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Siberian Ginseng - Ci Wu Jia  

Siberian Ginseng is known all over the world now as one of the ultimate adaptogenic agents. Also known as Acanthopanax and Eleutherococcus, the root of this plant helps provide the long term energy and the ability to cope with very difficult stress that is so often needed in many everyday walks of life.

I personaly use this herb quite often on those Arizona days that are over 100 degrees when I need to work outside. I can tell you it is a life saver on those days!  On the other hand, many people that live in cold areas have told me it is a life saver to them in coping with extreme cold when they have to work out in those conditions.

Eleutherococcus senticosis (Siberian Ginseng) is more tonifying than the true Ginsengs (Panax sp.) It is neutral energetically and so is appropriate for daily use. Taken regularly, it enhances immune function, increases cortisol levels and inflammatory response, and it promotes improved cognitive and physical performance in human studies. Also unlike the Panax sp. it will lower high blood pressure, not raise it.

Eleuthero has been successfully used in China to treat bone marrow suppression caused by chemotherapy or radiation, angina hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, neurasthenia with headache, insomnia, and poor appetite.

This amazing herb aids in the recovery from hard physical exercise, as well as from extreme mental exertion. It’s reputation for this is fast becoming common knowledge all over the world. It is now commonly used by thousands of people required to engage in high stress, high energy-demanding activities such as high altitude flying, long-distance sailing, working in high or low temperature environments or in deep water. Most any competing athletic runners use it because they simply can not outrun the competition that does use it!

Acanthopanax is used by all Russian astronauts. (cosmonauts) The use of the extract of this herb in these endeavors has been reported to increase physical strength, sharpen concentration, improve various parameters of mental power, increase visual acuity, improve color vision and to promote the natural healing power of the body.

In Chinese history, Li Shih Chen, in his Great Catalog of Medicinal Herbs, called Siberian Ginseng (Ci Wu Jia) a superior herb, indicating the he believed that Acanthopanax has a primarily tonic, anti-aging nature rather than a medicinal effect. He describes it in this way: "Its action is to invigorate physical energy, regulate vigor, strengthen the skeleton and tendons and increase one’s ambition. If administered over a long period of time, it can delay weakness and aging. Indications for its use include sexual debility, overly-frequent urination, lumbago (low-back pain), rheumat ic pain in the legs and weakness of vigor and vitality."

For all you "science buffs" out there, many of the active constituents in E. senticosus are triterpenoid saponins. Though all terpenoid compounds have bioactivity in mammals, it is the triterpenes that are most important to the adaptogenic effect. The majority of known triterpenoid compounds in E. senticosus are found as saponin glycosides which refers to the attachment of various sugar molecules to the triterpene unit. These sugars are usually cleaved off in the gut by bacteria, allowing the aglycone (triterpene) to be absorbed. Saponin glycosides have the characteristic of reducing surface tension of water and will strip the lipids. So it could just possably help you loose weight!

We sell Ci Wu Jia in liquid extract and also pounds or half pounds of the raw root (Scliced thin as in photo above) for personal processing.