Ginkgo Biloba: a complex name, appropriate for this sophisticated tree.
The only remaining species of Ginkgoales - a group of trees that co-existed with dinosaurs - Ginkgo is so resistant that it can basically live forever. Well… 2500 years is as good as forever, right?
It’s a sacred tree, cultivated by the Chinese and the Japanese for centuries now, who use it for its medicinal properties and healing powers.
Thanks to its butyric acid chemical compound, it’s also very famous for its atrocious smell.
More recently the West has started to catch on to its medicinal properties. We’ve started conducting studies to prove what Traditional Chinese Medicine has known all along.
Now Ginkgo Biloba Extract (GBE) is available on prescription in France and the Netherlands. In Germany it’s even covered by national health care insurance for the treatment of tinnitus.
The Norwegian Medicines Agency has approved Ginkgo leaf extract to improve blood circulation.
Here’s what the research says so far.
Ginkgo Biloba has a high antioxidant content. Lets find out what antioxidants are good for...
They help with neutralising the damaging effects of free radicals.
Free radicals play an important role in the body, but if they are produced in excess, they can do a lot of damage to your tissue and cells. Antioxidants help keep the free radicals in your body balanced.
There have been quite a few studies to investigate the effects of GBE on brain function. Overall we’ve seen some pretty positive results.
It was found to help sustain attention for longer, improve cognitive performance, enhance memory… the list goes on.
At Halo Health & Beauty we’re firm believers in the power of Ginkgo over your brain function - that’s why we use it in our Halo Menopause Relief.
In the studies on the topic, GBE encouraged healthy blood flow.
And why’s that important? Because our blood carries oxygen and nutrients to all parts of our body.
Our lives literally depend on our blood circulating effectively throughout the body.
Ginkgo can provide relief people with Schizophrenia, in a number of ways.
For starters, Schizophrenic people appear to have a high number of free radicals in their body, so the GBE can help with balancing those as we explained before.
As well as this, GBE appears to help boost the effects of anti-psychotic drugs.
There’s also been extensive research on whether Ginkgo can help alleviate the symptoms that come with schizophrenia, and so far, the results have been promising.
Ginkgo Biloba can make you more resistant to stress, which in turn helps relieve (or prevent) anxiety.
Furthermore, it’s been found to improve mood and overall enjoyment of everyday tasks/activities.
A number of studies have been conducted to determine whether Ginkgo Biloba could help manage diabetes.
Overall what the results showed was that Ginkgo Biloba helped reduce blood sugar in diabetic patients, and increase the effectiveness of metformin (an antidiabetic drug).
So, like with schizophrenia, it indirectly supports patients by acting as the perfect booster for the condition’s prescribed treatment.
Supports Eye health
As discussed before, GBE supports blood flow throughout the body, and this includes blood flow to the eyes.
Blood supply to the nerves protects the eyes from cell death, blindness, colour loss, and more.
In our eyes (pun intended), that means do whatever you can do to assist this process, right?
Various combos of formulations containing Ginkgo Biloba were found to benefit the user’s skin in a number of ways. These included better moisturization, protected skin barrier and fewer wrinkles.
So, are you convinced of the healing powers of Ginkgo Biloba yet?
There are many more claims for the healing powers of Ginkgo Biloba, but we listed only the ones we could find evidence to support.
We’ve linked some studies throughout this article but there are plenty more, easily found through online search. Please note there are some contraindications for Ginkgo Biloba, so if you’re taking any other medicines you should check with your doctor before you supplement with GBE.
Don’t forget to sign up to our newsletter, if you haven’t already, and we’ll see you next week!
