Ergogenic Uses
Ergogenic Studies
V.K. Singh, conducted a diabolical, though impressive, study to demonstrate the efficacy of adaptogens. Singh and his colleagues 1983 study placed rats in vats of water where they had to swim to keep from sinking. They were timed as they swam to exhaustion and sank. After rescue, their diets were supplemented with Adaptogens (standard G115). After some weeks, they were put back into the vats and again forced to swim for their lives. Swimming time to exhaustion was increased by as much as 40%. This is an incredible improvement when one considers the stakes. Obviously, the first time was an all out effort, yet the second time, when arguably they’d have learned that the situation was not quite so perilous, they still showed unambiguous increases.
E.V. Avakian, however, a leading researcher in this area, has shown that Adaptogens spares glycogen and increases oxidation of fatty acids. In his tests, ginsenosides begin to look somewhat like pyruvate, reducing the body’s use of its limited store of glycogen and increasing use of its much larger store of fat.   If the parallel holds, we should also see a relationship between G115 and V02 max. Along those lines, E. Dorling established performance baselines based on lung function for a group of subjects. He then gave them 200 Mg. of G115 per day for 12 weeks. When these parameters were measured again, their vital capacity (forced expiratory volume, peak expiratory flow, and maximum breathing capacity) all showed improvement.  The interesting aspect of Dorling’s result was the amount of improvement, 44% compared to a placebo group. This corresponds well with Singh’s 40% finding. Better yet, when Drs. I. Forgo and G. Schimert repeated the study, but using a 9 week supplementation period, they found very similar results. This suggests that vital lung capacity is a reasonable indicator of actual endurance improvement.