Ginkgo Biloba, For Memory And, Uh, What Else Again?

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The 10almonds Team

Ginkgo biloba, for memory and, uh, what else again?

Ginkgo biloba extract has enjoyed use for thousands of years for an assortment of uses, and has made its way from Traditional Chinese Medicine, to the world supplement market at large. See:

Ginkgo biloba: A Treasure of Functional Phytochemicals with Multimedicinal Applications

But what does the science say about the specific claims?

Antioxidant & anti-inflammatory

We’re going to lump these two qualities together for examination, since one invariably leads to the other.

A quick note: things that have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, often also help guard against cancer and aging. However, in this case, there are few good studies pertaining to anti-aging, and none that we could find pertaining to anti-cancer potential.

So, does it have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, first?

Yes, it has potent antioxidants that do fight inflammation; this is clear, from an abundance of in vitro and in vivo studies, including with human patients:

In short: it helps, and there’s plenty of science for it.

What about anti-aging effects?

For this, there is science, but a lot of the science is not great. As one team of researchers concluded while doing a research review of their own:

❝Based on the reviewed information regarding EGb’s effects in vitro and in vivo, most have reported very positive outcomes with strong statistical analyses, indicating that EGb must have some sort of beneficial effect.

However, information from the reported clinical trials involving EGb are hardly conclusive since many do not include information such as the participant’s age and physical condition, drug doses administered, duration of drug administered as well as suitable control groups for comparison.

We therefore call on clinicians and clinician-scientists to establish a set of standard and reliable standard operating procedure for future clinical studies to properly evaluate EGb’s effects in the healthy and diseased person since it is highly possible it possesses beneficial effects.❞

Translation from sciencese: “These results are great, but come on, please, we are begging you to use more robust methodology”

~ Zuo et al

If you’d like to read the review in question, here it is:

Advances in the Studies of Ginkgo Biloba Leaves Extract on Aging-Related Diseases

Does it have cognitive enhancement effects?

The claims here are generally that it helps:

  • improve memory
  • improve focus
  • reduce cognitive decline
  • reduce anxiety and depression

Let’s break these down:

Does it improve memory and cognition?

Ginkgo biloba was quite popular for memory 20+ years ago, and perhaps had an uptick in popularity in the wake of the 1999 movie “Analyze This” in which the protagonist psychiatrist mentions taking ginkgo biloba, because “it helps my memory, and I forget what else”.

Here are a couple of studies from not long after that:

In short:

  • in the first study, it helped in standardized tests of memory and cognition (quite convincing)
  • In the second study, it helped in subjective self-reports of mental wellness (also placebo-controlled)

On the other hand, here’s a more recent research review ten years later, that provides measures of memory, executive function and attention in 1132, 534 and 910 participants, respectively. That’s quite a few times more than the individual studies we cited above, by the way. They concluded:

❝We report that G. biloba had no ascertainable positive effects on a range of targeted cognitive functions in healthy individuals❞

~ Laws et al

Read: Is Ginkgo biloba a cognitive enhancer in healthy individuals? A meta-analysis

Our (10almonds) conclusion: we can’t say either way, on this one.

Does it have neuroprotective effects (i.e., against cognitive decline)?

Yes—probably by the same mechanism will discuss shortly.

Can it help against depression and anxiety?

Yes—but probably indirectly by the mechanism we’ll get to in a moment:

Likely this helps by improving blood flow, as illustrated better per:

Efficacy of ginkgo biloba extract as augmentation of venlafaxine in treating post-stroke depression

Which means…

Bonus: improved blood flow

This mechanism may support the other beneficial effects.

See: Ginkgo biloba extract improves coronary blood flow in healthy elderly adults

Is it safe?

Ginkgo biloba extract* is generally recognized as safe.

  • However, as it improves blood flow, please don’t take it if you have a bleeding disorder.
  • Additionally, it may interact badly with SSRIs, so you might want to avoid it if you’re taking such (despite it having been tested and found beneficial as an adjuvant to citalopram, an SSRI, in one of the studies above).
  • No list of possible contraindications can be exhaustive, so please consult your own doctor/pharmacist before taking something new.

