The Miracle Root

"I know what a ginseng root looks like, but how does it look like above the soil?" 

That was the question that was posed to me by one of my friends, and being the ever-adamant horticulturist, I was stumped. *Insert gasping emoji* Well, I figured that I might as well find out the answer, so I can enlighten him (and myself) of how the ginseng plant looks like as a whole organism. So researching I went, and came up with a lot more than just how the plant looks above the soil.

The whole plant of Panax notoginseng

Ok, so the term 'Ginseng' is a collective term used to describe plants whose roots have medicinal value/uses. It is made up of various genera of plants, but of which, 'Panax' is the more commonly used one. 'Panax' in latin means 'cure-all', and it comes from the Araliaceae family. So you could say it is a cousin of Osmoxylon and Schefflera. It is mainly grown and cultivated in Asia, notably China, Japan and Korea. The Chinese know it better as 田七 (Tiánqī), which means 'three-seven root' because the plant mainly has three branches with seven leaves each. However, I think this is just a generalization because not all all of them look the same. Anyway, it tastes sweet and slightly bitter. 

Morphologically speaking, it enjoys shade, so it will probably shrivel up and melt under the hot sun if exposed to it directly. It also has the signature palmate leaf arrangement like Schefflera. It has tiny white flowers, which will bear bright red berries later on. 

Bright red berries

So why is it lauded as a miracle root? Well, it acts mainly as a haemostatic, meaning that it stops bleeding. Being antihaemorrhagic, it contracts tissues to seal up injured blood vessels. I'm no biologist, so I didn't really delve deep into the chemical and biological reactions to how it works inside the body. All I know is that ginseng contains 'ginsenocide' which helps to calm nerves, and 'dencichine' which is an amino acid, that helps to stop bleeding and encourage platelet formation. So essentially, it is very good for the blood system because it encourages blood flow and repairs. Now who wouldn't want that? Of course, the more mature the plant, the more potent the 'ginsenocide' content will be. 

There are mainly 2 different forms of Ginseng: Red and White Ginseng. Red ginseng is steamed after harvesting and dried, without removing the epidermis (outer tissue layer). So this will render the root turning reddish, therefore the namesake. White ginseng is harvested, epidermis removed, and just dried under the sun. 


There are also 2 different main types of ginseng: Asian and American.

Asian Ginseng: Panax notoginseng/pseudoginseng (人參)

American Ginseng: Panax quinquefolius 西洋参 (west ocean ginseng). But if you go to a Traditional Chinese Medicine shop, it is better known as 花旗參(Star-spangled banner). (Thanks Qian Yi for the information) This is actually native to the USA, but currently extensively cultivated in China. Due to overharvesting, it is now rare in the USA.

Panax quinquefolius

However, like everything, too much of a good thing might not be that good. So an overdose of ginseng might have side effects:
Headaches
Sleeping irregularities
Allergic reactions
Menstrual abnormalities
Not recommended for pregnant or breast-feeding women


Well, I hope this has somehow been enlightening in one way or another. I for one will still not get ginseng because it just costs so much for a root. =/

~moey out~

It's that time again.

Marathon. To some people, it's a once in a lifetime event that they always strive to outdo their previous timing. To others, it's a pointless event where people pay an exorbitant amount of money just to torture themselves for 42km, and I'm one of them. Well, I have just been through it and in my opinion, I still think it is still a crazy event where, unless you're a serious runner, you will end up with a pretty bad case of pulverized knees and destroyed ankles.

With strained eyes and a wobbly gait, I was able to get out of bed just to wash up and freshen up at an ungodly hour just to make my way down to the train station, which has been active throughout the whole night just to ferry participants who will be taking part in the marathon. Constant stretching and movement was the name of the game upon arrival at the start point, and gradually, more and more runners appeared. The announcement was given for the animals to queue up and line up to go into their respective pens, literally. It sounded like we were farm animals being herded into their holding pens to be released soon after. Took a shot of power gel, which was my virgin power gel by the way, which tasted really sweet, just how I like it, with a punch at the back of the throat and a tinge of citrus flavour as well. With heavy-bassed music pounding in the background, the announcers counted down to the flag-off and then it commenced! With spirits high and heart-pounding(because of the sugar rush) I coaxed Bryan to give a war cry before we started off.

The journey was mixed with highs and a lot more lows. Like any physically demanding event, the energy always starts off high, and when the thought: 'Why in the world am I doing this!?' sets in, it really hits home, and the energy level, like a mana bar, just slowly drops bit by bit. A few moments of heavy-beat songs, like a timely mana potion, raises the energy for a while, and then it loses effect once the music is out of ear-shot. Then, like clockwork, the sun peeks out of the horizon and starts to shed it's light on anything and everything. I welcomed the light with open arms and ran with renewed vigour. Like Journey to the West, the characters are seen trodding through a boring and desolate desert all alone, it was a similar situation for me when I reached East Coast. It was a torturous stretch of park without an end in sight, and it didn't help when more and more people started to speed past both of us. Demoralising much. Not soon after, the Marina Bay area was in sight, and Apollo (who is the Sun-God if you didn't already know) decided to turn up the 'Heat' knob and it rained hot rays on the unsheltered route. Water points, power gels and muscle rubs were a welcome sight and helped to distract me from the pain for a brief period of time. This cycle of drinking,rubbing,eating and more drinking kept cycling over and over again, until it was the final kilometer.

It was an awesome feeling to know that the end point is near, and suddenly, all pain and fatigue just dissipated in an instant. With sunglasses down and feet raised for larger strides, I was really happy to be reaching the finish line. With one last final stride across the checkered line, it was finally over. A High-5 was given and a shout of joy erupted from the pit of my stomach. 7 and a half hours of torture was finally over(not counting the recovery period after that) and it was something which I'm glad I was able to experience once in my lifetime. Now, it's time for me to go lie down and nurse the still-aching legs and joints.

~moey out~