If you want to boost your immune system, improve your concentration levels, and feel more energized (especially in the bedroom), ginseng is a great place to start.
While ginseng has been an ingredient in traditional medicine for centuries, modern science has only recently begun to investigate its effects on the body.
Our research team reviewed and ranked the best ginseng supplements on the market, plus took a careful look at the science behind the health benefits of ginseng supplementation.
Here are our rankings, plus the most important scientific findings that support using ginseng.
Research
Rankings
1. Yours Nutrition Korean Red Ginseng
Yours Nutrition has earned its second-to-none reputation by providing an authentic, holistic, and best-selling alternative which does not compromise when it comes to quality.
Each capsule is completely free of any additives or artificial ingredients.
This incredible ginseng supplement is defined by its optimally concentrated ginsenoside content– at 10%, that’s at least double the amount you’ll find with most other leading brands. By refusing to add other herbs or preservatives, Yours Nutrition sets itself apart from the pack by contributing a ginseng supplement which is organic and pure, using the whole root to genuinely bring out ginseng’s full potential.
What should you expect? Increased energy, boosted immunity, and significantly reduced levels of stress.
Not bad.
Contemporary convenience merges with traditional wisdom in these 750mg capsules composed of ethically farmed, third-party tested, potent and pure sources of Korean red ginseng.
Alpha XR’s #1 all-around ginseng winner.
2. Auragin Korean Ginseng
Auragin is a best-selling authentic Asian ginseng supplement produced in Korea. Each tablet contains 300 mg of Korean ginseng root, of which 8% are ginsenosides, the suspected active ingredient. It’s tremendously minimalistic; ginseng root is literally the only ingredient.
It’s pressed into tablets and packaged; there are no preservatives, additives, or fillers included whatsoever.
Independent lab testing calls into question the true content of ginsenosides, however. Analytical testing shows that the true content is more like 5%, though part of this might be the difficulties of detecting ginsenosides at low concentrations.
Regardless, other supplements are able to come closer to their label-stated ginseng content, so it’s certainly doable.
Partially because it’s imported from Korea, Auragin is not going to be the cheapest ginseng supplement on the market. Despite this, many people believe that Asian ginseng is superior to American ginseng, albeit while being more expensive to produce and import. This has a lot to do with its place in traditional Chinese medicine as a remedy for a number of health problems.
3. NuSci Panax Ginseng
If you know exactly how much ginseng you want, and you want it as cheap and as readily available as possible, this is the product for you. NuSci Panax Ginseng comes in powder form, packaged in a foil bag, with only one ingredient; ginseng extract. It contains 10% ginsenosides, making calculations easy to do, assuming you have a scale.
Therein lies the major advantage and disadvantage of free powdered ginseng extract. You need to do all of the measuring yourself.
It’s a lot of extra work, and you’ll need to purchase a high quality micro scale to accurately determine the milligram amounts of powder that you want, but if you know how much ginseng you want to be taking every day, it’s a tremendous value. This has to be number one in the cost-savings department, assuming you already have a scale and are comfortable using it.
Lab testing confirms the purity of NuSci Panax Ginseng. In fact, it seems that the powder actually contains more like 12% ginsenosides per serving, meaning you get even more value.
One tricky part about powder is figuring out how to consume it. If you have your own capsule loading machine, that is one option, but that can get expensive and time-consuming.
Mixing ginseng powder into food is another approach that can work, but it has a fairly potent taste. For best results, mixing it into a protein shake or smoothie will help it go down easier.
4. Nature’s Answer White Ginseng
This ginseng supplement comes in an unusual form. Instead of a tablet, capsule, or free powder, it comes as a liquid in an eye-dropper bottle. The standardized serving size is listed in number of drops, and since it’s so high (56 drops per serving!) counting them out can be very tedious.
However, it delivers an incredibly potent ginseng dose. The other ingredients are included purely to dissolve the ginseng extract, and they are vegetable glycerin and purified water.
5. Solgar Korean Ginseng
The ginseng supplement from Solgar comes in a traditional capsule form, with each vegetarian cellulose capsule containing 250 mg of Korean ginseng extract, of which 8% is ginsenosides. Interestingly, it also contains ginseng powder, which is presumably unextracted ginseng root.