*Extract, specifically. The seeds and leaves of this plant are poisonous. Sometimes “all natural” is not better.

Where can I get it?

As ever, we don’t sell it (or anything else), but here’s an example product on Amazon

Enjoy!

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  • The Vagus Nerve’s Power for Weight Loss

    The 10almonds Team

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Dr. Arun Dhir is a university lecturer, a gastrointestinal surgeon, an author, and a yoga and meditation instructor, and he has this to say:

    Gut feelings

    The vagus nerve is the 10th cranial nerve, also known as “vagus” (“the wanderer”), because it travels from the brain to many other body parts, including the ears, throat, heart, respiratory system, gut, pancreas, liver, and reproductive system. It’s no surprise then, that it plays a key role in brain-gut communication and metabolism regulation.

    The vagus nerve is part of the parasympathetic nervous system, responsible for rest, digestion, and counteracting the stress response. Most signals through the vagus nerve travel from the gut to the brain, though there is communication in both directions.

    You may be beginning to see how this works and its implications for weight management: the vagus nerve senses metabolites from the liver, pancreas, and small intestine, and regulates insulin production by stimulating beta cells in the pancreas, which is important for avoiding/managing insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome in general.

    Dr. Dhir cites a study in which vagus nerve stimulation (originally used for treating epilepsy and depression) was shown to cause unintentional weight loss (6-11%) in patients, revealing a link to weight management. Of course, that is quite a specific sample, so more research is needed to say for sure, but because the principle is very sound and the mechanism of action is clear, it’s not being viewed as a controversial conclusion.

    As for how get these benefits, here are seven ways:

    1. Cold water on the face: submerge your face in cold water in the morning while holding water in your mouth, or cover your face with a cold wet washcloth (while holding your breath please; no need to waterboard yourself!), which activates the “mammalian dive response” in which your body activates the parasympathetic nervous system in order to remain calm and thus survive for longer underwater
    2. Alternate hot and cold showers: switch between hot and cold water during showers for 10-second intervals; this creates eustress and activates the process of hormesis, improving your overall stress management and reducing any chronic stress response you may otherwise have going on
    3. Humming and gargling: the vibrations in the throat stimulate the nearby vagus nerve
    4. Deep breathing (pranayama): yoga breathing exercises, especially combined with somatic exercises such as the sun salutation, can stimulate the vagus nerve
    5. Intermittent fasting: helps recalibrate the metabolism and indirectly improves vagus nerve function
    6. Massage and acupressure: stimulates lymphatic channels and the vagus nerve
    7. Long walks in nature (“forest bathing”): helps trigger relaxation in general

    For more on all of this, enjoy:

    Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!

    Want to learn more?

    You might also like to read:

    The Vagus Nerve (And How You Can Make Use Of It)

    Take care!

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  • 12 Foods That Fight Depression & Anxiety

    The 10almonds Team

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Food impacts mental health, and while it won’t magically cure mental illness, dietary changes can do a lot to improve mood. Here’s how:

    Nutraceuticals

    We’ll not keep the 12 nutraceutical foods a mystery; here’s what they are and a few words on how they work (in many cases, we could write whole articles about them; in some cases, we already have! You can find many of them by using the search function in the top-right of each page).

