Will taking ginkgo biloba help my memory?
Ginkgo biloba, a tree that has been cultivated in China for thousands of years, is widely heralded as a useful memory enhancer, and sells by the boatload. In fact, there is little if any reliable evidence that ginkgo actually improves memory in healthy people. The only trusted study that looked at ginkgo for memory enhancement was published in JAMA and concluded:
“When taken following the manufacturer’s instructions, ginkgo provides no measurable benefit in memory or related cognitive function to adults with healthy cognitive function.”
According to Slate, this is also the official stance of the National Institute of Health (NIH). While ginkgo has shown some promise as a way to delay the onset of Alzheimer’s, this research is inconclusive and there is little reason to believe that it enhances memory. Much more important than any supplements is a balanced diet, which includes the 5 best brain foods.
6 Comments
The finding of these studies is well worth knowing, but I think it is also worth considering that ginkgo might help subpopulation of people with memory troubles, one wider than just Alzheimer’s sufferers. I have some impairment in semantic fluency and ginkgo seemed to make a real difference. I only mention this because I suspect that some lumnosity’s audience/customers aren’t just healthy adults wanting to sharpen their minds (a totally laudable goal in itself) but those with significant but not incapacitating mental impairments looking to do what they can do work around these. Those folks, like myself, might want to consider ginkgo if they aren’t getting any help from other sources (I only tried ginkgo with my doctor’s approval and after several other medication trials). I had read about these studies conclusion too and figured ginkgo probably couldn’t do anything for me, but I was wrong.
Just to be clear, I am not trying to shill for the nutritional companies that sell ginkgo, they are making money off a lot of hype, just relating my own anecdote. Also, I am not sure the ginkgo hype is that much bigger than the fish (oil) hype, your top brain food.
True, ginkgo biloba has shown promise in ameliorating some types of memory problems, but evidence to date is weak and primarily anecdotal. Its perceived value currently far outweighs its known or tested value, which I think is important for people to realize. More research is underway, and I think we’ll have a clearer understanding in the next few years.
You make a good point that the hype around fish oil may be overstated. However, an important difference is that fish (and vegetables, fruit, etc.) contributes to a healthy overall diet. We already need to eat, so it makes sense to go after the stuff that seems to be best for our bodies and minds.
All that said, your semantic fluency looks quite good, so maybe the stuff is working!
“We already need to eat, so it makes sense to go after the stuff that seems to be best for our bodies and minds.”
This is sensible but you need to keep in mind a significant caveat when applying it to fish. Because of the mercury content, if you make fish too big a part of your diet you may actually be harming your brain rather than helping it, as well as the rest of your health. The FDA recommends only two average meals of fish per week. Because of this limitation I suspect you have to go with fish oil supplements, which are mercury free, for enough fatty acids to get their speculated positive effects.
I developed cognitive problems after being poisoned with (1) an insecticidal fogger during the early 1980’s, and (2) a floor stripper. But cognitive damage is not the only things experienced from the volatile organic compounds, notably mixed xylene isomers, that were in these products.
Since then, I avoid to the best of my ability products that contain petroleum distillates –cleaning products, fragrances, insect repellant, sunscreens, treated fabrics, and of course, insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, rodenticides and other pest controls that may use xylene and other Volatile Organic Compounds as adjuvants and carrier ingredients. Where living becomes even more complicated is trying to avoid breathing gasoline emissions and using plastics, such as my computer.
I’ve noticed in the past, when I’ve been far away from civilization in the wilderness, I have no problems thinking, figuring out problems, and remembering. But, as long as the country is hooked on fossil fuels, and the products made from them, including pharmaceuticals, we are going to have brain damage.
Living is more complicated.
Ginko did not help me. But, perhaps I wasn’t on it long enough. I’ve found myself with greater problems by self-medicating (currently, have an infection of some sort because I tried to cure a fungal problem myself). On the other hand eating wild salmon meals twice a week, help the peripheral neuropathy in my hands caused by the mixed xylene isomers, and seems to help my brain, as well.
Learning digital darkroom is exercising my brain, alike a foreign language, but environmental contaminants from petrochemicals still make me go backwards.
All I can say is it’s not totall a myth, according to some credible sources:
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=0005D1A1-2400-1E64-A98A809EC5880105
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/ginkgo-biloba-000247.htm
Here’s one that agrees with you:
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/288/7/835?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=ginkgo+for+memory&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&resourcetype=HWCIT
I think there is probably some mild benefit from it. I take it and have noticed effects.
I’m skeptical, educated, and experienced with drugs, and I can say from my experience, 600mg of Ginko has some perceptible effect. Whether the mind projects positivity onto that effect, or whether Ginko created a real positive effect in the body and brain changing the mind, I can’t be sure. I can say that I’ve seen such projections occurring while experimenting with other herbal supplements, and the effect from Ginko is different.
One Trackback/Pingback
[…] if you see me at NECC with a Metamucil shake and a bottle of Ginko Biloba, steer clear - especially if I’m holding a […]
Post a Comment