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.
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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.
I am fifty two and allergic to usual forms of ginko biloba. Nevertheless my ear specialist suggested some three to four years ago my hearing troubles may improve if I take it. He recommended a standardized form with Vitamin E that does not give me any trouble. Since then I have been taking regularly half the usual daily dosis.
At the time I was having as well serious memory trouble, sometimes already not being able to form coherent sentences. I had to circumscribe what I intended to say, for I could not recall the most immediate words. I forgot as well in mid-sentence how I wanted to end what I was telling, or could not complete the idea I wanted to express. My reading became cumbersome, for I did not recognize many words. I had to use a dictionary even for pretty usual terms.
Many of my relatives have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, including my two aunts. Many have suffered for years from other forms of dementia. I went to a geriatrician who ruled out Alzheimer’s. I am not quite convinced she was right. It may have been just too soon to be sure.
I know that anecdotical evidence is of little scientific value, still I heartily underscore the comments above. There must be a subgroup of people like me. Perhaps people prone to get Alzheimer’s, or with a family history like mine. The improvement I’ve had is amazing. My hearing has not further deteriorated and even as my memory has not reached the level of other times, I feel ‘normal’.
I still forget most of what I read. I’ve been a voracious reader most of my life and this can be pretty annoying. Neither do I know how much of my former memory if any more it is possible for me to get back. Perhaps there is still some room for improvement, I hope. But it really does not matter that much anymore. I just feel kind of myself again and that is more than I ever thought possible. I was already toying with the idea of a timely suicide and perplexed by the fact of how to not let pass the ‘last’ right moment, for I surely do not want to die before my time. As I do not take any other drugs but the ones prescribed for my high blood pressure, I cannot attribute the favorable change but to the fact that I have been now taking regularly ginko biloba for so many months.
I AM 56 YEARS OLD AND HAVE CONSIDERED
TAKING GINKO BILOBA FOR THE FACT THAT I
HAVE HEARD THAT IT ENHANCES YOUR MEMORY.
I CAN READ AN ARTICLE AND HAVE TO REREAD
IT SEVERAL TIMES IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO
RETAIN IT. I PLAN ON TAKING A TEST THAT WILL HELP ME IN MY CAREER, WHICH ALSO IT IS MANDATORY TO HAVE THIS CREDENTIAL. I HAVE TO READ A TEXT BOOK AND AT THE END OF EACH CHAPTER IT ASKS 100 QUESTIONS RELATING TO THE INFORMATION JUST READ. I WILL HAVE TO
REFER BACK TO THE CHAPTER IN ORDER TO
ANSWER THE QUESTIONS.
ALSO, I WORK 7P TO 7A, SHIFT WORK.
CAN THIS ALSO CONTRIBUTE TO MEMORY
DEFICIENCY.
Hello Sue,
Sounds like you have unusual work hours. If you are experiencing trouble sleeping as a result, this may affect memory consolidation and your ability to focus.
had suspected parkinsons,consultant did not think so, but suggested gait arrest and some form of cataplexy with white matter lesions in the brain. also had visual problems linked to cerebral insufficiency. he insisted i lower my cholesterol to 3, it was 5.2, otherwise i would have a stroke.ultimately could not tolerate statins,caused cardiomyopathy, told to stop,but no alternative offered,panic! somehow i found ginkgo,i use what is sold as best quality,pharmacutical grade slow release and very good price,and it does the job.daunting,i am playing around with the way my brain works ,i had to gradually increase the dose to 600mg ginkgo biloba extract,and it has resolved my problems and helped put my blood pressure back to normal .all self medicated,i also took myself off 75mg asprin,but you must realise , this may be risky,so dont just follow my example,check first. i am awaiting to see a consultant herbalist to offer some guidance,but in the meantime i will keep on the ginkgo,and one thing i felt guided me, was many articles referred to ,dose dependent,in my case,yes it is,dose dependent!
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