Ginseng has long been known as a top-grade medicinal herb that nourishes Yin, strengthens the body, and supports the foundation. The fleshy root of ginseng is a well-known tonic that is suitable for adjusting blood pressure, restoring heart function, treating neurasthenia and physical weakness, and has the effects of expectorant, digestion improvement, diuresis, and stimulation. However, although ginseng is good, it is not suitable for everyone. Below, we summarize the groups of people who should avoid consuming ginseng.
1. Patients with pulmonary tuberculosis
According to traditional Chinese medicine, patients with pulmonary tuberculosis have lung Yin deficiency and excessive internal heat. If they consume ginseng, which is yang in nature, their lung Yin will become even more deficient and the internal heat will become more excessive, often leading to hemoptysis and worsening of the condition.
2. Pregnant women
During pregnancy, women should consume foods that are warm and cool in nature. If they consume ginseng, which is hot in nature, its components can be partially absorbed by the fetus through the blood, leading to increased fetal heat and adverse effects on fetal growth and development, and even causing difficult childbirth.
3. Children and infants
Children have a pure Yang constitution and are naturally more heaty. Consuming ginseng as a strong tonic can have a negative impact on their growth and development. Ginseng also contains hormones that can cause premature sexual development, especially in children under the age of fourteen, so it is best to avoid using ginseng to prevent premature sexual development. Newborns and infants should not consume ginseng.
4. Edematous patients
Ginseng contains a component that has diuretic effects. Therefore, edematous patients should not consume ginseng during treatment to avoid delaying the recovery of the disease.
5. Individuals with increased blood viscosity
Their condition is equivalent to the "blood stasis" syndrome in traditional Chinese medicine. Ginseng promotes the growth of red blood cells, and when the number of red blood cells increases, it increases blood viscosity, which hinders improvement of the condition.
6. Patients with gastric diseases
Research has shown that many gastric diseases are caused by infection with Helicobacter pylori. Certain active ingredients in ginseng have a protective effect against this bacterium, which affects the effectiveness of gastric medicine.
7. Patients with hepatitis and cholecystitis
According to traditional Chinese medicine, patients with acute hepatitis, cholecystitis, and gallstones all have excessive damp-heat. Consuming ginseng will exacerbate the damp-heat and worsen the condition.
8. Individuals with arteriosclerosis
The protein factors in ginseng can inhibit fat decomposition, which can exacerbate the deposition of fat on the blood vessel walls. Therefore, individuals with arteriosclerosis, coronary heart disease, and vasculitis should avoid ginseng. In addition, hypertensive patients often have excessive liver yang, and taking ginseng can easily worsen the symptoms of "liver yang and liver fire", making the liver yang and liver fire even more excessive.