Because the supplement is in capsule form, it needs some extra ingredients to act as preservatives and bulking agents. In Solgar Korean Ginseng, these com in the form of magnesium stearate and a proprietary blend of beta-carotene and ascorbic acid (vitamin C).
In this case, these anti-oxidants aren’t included for a direct health benefit; they just prevent oxidative damage from degrading the ginseng over time while it’s in storage, preserving the shelf life.
6. Puritan’s Pride American Ginseng
The proudly American-made Puritan’s Pride ginseng supplement provides a fairly high 500 mg of ginseng per capsule. The capsule is gelatin based, which is fine for most people unless you have objections to animal products (gelatin, of course, being made from animals).
According to the label, each capsule contains 25 mg of ginsenosides, but lab testing found quite a bit more than that— 41 mg! Large errors of this magnitude (~60%) don’t give the impression that the product is carefully made and that manufacturing processes are sound, but the good news is that the error is in your favor—you’re getting a lot more ginsenosides than you pay for.
All this aside, the capsule contains the usual magnesium stearate and magnesium silicate, both simple binders and stabilizing agents.
7. aSquared Nutrition Pure Red Korean Panax Ginseng
aSquared Nutrition’s ginseng supplement provides 500 mg of Panax (Asian) ginseng, and the only other ingredients in the capsule are rice powder and magnesium stearate, fairly standard for this kind of product.
The ginsenoside content is fairly high for the dose, making it a pretty solid pick.
8. Buddha’s Herbs Ginseng
As the name suggests, this ginseng supplement makes use of strictly Panax (Asian / Korean) ginseng for its capsules. In keeping with the name, the capsules are also made from vegetable cellulose instead of gelatin, which is an animal product.
In addition to 100 mg of Panax ginseng root extract per capsule, (with a standardized ginsenoside content of 10%), each capsule also contains rice flour, silicon dioxide, and magnesium stearate, fairly standard stabilizing agents.
Because of some variability in ginsenoside content in independent lab testing, Buddha’s Herbs is not ranked as highly as it could be if these were addressed.
9. Nature’s Bounty Ginseng Complex
Nature’s Bounty takes a more maximalist or holistic approach; it’s not just a pure ginseng supplement.
First off, it includes two kinds of ginseng: American ginseng and Panax ginseng (Asian ginseng). The Asian ginseng contains 2% ginsenosides and the American ginseng contains 5% ginsenosides.
The supplement also includes 500% of your recommended daily value for vitamin B12—this is probably an effort to further boost energy levels, since a lot of energy drinks also contain high levels of vitamin B12.
Additionally, as the name of the supplement suggests, it also contains royal jelly concentrate, which is a compound secreted by honey bees to feed larvae.
10. NOW Foods American Ginseng
Depending on your opinion of the relative worth of American versus Korean ginseng, your opinion of NOW Foods’ ginseng supplement may vary. Independent lab testing shows a fairly low 11 mg ginsenoside content per capsule.
The capsules also contain a few stabilizers and bulking agents. Because of these deficits, NOW Foods American Ginseng does not find itself ranked very highly among the top ginseng supplements despite its best-selling status.
11. Swanson Full Spectrum Korean Red Ginseng Root
Swanson Vitamins uses Korean ginseng, which will win over traditional medicine purists.
Secondly, it comes in capsules containing a fairly respectable 400 mg of ginseng root each. In addition to ginseng root, the capsule is comprised of gelatin—a negative for vegans and anyone else who avoids anima products—along with cellulose, magnesium sulfate, and silica.
Unfortunately, the label does not list the ginsenoside content. However, independent lab testing has confirmed that each capsule contains 6.8 mg of ginsenosides. This is a rather disappointing result. This comes out to less than two percent of the total ginseng contents of the capsule.
Category winners
Best ginseng overall: Yours Nutrition Korean Red Ginseng
Yours Nutrition provides a strong dose of ginseng, and carefully measures the concentrations of ginsenosides (the biologically active ingredient responsible for ginseng’s benefits). On top of that, their ginseng root is ethically sourced, making Yours Nutrition a perfect all-around ginseng supplement.
