herbs and nutrients
Ginkgo Biloba PDF Print E-mail

 

GINKGO BILOBA

The Ginkgo biloba tree species has been around unchanged for about 150 million years. That’s a long time, and the fact that it has survived unchanged perhaps suggests that it has powerful internal survival mechanisms which have been perfected very early on despite changing environmental factors over this time. Specimens more than a thousand years old have been reported in China, Korea and Japan.

Ginkgo is a very popular herb. In fact I would guess that most health practitioners who read the literature and are over 50 years of age are probably taking this herb regularly because it has some wonderful anti-aging properties. Interestingly it does not have well-documented traditional uses in the West but is a much more recent ‘discovery’. German scientists investigating the effects on circulation of some unusual herbs found that Ginkgo in particular has very important effects on the vascular (blood vessel) system.

Chinese herbalists, on the other hand, have known about Ginkgo for hundreds of years.

Note: Most clinical trials have been conducted on standardised extract which concentrates the active ingredients. The extract contains a complex of at least 26 identified components which have been standardised to contain 24% flavonoid glycosides and 6% terpenoids. If the product has not been standardised then there is no way of knowing how much of the active ingredient is in the tablet or capsule.

CLINICAL USE

Ginkgo is well known for its effects on the vascular system and there are many clinical studies confirming this usage.

Peripheral vascular disease

In this condition the blood supply to the lower limbs decreases and there is usually pain on walking, absence of pulses, coldness and discolouration of the feet. A meta-analysis of five placebo-controlled trials using standardised extract of Ginkgo showed a highly significant therapeutic benefit over placebo.1

Cerebrovascular and cerebral insufficiency

Elderly patients often suffer from insufficiency of blood flow to the brain, with or without brain cell degeneration. Symptoms may include tinnitus (noise in the ears), dizziness, headaches, anxiety, tiredness, mental deterioration (poor concentration, absentmindedness and confusion) and may include transient ischaemic attacks (mini strokes lasting minutes only).

A review of 40 clinical trials using Ginkgo for cerebral insufficiency (insufficient blood flow to the brain) conducted between 1975 and 1991 showed positive results for all except one. A direct comparison between Ginkgo and a medical drug (dihydroergotoxine) yielded similar scores. In many of the studies Ginkgo was found to be significantly better than placebo.2,3

Studies on people with age-related cognitive impairment, senile impairment of the Alzheimer’s type, have also shown good results using Ginkgo, namely significant improvement in short-term memory, attention and social skills.4, 5

Tinnitus and sudden hearing loss

Ginkgo has been used successfully to treat ringing in the ears which is exceedingly difficult to cure and can cause a great deal of annoyance. In one trial there was a statistical reduction in sound volume after 10 weeks. No change was noted in the placebo group.6

Patients with sudden hearing loss treated with Ginkgo or a vasodilator drug had a better outcome with Ginkgo and fewer side-effects.

Other conditions

Ginkgo extract has been shown to improve peak flow rates in asthmatic children and adults. Ginkgo has also been used to prevent acute mountain sickness at moderate altitudes and decreases vasomotor disorders of the extremities.

Trials have demonstrated improvement in microcirculation; one of them showed improvement in retinal circulation while the other showed improvements in blood flow in nail-fold capillaries.7

SIDE-EFFECTS

Improved blood flow suggests that caution should be exercised in conditions where bleeding may be a problem, such as surgery or even delivery. Nevertheless, even studies in which patients were taking Warfarin have not shown any changes in clotting time or altered bleeding time.

The main side-effects, which are quite rare, include nausea, headache, stomach complaints and allergic reactions. With improvement in blood flow one can nevertheless expect an increased incidence of spontaneous bleeding.

CONCLUSION

The majority of studies comparing Ginkgo with placebo or even drugs indicate that the herb improves circulation and therefore the nourishment to tissues supplied by the blood vessels. Thus it can be used for peripheral vascular disease, cerebral ischaemia and poor blood supply to the retina, among others. It should be used long term, with the dose recommended varying between 120 mg of standardised extract and up to 240 mg per day. Don’t forget to try it in cases of tinnitus – there are not too many other remedies known to help.

