American Ginseng: Mediocre Effects on Markers of Oxidative Stress After Downhill Run
In the West ginseng is by now almost more popular than in China, where it has been part of the traditional medicine for hundreds of years. In a recent study Hsu investigated the effect of 4 weeks American ginseng supplementation on oxidative stress following acute downhill running ( Hsu. Ginseng. 2010 ). The results are far from earth-shattering and might save you a few bucks you might have (mis-)invested in American ginseng, otherwise: No group differences were observed in plasma TNF-a, IL-1b, and IL-10 . However, 4-wk AG supplementation resulted in a significant increase in plasma IL-4. Furthermore, serum lipid peroxidative biomarker, 8-iso-PGF2a concentration of the AG group was significantly lower than that of the PL group at immediately, and 1, 2, and 72 hr after exercise. AG group showed a less muscle soreness than that of PL group at 72 hr after exercise. Eventually, these figures are pretty meaningless. While they might indicate that ginseng had an effect, we are way to ...