Best ginseng for hair: Auragin Korean Ginseng
Many men take ginseng to make their hair more resistant to age-related hair loss, under the theory that the bioactive compounds in ginseng encourage hair follicles to continue growing instead of dying off. Auragin makes a great ginseng supplement for this purpose, as its moderate dosage and high purity makes it amenable for long-term usage.
Best ginseng for skin: Auragin Korean Ginseng
Auragin again comes out on top for skin cosmetics purposes—while the proposed mechanism by which ginseng helps your skin is different than with hair loss, the rationale for choosing Auragin remains the same: a carefully calibrated dose in a super-simple capsule, making it a good choice if you want to try ginseng for skincare.
Best ginseng for erectile dysfunction (ED) and sexual health: Yours Nutrition Korean Red Ginseng
Research on ginseng for sexual health in general, and erectile dysfunction in particular, tends to lean towards heavier doses of ginseng. Yours Nutrition, with 750 mg of ginseng per serving and a potent 10% ginsenoside concentration, is excellent on this front, making it a perfect choice for men looking for better sexual health and improved erectile function.
Best ginseng for ginseng tea: Dairyland American Ginseng Roots
If you want to make ginseng tea, you don’t want to use a powder—you want to use raw ginseng root. Dairyland produces American-grown, non-GMO ginseng that’s perfectly suited for your own ginseng tea.
Best ginseng for memory: NuSci Panax Ginseng
NuSci Panax Ginseng is a good choice for using ginseng as a memory aid because the loose form powder makes it easy to calibrate your own dosage. On top of that, the concentration of ginsenosides is top-notch, making this great both for nootropic usage and for general cognitive health.
Who should buy ginseng?
Ginseng supplements work well for three primary purposes: improving immune function, reducing feelings of fatigue and increasing feelings of energy, and improving sexual function, both in men and women.
If any of these purposes fits your needs, ginseng will be a great supplement choice.
While it does not have quite as broad of a range of applications as other herbal compounds, ginseng’s long history in Asia is a testament to its its utility for improving immune function, reducing levels of fatigue, and boosting sexual health and wellness.
How we ranked
After cataloging all of the ginseng options available on the market, we put some strict criteria in place to narrow the field. First, based on scientific research on the efficacy of ginseng inside your body, we required that all of the supplements that made our rankings have their ginsenoside content listed or validated by an outside laboratory.
These ginsenosides are the biologically active ingredients in ginseng that seem to be responsible for the health benefits, and given their importance, we eliminated many products that did not specifically list ginsenoside content.
Next, we analyzed the type of ginseng plant used to produce the supplement. We favored products that used Asian panax ginseng, for two reasons: first, it is the traditional form of ginseng used in eastern medicine, and second, it tends to have a greater ginsenoside content.
Along with the source, we also checked to see whether the content of ginsenosides listed on the label matched up with the numbers found in independent lab validation studies.
Supplements whose label-claimed ginsenoside content matched their lab-determined ginsenoside levels closely were rated much higher, and less accurate products were penalized (especially those that claimed to have more ginsenosides than they really did).
We also checked to see which supplements had binders, fillers, and stabilizers that aren’t necessary. With all of the supplements we review, we put a high priority on purity and clean design, and our ginseng rankings were no exception. We dropped products from the field if they had a bloated supplement design and unnecessary ingredients.
Finally, we evaluated which of the remaining supplements delivered doses in the range of recommended dose used in the scientific literature, which ranges from 200 to 1000 mg.
If a product delivered too low of a dosage, or too high of a dosage, it was dropped. Royal King, for example, delivered far too much ginseng per dose, at 6000 mg per serving, so it didn’t make our rankings, even though it’s fairly popular.
Benefits
Ginseng may help treat erectile dysfunction in men. One of the traditional uses of ginseng is as a sexual health supplement—indeed, you’ll occasionally find it in male enhancement pills and testosterone boosters.
One study published in the International Journal of Impotence Research examined 119 men who had mild to moderate erectile dysfunction. The men were randomized into either a ginseng supplement group or a placebo group, and were followed over the course of eight weeks.
