LifeSource Nutrition’s Ginkgo Biloba is grown and extracted under the highest quality standards and is standardized to min. 24% Ginkgoflavonglycosides and min. 6% terpene lactones, including Ginkgolide B, the most significant fraction and Ginkgolides A, C and Bilobalide. Our Ginkgo Biloba Extract is the finest quality available worldwide. Scientific research has demonstrated that Ginkgo Biloba Extract has antioxidant activity in in-vitro studies.

Ginkgo has a long history of medicinal use in traditional Chinese medicine, where the seed is most commonly used. Recent research into the plant has discovered a range of medicinally active compounds in the leaves and this has excited a lot of interest in the health-promoting potential of the plant. In particular, the leaves stimulate the blood circulation and have a tonic effect on the brain, reducing lethargy, improving memory and giving an improved sense of well being. They have also been shown to be effective in improving peripheral arterial circulation and in treating hearing disorders such as tinnitus where these result from poor circulation or damage by free radicals. In 1989, a product from Ginkgo Biloba, often used for tinnitus, was the most widely used medicine in West Germany, where more than 5 million prescriptions were written.

Ginkgo is generally accepted as a remedy for minor deficits in brain function, such as those that occur with advancing age. It is used to improve concentration and combat short-term memory loss due to clogged arteries in the brain, and to treat dizziness, headache, and emotional hypersensitivity accompanied by anxiety.

The leaves contain Ginkgolides, these are compounds that are unknown in any other plant species. Ginkgolides inhibit allergic responses and so are of use in treating disorders such as asthma. Eye disorders and senility has also responded to treatment. The leaves are best harvested in the late summer or early autumn just before they begin to change color. They are dried for later use.

The fruit is antibacterial, antifungal, astringent, cancer, digestive, expectorant, sedative, and vermifuge. The fruit is macerated in vegetable oil for 100 days and then the pulp is used in the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis, asthma, bronchitis etc. (This report might be referring to the seed rather than the fleshy fruit).

The cooked seed is antitussive, astringent and sedative. It is used in the treatment of asthma, coughs with thick phlegm and urinary incontinence. The raw seed is said to have anticancer activity and also to be antivinous. It should be used with caution, however, due to reports of toxicity. The cooked seeds stabilize spermatogenesis.

Seed - raw (in small quantities), or cooked. A soft and oily texture, the seed has a sweet flavor and tastes somewhat like a large pine nut. The baked seed makes very pleasant eating, it has a taste rather like a cross between potatoes and sweet chestnuts. The seed can be boiled and used in soups, porridges etc. It needs to be heated before being eaten in order to destroy a mildly acrimonious principle. Another report says that the seed can be eaten raw whilst another says that large quantities of the seed are toxic. See the notes on toxicity for more details. The raw seed is said to have a fish-like flavour. The seed is rich in niacin. It is a good source of starch and protein, but is low in fats. These fats are mostly unsaturated or monosaturated. A more detailed nutritional analysis is available.

It is widely held that about one quarter of Western medicines are derived from plants, although a recent study led by Francesca Grifo, director of the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at the American Museum of Natural History, puts the figure closer to 60%. Most Western plant-derived medicines, however, resulted from isolating active ingredients and not from the complex compounds that make up most herbal remedies. Some scientists apply the term "botanical" to any product that contains ingredients of vegetable matter or its constituents as a finished product.

Research continues to accumulate evidence for herbal medicines. Scientific research on many herbal medicines has shown a clear correlation with health benefits. For Ginkgo Biloba, for example, the NIH's Alternative Medicine report cites more than nine published scientific studies, conducted mostly in Europe, confirming ginkgo's effectiveness in improving cognitive function and circulation, and in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease. The report also cites findings confirming the benefits of milk thistle (Silybum marianum, used both to prevent and repair liver damage), saw palmetto (Serenoa repens, effective against benign prostatic hypertrophy), and echinacea (Echinacea purpurea and Echinacea angustifolia, found to have immune-enhancing and antibacterial properties), among others.