    • Walnuts are rich in omega-3s for brain health; arguably the best nut for depression relief.
    • Fermented foods because probiotics in foods like yogurt and sauerkraut support the gut-brain connection as well as serotonin production there, enhancing mood.
    • Cherry tomatoes are rich in lycopene, which helps combat both depression and mood swings.
    • Leafy greens reduce brain inflammation linked to depression.
    • Apples and other fruit are high in fiber and antioxidants that stabilize blood sugar and mood, reducing brain inflammation.
    • Beans are high in B vitamins, crucial for neurotransmitter production and mood regulation (without also being high in brain-harmful things, as red meat is).
    • Berries are super-high antioxidants and cortisol-lowering anthocyanidins, promoting calmness and reducing stress.
    • Oats contain the healthiest kind of fiber, β-glucan, and additionally help stabilize blood sugar and mood; they’re also rich in selenium, which boosts mood.
    • Mushrooms help regulate blood sugar and act as prebiotics, supporting serotonin production in the gut.
    • Avocados are famously rich in healthy fats, including omega-3s and oleic acid, which support brain health and combat depression.
    • Dark chocolate contains antioxidants, magnesium, and gut-healthy prebiotics that indirectly reduce mental stress and improve brain function. Also a famous comfort food for many, of course, and that factor’s not to be overlooked either.
    • Pumpkin seeds are rich in tryptophan, which boosts serotonin production. As a bonus, they also help some kinds of antidepressant to work better—check with your doctor or pharmacist to be sure in your case, though.

    For more on all of these, enjoy:

    Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!

    Want to learn more?

    You might also like to read:

    The 6 Pillars Of Nutritional Psychiatry

    Take care!

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  • The Easiest Way To Take Up Journaling

    The 10almonds Team

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Dear Diary…

    It’s well-established that journaling is generally good for mental health. It’s not a magical panacea, as evidenced by The Diaries of Franz Kafka for example (that man was not in good mental health). But for most of us, putting our thoughts and feelings down on paper (or the digital equivalent) is a good step for tidying our mind.

    And as it can be said: mental health is also just health.

    But…

    What to write about?

    It’s about self-expression (even if only you will read it), and…

    ❝Writing about traumatic, stressful or emotional events has been found to result in improvements in both physical and psychological health, in non-clinical and clinical populations.

    In the expressive writing paradigm, participants are asked to write about such events for 15–20 minutes on 3–5 occasions.

    Those who do so generally have significantly better physical and psychological outcomes compared with those who write about neutral topics.❞

    Source: Emotional and physical health benefits of expressive writing

    In other words, write about whatever moves you.

    Working from prompts

    If you read the advice above and thought “but I don’t know what moves me”, then fear not. It’s perfectly respectable to work from prompts, such as:

    • What last made you cry?
    • What last made you laugh?
    • What was a recent meaningful moment with family?
    • What is a serious mistake that you made and learned from?
    • If you could be remembered for just one thing, what would you want it to be?

    In fact, sometimes working from prompts has extra benefits, precisely because it challenges us to examine things we might not otherwise think about.

    If a prompt asks “What tends to bring you most joy recently?” and the question stumps you, then a) you now are prompted to look at what you can change to find more joy b) you probably wouldn’t have thought of this question—most depressed people don’t, and if you cannot remember recent joy, then well, we’re not here to diagnose, but let’s just say that’s a symptom.

    A quick aside: if you or a loved oneare prone to depressive episodes, here’s a good resource, by the way:

    The Mental Health First-Aid That You’ll Hopefully Never Need

    And in the event of the mental health worst case scenario:

    How To Stay Alive (When You Really Don’t Want To)

    The six prompts we gave earlier are just ideas that came to this writer’s mind, but they’re (ok, some bias here) very good ones. If you’d like more though, here’s a good resource:

    550+ Journal Prompts: The Ultimate List

    The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

    While it’s not good to get stuck in ruminative negative thought spirals, it is good to have a safe outlet to express one’s negative thoughts/feelings:

    The Psychological Health Benefits of Accepting Negative Emotions and Thoughts: Laboratory, Diary, and Longitudinal Evidence

    Remember, your journal is (or ideally, should be) a place without censure. If you fear social consequences should your journal be read, then using an app with a good security policy and encryption options can be a good idea for journaling

    Finch App is a good free option if it’s not too cutesy for your taste, because in terms of security:

    • It can’t leak your data because your data never leaves your phone (unless you manually back up your data and then you choose to put it somewhere unsafe)
    • It has an option to require passcode/biometrics etc to open the app

    As a bonus, it also has very many optional journaling prompts, and also (optional) behavioral activation prompts, amongst more other offerings that we don’t have room to list here.