References

1. Blume J, et al. Placebo-controlled double blind study on the efficacy of Ginkgo biloba special extract EGb 761 in the maximum-level trained patients with intermittent claudication. Zeit-schrift fur Gefasskrankheiten/Journal for Vascular Diseases 1996; 25(3):265-274.

2. Kleijnen J, et al. Ginkgo biloba for cerebral insufficiency. Br J Clin Pharmacol 1992; 34: 352-358.

3. Hopfenmuller W. Nachweis der therapeutischen Wirksamkeit einer ginko biloba-spezialextraktes; met-analysis von 11 klinischen studien bei patienten mit hirnleistungsstorungen im alter. Arznemittel-Forschung/Drug Research 1994; 44: 1005-1013.

4. Hofferberth B, et al. The efficacy of EGb 761 in patients with senile dementia of the Alzheimer type, a double blind, placebo-controlled study on different levels of investigation. Human Psychopharmacology 1994; 9: 215-222.

5. Kanowski S, et al. Proof of the efficacy of Ginkgo biloba special extract EGb 761 in outpatients suffering from mild to moderate primary degenerative dementia of the Alzheimer type or multi-infarct dementia. Phytomedicine 1997; 4(1): 3-13.

6. Morgenstern C. Ginkgo biloba extract EGb 761 in the treatment of tinnitus aurium. Fortschritte der Medizin 1997; 115: 7-11.

7. Koza KD, et al. Retinal blood flow after Ginkgo biloba therapy in fundus hypertonicus. Munchener Medizinische Wochenschrift  1991; 133: suppl 1, S47-S50.

 

  
 
Natural Products - safe? PDF Print E-mail

Doctors like to warn patients about the side effects of natural products.  This is in general a gross exaggeration. Compared to drugs natural medicine is like comparing a child to a weightlifter with regard to the physical damage that can be done.

Of course natural medicine can cause harm if one uses those natural medicine that cause harm such as the red rice extract and some herbal products such as colchicine and digitalis extracts which are poisons but can be used in low concentrations to support health. Other nutritional products, especially isolates should also be used with care. Even vitamins and minerals are isolates and when  used in high doses continuously may cause a subtle imbalance in the various healthy ratio’ required for optimum function. So for example one should not use vitamin B6 alone for months and months without adding the other vitamin B’s. This also applies to vitamin E which   may even be sourced from nature but is generally only part of the total vitamin E family which includes tocotrienols  and tocopherols. So if you are taking vitamin  E long term then make sure that the whole family of vitamin E is included.

Today many of the nutrients bought in health shops are also isolates in the sense that they are small isolated parts of the total plant that has a particular activity that is most helpful to health. Such examples include resveratrol, amino acid isolates, ascorbic acid, DIM, magnesium  and other minerals. Keep in mind that all these isolates are generally found in foods or other natural substances but enfolded into the structure of the whole . When removed from the whole it may no longer function in exactly the same way. Of course research scientists are constantly looking for these active isolates because it is much easier to research and identify their function and uses as therapy, nevertheless they are also isolates and if used for prolonged periods could disturb the very subtle biochemical profile of the body. 

What is too long?

I would guess from experience that it is generally safe to take these natural isolates for at least 6 to 9 months at which point either take a break for 2 months allowing the body to adjust or add the rest of the family or other products which supports a more holistic function.

General principles

I personally mix isolates with whole dense food products such as Chlorella, spirulina, garlic,aloe, grape seed extracts and other herbal combinations. To these latter products I will add the isolates such as Glucosamine, vitamin C, vitamin B Co, amino acids isolates, vitamin D. In this way I protect myself by keeping a fair balance and other nutrients required  to keep the balance which are included in the food concentrates.

 
 
What's cooking with oils PDF Print E-mail

Condensed Sunlight


Do you have a wonderful selection of oils on your shelf, but you’re not sure what to do with them? I've doen some research to find out which oils are good for cooking, which oils should be used to dress salads, and which are best to supplement with.

