Dosage

Intervention: 5 to 10 drops per day.
Treatment: 10-15 drops, 3 times per day max.

Directions for use

Shake before using. Take directly on the tongue or in a half glass of water or tea, 15 to 30 minutes
before meals. For long-term treatment, use 6 days out of 7.

Mode of Action
Two key active ingredients in ginkgo biloba are terpene lactones (notably ginkgolides and diterpenes) and ginkgo flavone glycosides (notably ginkgetin, bilobetin, and sciadopitysin), which are present at varying concentrations. Ginkgo biloba extract EGb 761 is the standardized extract of ginkgo biloba used in studies, which contains 6% terpenoids and 24% flavonoid glycosides. Animal studies have shown that ginkgo biloba works on several neurotransmitter pathways and brain structures. Flavones were shown to inhibit lipid peroxidation; inhibit the uptake of serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine; and inhibit platelet aggregation.6 Terpene lactones may also act as potent antagonists of the platelet-activating factor and may possess anti-ischemic and fibrinolytic effects.2 They were also shown to downregulate adrenal peripheral benzodiazepine receptors and increase adrenocorticotropic hormone levels.6 Ginkgo biloba also reversibly inhibits monoamine oxidase A; and modestly inhibits anticholinesterase activity,2,3 leading to enhanced cholinergic transmission in the brain.4
Several studies suggest that ginkgo biloba exerts neuroprotective effects by reducing free radical production in the prefrontal cortex, which may explain its improvement on short-term memory. Ginkgo biloba extract acts as a free radical scavenger, protecting neurons from oxidative damage and apoptosis related to aging, cerebral ischemia, and neurodegenerative disorders.2 Ginkgo biloba also inhibits amyloid-β neurotoxicity and protects against hypoxic challenges and increased oxidative stress.3 One study showed that bilobalide, a terpene lactone, delays the onset of hypoxic glycolysis.6 Ginkgo biloba has the potential to regulate metabolism, stabilize the membrane, and promote vasodilation. In the arterial endothelium, EGb stimulated the release of endogenous relaxing factors, such as endothelium-derived relaxing factor and prostacyclin. In the inflammatory environment that causes tissue damage, EGb promoted nitric oxide production, leading to enhanced peripheral and cerebral blood flow.2

Ginkgo biloba extract contains a group of terpene lactones (notably, ginkgolides and diterpenes) and ginkgo flavone glycosides (notably, ginkgetin, bilobetin, and sciadopitysin) that have antioxidant and vasoactive properties.3 Most of the studies that investigate the effect of ginkgo biloba use the standardized extract of Ginkgo biloba (EGb) 761 (EGb761), which was developed by a German pharmaceutical company in 1964.6 EGb761 contains 6% terpene lactones and 24% flavonoid glycosides.2 Flavonoids include quercetin, rutin, kaempferol, and isorhamnetin. Lactones include ginkgolide A, ginkgolide B, ginkgolide C, bilobalide, and ginkgotoxin, a lactone that is structurally related to pyridoxine.10 Ginkgo biloba is an herbal plant that is now cultivated worldwide. It is originally native to China, and ginkgo biloba extract has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries.3
After its nootropic properties were discovered, ginkgo biloba has gained attention as a therapeutic ingredient for memory and concentration enhancement in cognitive impairment and neurogenerative diseases, such as dementia.7 Ginkgo biloba was investigated in preliminary studies for a variety of therapeutic purposes such as improving cardiovascular health, sexual dysfunction, psychiatric disorders, skin disorders, and glaucoma. Ginkgo biloba is found in a number of homeopathic and over-the-counter herbal products and dietary supplements, but it has no approved therapeutic indications by regulatory bodies, such as the FDA, EMA, and Health Canada.2 Ginkgo folium, the leaf extract of Ginkgo biloba, is considered an anti-dementia drug by the World Health Organization.3

Helpful Associations
Ashwagandha Extrtact (available at Blissdorf)
Gotu Kola Extract (available at Blissdorf)
Shisandra, Saffran, Bacopa

Ethnobotany
Ginkgo biloba has antioxidant, vasoactive, antiapoptotic, anti-inflammatory, antiplatelet, and fibrinolytic properties.3,5 Ginkgo biloba has been investigated for use in a variety of medical conditions, but the most extensively studied area is in the context of cognitive impairment and neurodegenerative disorders. Ginkgo biloba was examined as a potential nootropic agent or cognitive enhancer but research findings supporting the therapeutic efficacy of ginkgo biloba extract (EGb) in dementia remain controversial.

History
Ginkgo, with its spreading rigidly ramified branches and curiously shaped leaves is a tree of great distinction and dignity in appearance. Human history appears insignificant when compared with the genealogy of this tree which now stands in the gardens and along city streets created by man who appeared millions of years later. As the paleobotanist, Sir Albert Seward (1938) remarks: "It appeals to the historic soul: we see it as an emblem of changelessness, a heritage from worlds too remote for our human intelligence to grasp, a tree which has in its keeping the secrets of the immeasureable past." (Li HL 1956).

The Ginkgo tree is the only living representative of the order Ginkgoales, a group of gymnosperms composed of the family Ginkgoaceae consisting of about 19 members with its earliest leaf fossils dating back to 270 million years ago in the Permian period, so in the era of the dinosaurs (Jurassic 213 million years ago) it already existed. Fossil leaves and vegetative organs show that at that time there were several species. During the Middle Jurassic there was a great increase in species  with a maximum diversity during the Cretaceous period (144 million years ago) in areas now known as Asia, Europe and North America. It was common and widespread for a long time.
Due to geological cataclysms only three (or four) species were left (Ginkgo adiantoides, Ginkgo jiayinensis and Ginkgo gardneri) in the Tertiary (65 million years ago). The extinction of the dinosaurs as potential seed dispersers of the large seeds may also have influenced this decline, which is in line with the fossil records. Read more about seed dispersers on my Propagation-page.

About 7 million years ago the Ginkgo disappeared from the fossil record of North America. It was gone from Europe by about 2.5 million years ago.
Scientists thought that it had become extinct, but in 1691 the German Engelbert Kaempfer* discovered  the Ginkgo in Japan. The Ginkgos had survived in China and there they were mainly found in monestaries in the mountains and in palace and temple gardens, where Buddhist monks cultivated the tree  from about 1100 AD for its many good qualities. From there it spread (by seed) to Japan (around  1192 AD with some relation to Buddhism) and Korea.
Ginkgo-seeds were brought to Europe from Japan by Kaempfer in the early 1700's and in America later that century. Most of the earlier trees raised in Europe appear to have been males. The first recorded female tree was found near Geneva in 1814 of which scions were grafted on a male tree in the Botanic garden of Montpellier where the first perfect seed has grown. Now the tree grows in many countries all over the world as an ornamental tree.

Contra-Indications
None

Interactions
Avoid herbs and supplements with anticoagulant/antiplatelet activity. Additive anticoagulant/antiplatelet activity may increase the risk of bleeding. Examples include garlic, ginger, bilberry, danshen, piracetam.