    Take care!

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  • How To Stay In Shape At 70

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    The 10almonds Team

    Questions and Answers at 10almonds

    Have a question or a request? You can always hit “reply” to any of our emails, or use the feedback widget at the bottom!

    This newsletter has been growing a lot lately, and so have the questions/requests, and we love that! In cases where we’ve already covered something, we might link to what we wrote before, but will always be happy to revisit any of our topics again in the future too—there’s always more to say!

    As ever: if the question/request can be answered briefly, we’ll do it here in our Q&A Thursday edition. If not, we’ll make a main feature of it shortly afterwards!

    So, no question/request too big or small

    I have a question: what are the pros and cons of older people (60+) taking creatine every day?

    It depends what else you’re doing, as creatine mostly helps the muscles recover after exercise. So:

    • iff you’re doing resistance training (such as weights or bodyweight training), or HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), then creatine monohydrate may help you keep at that and keep doing well.
    • if you’re just doing light-to-moderate exercises, you might not get much benefit from creatine!

    The topic merits diving deeper though, so we’ll queue that for one of our “Research Review Monday” days!

    I wanted to ask if you think marine collagen is decent to take. I’ve heard a lot of bad press about it

    We don’t know what you’ve heard, but generally speaking it’s been found to be very beneficial to bones, joints, and skin! We wrote about it quite recently on a “Research Review Monday”:

    See: We Are Such Stuff As Fish Are Made Of

    Natural alternatives to medication for depression?

    Great question! We did a mean feature a while back, but we definitely have much more to say! We’ll do another main feature soon, but in the meantime, here’s what we previously wrote:

    See: The Mental Health First-Aid That You’ll Hopefully Never Need

    ^This covers not just the obvious, but also why the most common advice is not helpful, and practical tips to actually make manageable steps back to wellness, on days when “literally just survive the day” is one’s default goal.

    I am now in the “aging” population. A great concern for me is Alzheimers. My father had it and I am so worried. What is the latest research on prevention?

    One good thing to note is that while Alzheimer’s has a genetic component, it doesn’t appear to be hereditary per se. Still, good to be on top of these things, and it’s never too early to start with preventive measures!

    You might like a main feature we did on this recently:

    See: How To Reduce Your Alzheimer’s Risk

    Side effects of statins, are they worth it? Depression, are antidepressants worth it?

    About statins, that depends a lot on you, your circumstances, and—as it happens—your gender. We covered this in a main feature recently, but a short answer is: for most people, they may not be the best first choice, and could even make things worse. For some people, however, they really are just what’s needed.

    • Factors that make them more likely better for you: being a man, or having atherosclerosis
    • Factors that make them more likely worse for you: being a woman in general

    Check out the main feature we did: Statins: His & Hers?

    As for antidepressants? That depends a lot on you, your physiology, your depression, your circumstances, and more. We’ll definitely do a main feature on that sometime soon, as there’s a lot that most people don’t know!

    I am interested in the following: Aging, Exercise, Diet, Relationships, Purpose, Lowering Stress

    You’re going to love our Psychology Sunday editions of 10almonds!

    You may particularly like some of these:

    (This coming Psychology Sunday will have a feature specifically on stress, so do make sure to read that when it comes out!)

    Hair growth strategies for men combing caffeine and minoxidil?

    Well, the strategy for that is to use caffeine and minoxidil! Some more specific tips, though:

