Asian ginseng and Frequent Colds: The Traditional Reasoning, Plus the Evidence

Asian ginseng is one of the herbs TCM practitioners genuinely reach for in frequent colds patterns. The reasoning is very specific, and worth understanding before you brew anything.

In pattern terms, this is about weak wei qi with spontaneous sweat and easy colds. Asian ginseng (Ren Shen, 人参) is slightly warm in nature and enters the lung, spleen, heart meridians, which is the classical reason it suits that picture.

Classically, it powerfully tonifies yuan qi in collapse and exhaustion. A practitioner matching your tongue and pulse to that pattern is exactly the situation it was chosen for.

The evidence for Asian ginseng

The strongest studies touch on this: however, not all research agrees on Asian ginseng’s possible benefits for fatigue. A 2022 review of 20 studies (1,295 participants) found that Asian ginseng improved many cardiometabolic factors in people with prediabetes and diabetes, including fasting blood glucose levels, total cholesterol, and certain inflammatory markers.

How people take it for frequent colds

Simmer 3 to 9 grams of sliced root, often alone in a double boiler or in chicken soup. Take in the morning; ginseng late in the day can over-stimulate.

Acupressure runs alongside the herbs in most treatment plans. The points most often paired with this pattern are fengmen, zusanli, and pressing them firmly for a minute at a time is easy to learn.

For the fuller picture, including the other patterns behind frequent colds, see the Getting Sick Often guide.

Cautions

A few cautions from the research literature: one of the chemicals in it has been found to cause birth defects in animals.

Consistency beats dose. A modest amount taken regularly usually does more than a heroic amount taken twice.