After the researchers analyzed the results, they found that the ginseng group experienced significant improvements in erectile dysfunction at both four and eight weeks, and experienced no remarkable side effects (1).
These results suggest that men with erectile problems could benefit substantially from a ginseng supplement.
Men may also be able to increase their libido with ginseng. Other research suggests that ginseng may also alter hormone levels and act to increase libido in men, providing further evidence that men with a variety of sexual health concerns may benefit from ginseng supplementation (2).
According to one study published by researchers in Italy, ginseng’s ability to regulate libido may be attributed to alterations in adrenal and pituitary gland function (3). Some research has investigated ginseng for potential sexual health benefits for women, but results have not been successful so far (4).
Ginseng can help boost your immune system. A 2008 study by Patricia D Biondo and other researchers at the Alberta Institute for Human Nutrition investigated the effects of a ginseng supplementation routine on the body’s immune response to exercise (5).
The experiment, described in a paper published in the scientific journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, recruited ten healthy men who received either a ginseng supplement (1125 mg of American ginseng extract per day) or a placebo supplement.
All of the men completed an exercise protocol and the researchers measured the men’s immune response to the exercise routine. Three months later, the subjects returned, and the supplement and placebo were switched—this type of crossover design ensured that all of the subjects were exposed to both conditions.
The results showed that the men who had taken the ginseng supplement increased production of a protein called interleukin 2, which helps your body activate infection-fighting white blood cells. This raises the possibility
The researchers noted, however, that the overall effect was a moderate one, and other parts of the immune system remained unchanged by the ginseng supplementation routine.
Ginseng can also reduce feelings of fatigue. This may be why people find that ginseng supplements seem to give them more energy.
A 2011 study published by Ji Young Choi and other researchers at Uimyung Research Institute for Neuroscience in Seoul, South Korea examined the effect of Asian (Panax) ginseng on physical and psychological energy levels in mice (6).
This might sound like a silly experiment—how do you measure psychological fatigue in mice?—but Choi and his fellow researchers subjected the mice to both exercise (which induces physical fatigue) and stressful conditions, which induces psychological fatigue.
Choi et al. found that, while the ginseng supplementation regimen had no effect on biological markers related to exercise performance, like blood lactate levels, mice who were usually sapped of energy and unmotivated after being exposed to stressful conditions had more energy when taking a ginseng supplement.
The researchers measured their baseline movement and activity levels, along with the amount of time they could swim in cold water. In both cases, the mice taking the ginseng had more energy, meaning they moved around more often and swam longer in the cold water.
The evidence for ginseng and sport performance is not as promising. A 1996 study by Hermann-J. Engles, Josephine M. Said, and John C. Wirth at Wayne State University in Michigan tested the effects of a 200 mg per day supplementation routine of Asian ginseng in adult females (7). The test subjects performed a graded exercise test on a treadmill before and after the supplementation routine, which lasted for eight weeks.
The researchers found that there were no detectable effects on the exercise performance test—further, the women’s self-reported activity levels did not differ either.
This might call into question the ability of a ginseng supplementation routine, at least one with these design parameters, to boost your energy levels and give you more motivation to be active in your everyday life. Clearly, more research on more people is needed to determine whether ginseng is all it’s cracked up to be.
Side effects
Even though the science behind ginseng is not bulletproof, the good news is that ginseng appears to be a pretty safe supplement.
Studies on its use as a supplement, such as a 1995 study on ginseng therapy in diabetic patients, find that there are no well-known negative side effects associated with taking a ginseng supplement at the usual dosages used in these studies (8).
There are a few case reports of serious medical issues associated with ginseng use. One study describes a 56 year old woman who suffered a manic episode when she started a ginseng supplementation routine (9). Notably, she had a known mood disorder before she started taking ginseng.
Another study described a possible drug interaction with the blood thinner warfarin (10). A 47 year old man with heart disease had abnormal blood markers of clotting at one of his regular check-ups.
After reviewing his medication, the doctors determined the only major change had been an introduction of a ginseng supplement. After discontinuing the ginseng supplement, the man’s blood clotting factors returned to normal.