    • Both of those things need to be massaged (gently!) into your scalp especially around your hairline.
      • In the case of caffeine, that boosts hair growth. No extra thought or care needed for that one.
      • In the case of minoxidil, it reboots the hair growth cycle, so if you’ve only recently started, don’t be surprised (or worried) if you see more shedding in the first three months. It’s jettisoning your old hairs because new ones were just prompted (by the minoxidil) to start growing behind them. So: it will get briefly worse before it gets better, but then it’ll stay better… provided you keep using it.
    • If you’d like other options besides minoxidil, finasteride is a commonly prescribed oral drug that blocks the conversion of testosterone to DHT, which latter is what tells your hairline to recede.
    • If you’d like other options besides prescription drugs, saw palmetto performs comparably to finasteride (and works the same way).
      • You may also want to consider biotin supplementation if you don’t already enjoy that
    • Consider also using a dermaroller on your scalp. If you’re unfamiliar, this is a device that looks like a tiny lawn aerator, with many tiny needles, and you roll it gently across your skin.
      • It can be used for promoting hair growth, as well as for reducing wrinkles and (more slowly) healing scars.
      • It works by breaking up the sebum that may be blocking new hair growth, and also makes the skin healthier by stimulating production of collagen and elastin (in response to the thousands of microscopic wounds that the needles make).
      • Sounds drastic, but it doesn’t hurt and doesn’t leave any visible marks—the needles are that tiny. Still, practise good sterilization and ensure your skin is clean when using it.

    See: How To Use A Dermaroller ← also explains more of the science of it

    PS: this question was asked in the context of men, but the information goes the same for women suffering from androgenic alepoceia—which is a lot more common than most people think!

    How to get to sleep at night as fast and as naturally as possible? Thank you!

    We’ll definitely write more on that! You might like these articles we wrote already, meanwhile:

    Q: How to be your best self after 60: Self motivation / Avoiding or limiting salt, sugar & alcohol: Alternatives / Ways to sneak in more movements/exercise

    …and, from a different subscriber…

    Q: Inflammation & over 60 weight loss. Thanks!

    Here are some of our greatest hits on those topics:

    Also, while we’ve recommended a couple of books on stopping (or reducing) drinking, we’ve not done a main feature on that, so we definitely will one of these days!

    Don’t Forget…

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    Learn to Age Gracefully

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  • Ending Aging – by Dr. Aubrey de Grey

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    The 10almonds Team

    We know about how to slow aging. We know about diet, exercise, sleep, intermittent fasting, and other lifestyle tweaks to make. But how much can we turn back the clock, according to science?

    Dr. Aubrey de Grey’s foundational principle is simple: the body is a biological machine, and aging is fundamentally an engineering problem.

    He then outlines the key parts to that problem: the princple ways in which cells (and DNA) get damaged, and what we need to do about that in each case. Car tires get damaged over time; our approach is to replace them within a certain period of time so that they don’t blow out. In the body, it’s a bit similar with cells so that we don’t get cancer, for example.

    The book goes into detail regards each of the seven main ways we accumulate this damage, and highlights avenues of research looking to prevent it, and in at least some cases, the measures already available to so.

    Bottom line: if you want a hard science overview of actual rejuvenation research in biogerontology, this is a book that presents that comprehensively, without assuming prior knowledge.

    Click here to check out Ending Aging and never stop learning!

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  • The Origin of Everyday Moods – by Dr. Robert Thayer

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    The 10almonds Team

    First of all, what does this title mean by “everyday moods”? By this the author is referring to the kinds of moods we have just as a matter of the general wear-and-tear of everyday life—not the kind that come from major mood disorders and/or serious trauma.

    The latter kinds of mood take less explaining, in any case. Dr. Thayer, therefore, spends his time on the less obvious ones—which in turn are the ones that affect most of the most, every day.

    Critical to Dr. Thayer’s approach is the mapping of moods by four main quadrants:

    1. High energy, high tension
    2. High energy, low tension
    3. Low energy, high tension
    4. Low energy, low tension

    …though this can be further divided into 25 sectors, if we rate each variable on a scale of 0–4. But for the first treatment, it suffices to look at whether energy and tension are high or low, respectively, and which we’d like to have more or less of.

    Then (here be science) how to go about achieving that in the most efficient, evidence-based ways. So, it’s not just a theoretical book; it has great practical value too.

    The style of the book is accessible, and walks a fine line between pop-science and hard science, which makes it a great book for laypersons and academics alike.

    Bottom line: if you’d like the cheat codes to improve your moods and lessen the impact of bad ones, this is the book for you.

    Click here to check out The Origin of Everyday Moods, and manage yours!

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