 Jinsing root is a popular herbal medicine. Like the word panacea, jinsing's Latin name panax is derived from the Greek for cure-all. It can extend the lives of fruit flies and microscopic worms, but not mice. What about people? Well, there have been more than 100 clinical trials using various jinsing formulations, but the results have been underwhelming. A meta-analysis of randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trials found jinsing did not appear to significantly affect the duration of illness, but did appear to reduce the risk of developing acute upper respiratory infections in the first place. Digging deeper, however, the preventive benefit appears limited to Asian jinsing, which cut infection risk in half compared to placebo, as opposed to American jinsing that only reduced risk 16%, which did not reach statistical significance. Asian jinsing can then be further divided up by processing method. White jinsing is Asian jinsing root that's simply been washed and dried, whereas red jinsing is the same root, but undergoes an additional step of steaming before drying. Red jinsing is often used for male erectile dysfunction. While it doesn't appear to help with female sexual dysfunction, a meta-analysis of a half-dozen randomized controlled trials found that 4 to 12 weeks of 1.8 to 3 grams a day of Korean red jinsing can improve erectile dysfunction compared to placebo. 58% of men experienced an improvement in sexual function compared to 20% of men in the placebo group. This may be due to an improvement in artery function demonstrated within 3 hours of consumption. Of course, this is assuming there's actually jinsing in your jinsing. Jinsing is a multi-billion dollar industry and as such suffers from intentional contamination with cheaper filler substitutes, some of which may not be benign. If you're quote-unquote jinsing supplement turns out to be just powdered soybeans, then you've just wasted your money. But for example, if it's been spiked with illicit horse pain killer, it's worse than a waste. A study of the more than 500 jinsing products sold in a dozen countries across six continents found that 24% were adulterated. This is consistent with so-called immune-boosting supplements. In general, a 2022 analysis found that most such products failed to match what was on their labels. Maybe it's good there's no jinsing in your jinsing? From an oxidative stress standpoint, American, Chinese, and Korean jinsing all have been shown to acutely protect against free radical-induced DNA damage within hours of consumption, but one longer-term trial raised red flags. Although four weeks of Korean jinsing reduced levels of oxidative stress, four months of American jinsing about a quarter teaspoon a day of whole root powder caused an uptick in DNA damage, until it can be shown that chronic intake of other jinsings aren't also DNA damaging, I'd recommend steering clear. Approximately 10% of users suffer from what's been termed jinsing abuse syndrome, which manifests as high blood pressure, nervousness, sleeplessness, skin eruptions, and morning diarrhea. Of course it may not actually be from jinsing itself, but rather adulterants in some supposed jinsing product. What if you randomize people to jinsing that's been officially authenticated? In a multicentered, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled safety trial, a thousand people were randomized to 2 grams a day of red jinsing or placebo for six months. And the jinsing group 345 adverse effects were recorded, but the placebo group had 389 adverse events. Each of the top 5 quote-unquote side effects were documented more often in the placebo group. Outside of a clinical trial, though, it's hard to know what you're going to get. Aside from the abuse syndrome symptoms, there have been case reports of manic psychosis, estrogenic effects, and increased surgical bleeding. And so some recommend jinsing should be avoided in those expected to undergo surgery, those with a predisposition to mania, estrogen-dependent disease, hypertension, or hyperthyroidism.