We love oil. Fats and oils carry the flavour of food, they’re the most concentrated form of energy, and moreover, we need them. But we need the right kind of oils, and with the wide selection available today, it can get confusing.

Over the past 10 years our understanding of which oils we need, and in what quantities, has grown. There’s a lot of information available, but the way the body uses oils is complex, and so there are bound to be controversies. Is fish oil better than flax oil for our omega 3 fatty acid needs? Some say palm fruit oil is better than palm nut and palm kernel oil. Are the canola and soya oils you use extracted from genetically modified seeds and beans?
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Vitamin D PDF Print E-mail
VITAMIN D, SKIN CANCER AND SUNSHINE

Vitamin D is one of the star nutrients today, not only because a deficiency of this nutrient is common, but especially because new research has shown the extensive role it plays in the prevention of a range of chronic diseases.
MF Holick, Professor of medicine, physiology and biophysics at Boston University School of Medicine, has the following to say: ‘Today we face what is in fact a “medically significant” epidemic of vitamin D deficient people. Forty to sixty per cent of Americans are seasonally or chronically vitamin D deficient. Many who practice dermatology and their supporters in the sunscreen industry have scared the public right out of the sun, the best way to produce the vitamin D the body needs. These “naysayers” have ignored the mountain of peer-reviewed science demonstrating that moderate exposure to natural or artificial sunlight has powerful beneficial impact on health. Simply put, the American Academy of Dermatology and the sunscreen industry have their heads buried in the sand.’1

HOW SERIOUS IS THE DEFICIENCY OF VITAMIN D?
Forty to sixty per cent of the elderly are at risk for a deficiency, but even among young white girls in the USA, 48% are deficient towards the end of winter and 17% remain deficient towards the end of summer because of skin blocks.
Even individuals taking vitamin D supplements usually combined with a multivitamin tablet or together with a calcium/magnesium supplement may be getting insufficient vitamin D because the amount in most combinations is less than 200 units and there is a growing consensus that 1 000 international units (IU) may be the minimum dose required.
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veg garden PDF Print E-mail

The magic tomato forest (updated)

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First it started  on the balcony, a few spinach and parsley plants, the only place we had sun.
then we cleared some bush and planted a small compact vegetable garden on an old compost heap. It flourished, and soon we had lettuce, parlsely, rocket..and some small tomato plants.

Or so we thought.

A few weeks later we started staking the tomatoes, as they were getting rather tall...and like Jack's bean they grew and grew and grew, until we had to tie string between trees to hold them up. They're now over 3 metres tall.

Sadly, everything beneath them no longer has sun and light, and has slowly died off. except the comfrey. And a few beetroot, which I sadly cooked too long (okay, I burnt them.)

Could it have been the rich soil? the lack of light which made them grow higher and higher? Or was it the brew I sprinkled on, mixed clockwise, and anti-clockwise and clockwise and anti-clockwise..... It did create amazing vortices?

vegbrewps we'll never know. But watch this space for the tomatoes that we'll hopefully get from the magic tomato forest.
I miss the lettuce. And the poor beans didn't have a chance. Never mind the radishes, with spindly tails and no sign of roundness. I was told radishes are SOOO easy to grow.

 

There's a lot to learn, clearly gardening is not for sissies.

I have new respect for every bean, carrot and lettuce I buy from the farmer's market. Do you know how much effort goes into each plant - the seeding, the watering, the feeding, the singing (optional?).

 

 

Update: late February...the tomatoes are just about over...but look what the tomato forest gave me - and this was just one of the bowlfuls!bounty

The tomato sauce has been made, with tubs of it in the freezer, and the bounty has been shared with Mavis., whose kids love the rosa tomatoes in their lunch boxes.

Soon I'll take out the straggly plants, once the last tomatoes have ripened, and  then I'll be planting cabbages. Maybe they'll do well in my abundant little patch.

 

Already I've planted some in another patch (I keep on claiming sections of my garden for vegs, especially where i can find sun. hello food, bye bye grass.)

 

 
 
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