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Don’t forget Ginkgo Biloba
Natural Health supplements are sometimes a little bit like fashion. Something will be quite popular and buzzed about for awhile (remember acid washed jeans?) and then get rolled back into the shadows while marketing picks up a new fad product.
Awhile back Ginkgo Biloba was fairly energetically discussed and marketed but then it fell back into obscurity even though more and better clinical data has been presented to bolster its usefulness.
So let’s not forget about ginkgo (it has benefits for cognitive function, so that is a bit of a pun) and the many benefits it has as shown by credible, Health Canada approved scientific data.
- Anxiety – Clinical research shows that taking ginkgo can reduce symptoms of anxiety in a greater percentage of adults suffering anxiety compared to placebo
- Dementia – Some evidence shows that ginkgo modestly improves symptoms of Alzheimer’s, vascular, or mixed dementias.
- Glaucoma – Taking ginkgo leaf extract 120-160 mg orally in two or three divided doses daily seems to improve pre-existing damage and reduce the progression of damage to the visual field in patients with normal tension glaucoma.
- Vertigo – Taking ginkgo leaf extract 160 mg/day orally seems to improve symptoms of vertigo and equilibrium disorders.
- Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) – Taking ginkgo leaf extract orally 80 mg twice daily or 40 mg three times daily seems to produce significant relief in breast tenderness and other physical and psychological symptoms associated with PMS.
In these examples Health Canada and the Natural Medicines Database consider ginkgo likely to be effective for treating symptoms of the conditions listed above.
For more information on Natural Health supplements and how they can help you, speak to the Live Well team at Pharmasave Summerland.
Dan Cassidy, Nutritional Product Advisor