Summary: The physiological changes occurring within the human body during exercise are energy consumption, water loss, electrolyte loss, an accumulation of lactic acid and free radical damage. Fatigue is the external presentation of these internal changes. The purpose of this paper was to determine whether Korean Red Ginseng (KRG) exhibits any anti-fatigue effects that would be useful for the physiological changes induced by exercise. This study was an 8-week randomised controlled clinical trial with 110 participants, divided into two test groups. They were either given KRG or a placebo. The researchers found that serum lactic acid content of the group administered KRG was lower than at baseline and also lower than the placebo group, indicating that KRG could delay physical fatigue in the body. There were also no adverse effects noted or any problematic changes to bloodwork that would indicate any safety concerns of taking KRG. This concludes that KRG is both effective for anti-fatigue purposes and safe to administer.
Abstract:
Background: In physical activity or labor, the human body is in a state of high intensity stress, and all parts or physiological functions of the body respond positively to maintain or balance the need for movement. The human body has many physiological changes in the process of movement, and fatigue is the external manifestation of various complex changes inside the human body. Fatigue is also a physiological mechanism of self-protection after the body reaches a certain level of activity, which can prevent the occurrence of life-threatening excessive functional failure. The generation of fatigue is a very complex process, and its mechanism has not been concluded yet. Therefore, it is an important work to search and screen the effective components of natural plants that have anti-fatigue effect and to explore their mechanism.
Methods: This was a 8-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. A total of 110 subjects who passed physical examination were included according to the scheme design, and randomly divided into a test group which was given KRG and a placebo control group. The calculation is carried out according to the standard of sub-high-intensity exercise test.
Results: There was no adverse effect on safety index of subjects after taking red ginseng capsule. After KRG treatment, subjective strength grade is significant lower than placebo treatment. Blood lactic acid content is significantly get lower after trial in KRG group, and significant lower than placebo group. Creatine phosphokinase(CK) content is significantly get lower after trial in KRG group, and significant lower than placebo group.
Conclusion: According to the criterion in the test scheme, the result shows that KRG is helpful in relieving physical fatigue.
Article Publication Date: 11.09.21
DOI: 10.1016/j.jgr.2021.09.001
