Shin Young Park¹, Sang Pyung Lee^2,

Coffee and red ginseng are recognized for beneficial health effects. Drinking coffee lowers the risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus, while red ginseng displays immune-stimulatory and anti-tumor activities. However, there has been no study about the effect of a topical application of red ginseng with body wrap steam bathing (BWSB) for stress release. With respect to types of treatment provided with BWSB, these subjects were divided into three groups: caffeine, red ginseng, and the control group. The same volunteer subjects (n=15) underwent these 3 BWSB tests for three non-consecutive days, at least one week apart. Before and after having BWSB, blood samples were taken for analysis of hormones, lipid profiles inclusive of total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein, low density lipoprotein, and triglycerides. The free oxygen radicals test (FORT) and free oxygen radicals defense (FORD) test were performed to analyze circulating oxidative stress instantaneously after taking blood samples. The results of this study revealed that cortisol levels of the red ginseng group were decrease (20%) than the control group (15.4%). On the contrary, the caffeine group showed a significant increase in cortisol or catecholamine levels after BWSB. Although the lipid profiles were unaffected, triglyceride levels significantly decreased (12% reduction) after BWSB in the red ginseng group. The extent of decrease was much greater (21%) in overweight subjects, while the triglyceride levels of subjects with a normal BMI showed no change.

coffee, Korean red ginseng, stress relief, body wrap steam bathing