Ginseng is also reported to interact with MAO inhibitors, a class of drug used for mental health conditions.
Though neither of these are definitive cause and effect relationships, they are worth noting.
Until there are larger studies on the possible side effects of ginseng, people with a history of serious mood disorders and people taking blood thinners like warfarin should refrain from a ginseng supplementation routine.
Recommended dosage
Despite its long history of use as an herbal medication, there are few good guidelines on what the appropriate or optimal amount of ginseng intake per day should be.
Most scientific studies use doses of 200 to 1000 mg of ginseng root extract per day, using supplements that contain on the order of 5% ginsenosides by weight. This is a good place to start.
You can begin at the low end of the range (perhaps 200 mg per day) and see if supplementing at that level gives you the desired effect. If not, you can try increasing the dosage. If you still don’t have the desired effect, ginseng may not be effective for you, and you may need to look for answers elsewhere.
FAQ
Q: Does ginseng help sexually?
A: Most of the research on the sexual health effects of ginseng is focused on the benefits for men. Ginseng appears to help increase nitric oxide levels, which is directly connected to better erectile function in men.
The mechanism at play here is an increase in blood flow, thanks to the vasodilating properties of ginseng. There is also evidence that ginseng can increase sexual appetite and desire thanks to its ability to alter hormone levels and activity levels in the brain, according to animal studies.
These effects are likely why ginseng has accumulated a reputation as a powerful herbal aphrodisiac.
Q: Is ginseng good or bad for you?
A: Ginseng, broadly speaking, is quite a safe supplement. It has a long history of use, and according to a systematic review published in 2002 in the journal Drug Safety, the incidence of side effects in studies on ginseng is typically no greater than the incidence of side effects in the placebo groups (11).
Headaches, sleep problems, and mild gastrointestinal problems are the most common issues reported with ginseng supplements, and it’s not even clear that these side effects are caused by the ginseng itself.
Combined with the evidence discussed earlier on the potential benefits of ginseng, and it’s fairly easy to see that it would be misleading to say that ginseng is bad for you.
There is, however, a small segment of the population that should definitely not take ginseng because it does have the potential to interact with certain prescription medications.
These medications include warfarin, a powerful blood thinner, and MAO inhibitors, which are used to treat depression and some other mental health conditions.
Ginseng can interfere with these medications, and can cause headaches, insomnia, anxiety, and hyperactivity. So, for this portion of the population, ginseng would be bad.
Q: What are the benefits of ginseng for men?
A: For men, ginseng has some fairly well-documented sexual benefits. Ginseng supplementation has been studied as a way to improve erectile dysfunction and as a way to increase libido and hormones related to sexual desire.
Ginseng appears to function through at least two different pathways to accomplish these effects. The first has to do with increasing levels of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is a vasodilator, meaning it helps blood vessels expand and increase blood flow. This can help directly with erectile dysfunction.
The libido-enhancing effects of ginseng likely come from a different pathway, because animal studies have also demonstrated that ginseng has central effects on the brain, increasing sexual appetite and sexual desire.
Beyond the sexual effects, men can also take advantage of the overall energy-boosting and fatigue-suppressing effects of ginseng, alongside its immunity-enhancing effects.
Q: What are the benefits of ginseng for women?
A: Ginseng for women has not been studied in detail as much as the effects of ginseng on men, but women still benefit from the energy-boosting, immunity-enhancing effects of ginseng. Beyond these, it’s unclear whether women also experience sexual health benefits from ginseng.
One small study of women taking ginseng to boost sexual arousal found a modest increase among the women taking the ginseng supplement compared to the women taking the placebo, but also noted that two cases of vaginal bleeding occurred in the ginseng group (12).
A different study examining a ginseng-based supplement in women found no evidence for an effect on sexual function in women (13), and a third claimed that any results might be ascribed to a particularly potent placebo effect in ginseng supplements (14).
Perhaps because of these less than promising results, ginseng is not as popular for women as it is for men.
Q: How do you make ginseng tea?
