*Renshen* — King of Tonics
Renshen (ginseng) — flavor sweet and slightly bitter, nature slightly warm. Enters spleen and lung channels.
Originally renshen grew in deep old forest — wild mountain ginseng — usually decades old, some 100–200 years. The older the root, the stronger the effect, the more costly.
Wild mountain ginseng cannot meet demand; today the main source is cultivated yuanshen (garden ginseng). By processing it bears different names — hongshen (red ginseng), baishen (white ginseng), tangshen (sugar ginseng).
China is the home of renshen; over 1,800 years ago, the Shennong Bencao Jing noted that renshen "supplements the five storehouses" and listed it as the king herb of the upper class. The Ming Li Shizhen used it broadly for all deficiency-patterns in men and women.
To the present, renshen is still the chief tonic-and-strengthening medicine. Often used to greatly supplement primal qi; treat deficiency-patterns, especially qi-deficiency.
Ordinary qi-deficiency. Patient feels tired, weak in spirit, reluctant to speak; gets short of breath climbing stairs; sweats heavily on slight activity. Common in chronic disease — emphysema, organ prolapse, chronic diarrhea, malnutrition, various anemias. Such patients can take shengshai shen or baishen; if unusually cold-intolerant, hongshen (warmer); if qi-deficiency is mild, hongshen-xu or tangshen (gentle, cheaper).
Severe qi-deficiency. Patient ashen, cold sweat pouring, limbs cold, pulse thin and weak, blood pressure dropped. Seen in various shocks, severe heart disease, failure. Beyond emergency Western measures, use wild mountain ginseng or Korean red ginseng.
Why does renshen work so well for deficiency? It has many important pharmacological actions: strengthens brain function, eases fatigue. Foreign human-experiments find that on long drills, soldiers given renshen are far more vigorous than those not.
Renshen strengthens circulation, digestion, hematopoiesis — hence supplementing-and-strengthening. It also lifts adaptive capacity — function-coordination and disease-resistance. So astronauts often chew renshen in space to counter stress and prevent illness.
Dosage. For emergency, large; under physician's hand. For ordinary tonifying, 1–3 g/day; for short courses, 3 days a week.
How to take. Slice thin, place in a thermos with boiling water, lid tight, steep 30 minutes; the liquid in 2–3 portions; then chew the residue. Or make powder or capsules; or chew directly.
While taking renshen, avoid radish and tea — they reduce the effect.