to a bottle. That is a description of the literature, not a claim about this product.

The interactions worth raising first

This plant has documented interactions with warfarin and with glucose lowering medication, and it is stimulating enough that people taking it late in the day sometimes regret it. Anyone on prescription medicine should clear panax ginseng with a pharmacist before the first capsule. The NCCIH herbs at a glance series gives a free government summary of what has been studied and what the cautions are.

Timing, and the stimulating reputation

Trial protocols generally dosed in the morning, and people who take panax ginseng in the late afternoon report trouble settling at night often enough for the pattern to be worth printing. That is anecdote rather than measurement, and it is consistent. The capsule is usually taken with food. Nothing about the extract requires an empty stomach, and 250 mg is small enough that splitting the serving achieves nothing.

Adulteration, not potency, is the real risk

Ginseng is expensive per kilo, which makes it one of the most substituted botanicals in trade. Cheaper roots and spent material both turn up in milled powder. Species identity is confirmed on every lot by laboratory methods rather than by a supplier declaration, because a declaration is not a measurement.

Testing

An independent laboratory confirms identity, measures the ginsenoside percentage and screens heavy metals, pesticides and microbials on every lot of panax ginseng. Lots failing identity or potency are withdrawn and the certificate stays published rather than being quietly replaced, which is the argument in why we publish the batch that failed. The certificate for the batch you are shipped is linked above. At 8 percent, a 250 mg serving of panax ginseng carries about 20 mg of ginsenosides, and that is the figure to carry between labels rather than the extract weight.