Thompson River Ginseng Products aims to help our customers achieve their goals for health and well being by making available to them ginseng-based products using locally grown North American ginseng.
Thompson River Ginseng Products is BC’s newest ginseng company, yet we are one of the most experienced. It was started in 2006 by Ziggy Nodzykowski, Menno Schellenberg and Gerald Wiens, all of whom have over 15 years of experience in the ginseng industry. The ginseng industry began in BC in 1982, when Chai-Na-Ta Ginseng Products planted the first 5 acres of ginseng near the town of Lytton. The industry grew rapidly during its first decade, with about 130 growers farming about 2000 acres of ginseng by 1994. Most of the ginseng harvested by these growers was exported to the Far East. Ginseng has been the cornerstone of Traditional Chinese Medicine for thousands of years and is highly valued for its ability to promote health and longevity. Therefore the ginseng grown in BC and other parts of North America had a ready market in Hong Kong and mainland China. However, as the volume of ginseng production grew in BC and other production areas, the supply began to exceed demand, and the prices that farmers received for their crop began to fall. North American production of ginseng has moderated, but at the same time, China has expanded the production of the North American species of ginseng. This has acted to keep market prices depressed, and has led to the decline of the ginseng industry in BC.
Thompson River Ginseng Products has decided to take a different approach. Each of us has devoted a significant portion of our working lives to the production of North American ginseng. We have been involved in research projects, health benefits conferences, grower associations and have helped develop the production practices that now enable us to grow high quality ginseng roots. We have followed the results from many research projects that have detailed the many remarkable health benefits of this unique plant. Each of us has made ginseng consumption part of our health maintenance program, and we’ve heard the testimonials of many other dedicated ginseng fans. Through all of this, we have decided that we know a good thing when we see it. We know how to grow high quality ginseng. We know that when it comes to a herbal product that can offer real health benefits to today’s discerning consumer, North America ginseng is the real deal. So when the opportunity came to grow and market our own brand of ginseng-based health supplements, we knew the time was right.
North American ginseng is Panax quinquifolius Linnaeus, a plant quite closely related to the better know Asian or Korean ginseng, Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer. There are other plants in the ginseng family but they rarely find their way into the herbal supplements marketplace. Because the health benefits of ginseng are known around the world, many individuals and companies try to sell a wide range of herbal products under the name “ginseng”. These include suma root (“Brazilian ginseng”), eleuthero root (“Siberian ginseng”) and ashwaganda root (“Indian ginseng”). Although these plants may have their own medicinal properties, to label them as ginseng is misleading.
North American ginseng is a shade-loving, perennial plant that is found in the wild in the hardwood forests of eastern North America. In its natural environment, the maple and beech trees that tower over it provide shade for it, and the leaves they drop each fall provide a mulch layer that keeps moisture in the ground and acts as insulation in the winter. Mature plants produce red berries that contain seeds. These fall to the ground, or are dispersed by birds that eat the berries. If the seeds fall in a suitable location, they will sprout to produce a new ginseng plant. Ginseng plants are slow growing, since the shady environment they require does not afford a lot of energy for photosynthesis and growth. In the wild, a ginseng plant may require 6 – 10 years of growth before it becomes mature and starts to reproduce. Wild plants have been found that are at least 60 years old. In a cultivated situation, ginseng grows somewhat more quickly, since we take care to provide optimum levels of sunlight, water and nutrients, and eliminate competing weeds. Therefore, ginseng grows to maturity in 3 years, and is often harvested after 4 or 5 growing seasons. After harvest, we wash and dry it. Some is sold in the whole root form and some is further processed into powder or tea form.
Traditional Chinese Medicine states that ginseng helps the body to maintain a fundamental balance (between states of yin and yang) that is necessary in order to experience good health. Yin is an energy state that promotes calmness and body-cooling. Yang is an energy state that promotes invigoration and body-heating. The Chinese belief is that North American ginseng is yin promoting, while Asian ginseng is yang promoting. The word “ginseng” comes from the Chinese word “ren-shen”, meaning “man-root”, referring to the fact that the root sometimes resembles the shape of a human body.
Western science is more analytical in its evaluation of ginseng. It asks, “What’s in it?” and “What does it do?” A lot of research in North America, Europe and Asia has been directed at getting the answers to those questions. The first group of compounds that were found and studied are called either “dammarane saponins” or “ginsenosides”. The term “saponin” indicates that the compounds share some similarity with soaps, that is, a portion of their molecular structure is water soluble and other parts are not. Saponins are found in many types of plants. The term “ginsenoside” refers to that subset of saponins that are only found in ginseng plants. Researchers have identified about 30 ginsenosides in the various members of the ginseng family. In N.A. ginseng, there are 6 major ones, and they have been named Rg1, Re, Rb1, Rc, Rb2 and Rd. Analysis of ginsenoside content is used to differentiate between N.A. and Asian ginseng. Roots of Asian ginseng contain a ginsenoside called Rf, which is not found in N.A. ginseng root. Also, the ratio of Rb1 to Rg1 is greater in N.A. ginseng than Asian ginseng. In the former, the ratio averages about 7:1 and in the latter, about 2:1. Rb1 has the properties of calming the central nervous system and lowering blood pressure. Rg1 has the properties of stimulating the CNS and increasing blood pressure (1). This appears to agree with the Chinese philosophical assessment of N.A. ginseng being yin and Asian ginseng being yang.
In addition to the ginsenosides, another group of compounds that have been the subject of much study are the polysaccharides. These are large molecules made up of long chains of simple sugars. They have been found to stimulate the body’s immune system by increasing production of interferon, tumor necrosis factor, natural killer cells and interleukin 2 (2). An extract of these polysaccharides has been developed and marketed by the Canadian corporation CV Technologies, and has become Canada’s number one selling cold and flu remedy.
In addition to Traditional Chinese Medicine and western science, another culture adds to the evidence speaking to the health benefits of N.A. ginseng. This is the experience of North American First Nations. The nations that lived in the areas where ginseng grew in the wild were well aware of its medicinal properties. They harvested it and used it to treat wounds, toothaches and stomach ailments. When running for long distances, they would chew on a root to increase their stamina. Interestingly, the Iroquois name for the plant, Garent-oguen, also refers to the humanoid shape of the root (3).
(1) The neglected ginsenosides of N.A. ginseng. Wang, D. J Herbs, Spices, Med Plants 2000: 7(2):103-109
(2) A placebo-controlled trial of a proprietary extract of N.A. ginseng (CVT-E002) to prevent acute respiratory illness in institutionalized older adults. McElhaney J. et al. J Am Geriatrics Soc. 2004: 52:13-19
(3) http://www.herbaled.org/Education/Articles/ginseng_fs.html
