Few aspects of modernity are more puzzling than the staying power of native medicine and folk remedies. Today, the same people who carry cell phones and ride high-speed trains to work are just as likely to have begun their morning with a garlic tablet and a gulp of Siberian ginseng .
Far from losing its appeal over time, interest in homeopathic medicine in general and the consumption of ginseng in particular has now moved beyond New Age devotees and into mainstream America. The tenets of traditional Chinese medicine have long held that ginseng is a tonic to increase strength, promote life and appetite, increase blood volume, quiet the spirit and give wisdom. The plant has also been credited with being a panacea for cancer, rheumatism, diabetes, sexual debility and aging. Native Americans, too, used a North American strain of ginseng as part of their medical and spiritual routines.
With ginseng , the root's the thing. The name ginseng is derived from a combination of two Chinese words, shen and seng, meaning "man root," reflecting its resemblance to the human body. The root can be chewed, pulped or have the active ingredient -- panaquilon -- extracted.
To appreciate how interested American society has become in ginseng , take a minute to survey the wide variety of ginseng -related products that are starting to appear. Most recent on the list -- but with wide mainstream distribution -- is Arizona Iced Tea with Ginseng . It is marketed in striking cobalt blue bottles adorned with Native American symbols and colors.
"Many of the properties ascribed to ginseng were first discovered by the Chinese," said Arizona COO Mike Schott. "And it was the Chinese who originally combined ginseng with tea.
So, in a sense, this is a new product with a very, very long history."
Arizona is no stranger to being ahead of the curve. In just three years the Brooklyn-based company, described as "the real shining star" by beverage industry analyst Michael Bellas, hass rocketed to third place in the highly competitive ready-to-drink tea category, behind brands owned by Pepsi and Quaker Oats. Much of the company's success -- aside from making a quality product that is competitively priced -- has come about as the result of positioning its products with romantic and lasting images.
" Ginseng is mysterious," continued Schott. "It has an aura that is difficult to describe but has an army of people who swear by it. That's the way we want our products viewed, too."
Attempts by modern medicine to substantiate the effects of ginseng have at best been inconclusive. Scientific researchers from the former Soviet Union, for instance, claimed to have found substances in ginseng that stimulate endocrine secretions and act as a tonic to the cardiovascular system.
Medical researchers in the West, however, have failed to substantiate these claims.
Echoing the attitude that most Americans seem to have adopted toward the substance, Arizona's Schott says, "Perhaps we'll never know for sure what benefits, if any, come from ginseng .
But we have created a product that in addition to tasting good is thought provoking, too, and that's good enough for me."
NOTE TO EDITORS: Color photos of Ginseng Roots and bottle of Arizona Iced Tea with Ginseng are available from Wordsworth Communications, 513-241-4777./
- SOURCE : PR Newswire1995.01.09
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