Ginkgo.

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.herbs
Subject: Re: Ginko Biloba and Caffeine
From: p_iannone.pop.com (Paul Iannone)
Date: 18 Jul 1995 23:41:29 GMT

Susan E. Richardson wrote:
>I am a grad student facing a thesis defence within the next couple of months. I would like to be in top form for this. I've read recently that the herb ginko biloba can increase alertness, short term memory and so forth, and that it does this by somehow augmenting bood circulation in the small vessels in the brain. Is there anything to this? Has anyone out there tried this herb and found that it works?
> I'd be very interested in hearing from anyone who has personal experience with ginko, and also from anyone who is educated about the chemistry and effects of ginko and/or caffeine.

Gingko makes people nervous. I advise you to take advantage of your few months to QUIT COFFEE! The improved sleep you will experience will amply prepare you to be at your best.

An acupuncturist or other East-Asian Traditional Healer can help you quit with minimal fuss. I just helped a woman to stop after 22 years of daily use with a single acupressure treatment. It is do-able, and it makes a HUGE difference in wellbeing.

From: jsty.ozemail.com.au (jsty)

> I'd be very interested in hearing from anyone who has personal experience with ginko,

I tried ginkgo for about 2 months - 2 tablets a day of 24% extract with garlic. I found that, while subtle, I felt a greater clarity of mind. Also, my memory recal seemed to be enhanced - I found that that thought association was more responsive (ie: when thinking of a paricular topic, I would recall a lot of related memories - well, enough to make me take notice). It's really hard to judge whether the effects were the result of the gingko, or whether I just thought these effects were occuring because I was seeking for them to happen (constantly checking myself to see if I notice any change - a bit like the placebo effect I guess). I did only take the dosage recomended on the pack, and have heard that ginkgo is quite safe in much higher dosages, but I wanted to start off slowly to see if the recomended dosage would produce any effect.

Its been about nine months since I stopped taking ginkgo, and should note that I don't feel as clear headed now as I was when taking ginkgo. Personally I think it is worth using - but the cost is a bit inhibiting (on my meager income), so I went and bought 3 ginkgo trees. I don't suppose you've heard of a good method of making an extract from the leaves? BTW, these trees grow _so_ slowly - they are eight years old and only 4 ft high - I wonder how long it takes for them to develop into a full blown tree?

From: stef.netcom.com (Stef Jones)

> I'd be very interested in hearing from anyone who has personal experience with ginko,

I tried it for a couple of weeks, and it did seem to improve my memory/energy a bit, but didn't like the side effects it produced in me: stuffy feeling in my ears, tension around my eyes (increased eye strain), somewhat increased anxiety and nightmares. I should note that I use an SSRI antidepressant, and I think the gingko was reducing its effectiveness. Too bad, because the SSRI is what fucks up my memory and that's why I was taking the gingko.

I would recommend that you try gingko now to see if it gives you the effects you want. Waiting until you go in for your thesis defense, and risking unknown side effects, would not be a good idea.

From: jtreasure.jonno.demon.co.uk (Jonathan Treasure)

> In case nobody has it, the questions I had in particular were: Can you eat ginkgo leaves whole, or is that not advisable? Can the leaves be made into a tea? What part of the ginkgo is used to make ginkgo biloba extract?

Eating the leaves, or even infusing them is not common practice. There is nothing to *STOP* you from doing it I suppose, but it would not be an effective way of ingesting medicinal amounts of the herb. You need a lot for results - which is why some companies have produced concentrated extracts which are the equivalent of about 80:1 strength of what they consider to be the active ingredients. In other words one gram of standardised extract is like eating 80 grams of dried leaf. It is the leaf that is used in herbal medicine.

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.herbs
Subject: Re: Ginkgo Biloba
From: shuish.uoguelph.ca (Sandra Huish)
Date: 31 Jul 1995 20:15:31 GMT

: Hi, I'm new to this group so I'm sorry if this question has been overdone.
: Does anyone have any experience with Ginkgo Biloba as an aid to memory in older people? Are there any side effects such as nervousness or loss of appetite?

Hi Neil. I'm also new to this newsgroup network as well as being an avid Ginko user. I started it about a yr ago when I started university after being out of it for many years. That was the motivation to taking Ginko to help me study better.

At first I found myself overwelmed almost without my feet on the floor as it seemed to put me into over-drive big time. So I stopped taking it for awhile to level myself back to some normalcy. After getting into a grove so to speak, it has finally fell into place. It has helped me emensly to recall the smallest details and has been an instigator in me winning a prestigous scholarship to boot. I have learnt to rely on it now.