A: Making ginseng tea requires raw ginseng root or powdered and dried ginseng root, which you can get in bulk. To make ginseng tea, steep either peeled raw ginseng root or powdered and dried ginseng root in nearly-boiling water for two to three minutes. Strain, then serve hot. Ginseng tea might go well with a small amount of honey or agave nectar.
Q: What is ginseng used for?
A: Ginseng has three primary uses as an herbal remedy. These are improving immune function, boosting energy levels, and bolstering sexual function (primarily in men).
Ginseng’s effects on immune function are modest, but it does appear to up-regulate certain biological compounds in the blood that help activate your immune system and fight off infections.
The mechanisms behind why ginseng is able to increase feelings of energy are not entirely clear, but ginseng supplementation has been demonstrated to be an effective way to reduce feelings of mental fatigue and increase feelings of energy.
Finally, while the benefits to sexual wellness seem, at least according to the latest research, to be limited only to men, ginseng does seem to exert a solid benefit for both erectile dysfunction and decreased libido.
Q: What is panax ginseng?
A: Panax ginseng is the scientific name for the species of ginseng that is native to Korea. There are also other types of ginseng, such as American ginseng, whose scientific name is panax quinquefolius.
While all types of ginseng contain ginsenosides (the biologically active compounds that are likely responsible for the health effects of ginseng), panax ginseng contains these ginsenosides in high concentrations, and is also the most-studied species of ginseng.
Accordingly, when building our rankings, we prioritized products whose primary or sole source of ginseng was panax ginseng. If the traditional eastern herbal medicine roots of ginseng appeal to you, definitely opt for panax ginseng.
However, keep in mind that American ginseng also has a history of use as an herbal medicine by native Americans (which itself might be evidence for the efficacy of ginsenosides).
Q: What happens if you take too much ginseng at once?
A: Taking a large dose of ginseng has only been associated with adverse effects in people who already have a serious health condition, such as chronic kidney disease (15).
However, some problems have been reported in people who use very large amounts of ginseng for very long periods of time. This has been dubbed “ginseng abuse syndrome” and has been associated with skin problems, diarrhea, nervousness, sleeplessness, and depression, but only in a small population of people who take massive amounts of ginseng for very long periods of time (16).
Q: Is a ginseng supplement good to take when you are getting sick?
A: As discussed earlier, one area where ginseng has solid scientific support for its ability to modulate the immune system. Research has found that ginseng supplementation can activate multiple different pathways in the immune system.
These benefits can extend to an increased ability to fight off infection, as well as improvements in immune-system linked conditions such as arthritis and other inflammatory diseases (17).
Q: Which type of ginseng is best for men?
A: Because ginseng has been used for centuries in traditional eastern medicine as a treatment for erectile dysfunction and as an aphrodisiac for men, the most widely researched type of ginseng for men is Asian or Korean ginseng, more properly referred to as panax ginseng.
If you are a man looking to capitalize on the sexual wellness benefits of ginseng, your best bet is definitely to go with a product that exclusively uses panax ginseng. Other types of ginseng, like American ginseng, have been studied as well, but you likely want to opt for the species with the strongest evidence.
Q: How long does it take to feel the effects of ginseng?
A: The biological effects of ginsenosides, the biologically active molecules in ginseng, actually range quite a bit in their rate of absorption and activity in your body.
According to one study, some of these ginsenosides are absorbed in a matter of minutes and excreted within a few hours, while others are absorbed more slowly (over the course of several hours) and also excreted more slowly (18).
One implication of these findings is that you may start to feel the energy-boosting effects of ginseng nearly immediately—this is probably why you’ll find it in many energy drinks.
On the flip side, some of the effects from other ginsenosides can last all day, which could mean that you won’t get the same kind of crash in energy levels that you’d get from something with a lot of sugar and caffeine.
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Recap
If you need a little more psychological energy to get through the day, or if you want a little boost to your immune system, ginseng might be what you’re looking for. Ginseng is also great for men who are looking to improve their wellness and sexual function.
The evidence behind its efficacy is not as robust as some other supplements, but it does appear to be safe for the vast majority of people.
For Alpha XR’s #1 ginseng recommendation, click here.