What's Ginkgo biloba Made Of?
Now that you know all the wonderful medicinal purposes of the
Ginkgo biloba, let’s figure out why the Ginkgo has all of
these effects on the human body.
Inside Ginkgo biloba extract (taken from the leaves of the
Ginkgo tree) are four compounds known as ginkgolides A, B, C, and M. Each
of these ginkgolides are made of 20-carbon compounds. There are two active
ingredients in Ginkgo biloba extract and they are called flavone
glycosides
(flavonoids) and terpene lactones (terpenoids). These two ingredients are responsible
for the magic behind the healing and prevention.
Flavonoids are antioxidants, meaning
that they can donate and electron to a
free radical. They are the ones responsible for strengthening the walls
of the arteries, capillaries, and veins, but also allowing them to be
flexible at the same time. Flavonoids also protect against the breakdown of
a cell's plasma membrane, therefore prolonging its health. According to
the book, ‘Ginkgo: a practical guide’ by G. Halpern, if you take Ginkgo biloba extract for fourteen days, it could be more effective than
beta-carotene and Vitamin E.
The main function of terpenoids in your body is for unclogging blood
vessels and maximizing glucose uptake in tissues; specifically, bilobalides and ginkgolides A, B, C, and J are res
ponsible for these
tasks. Terpenoids can help nerve cells that may have been oxygen
deprived
for a short amount of time continue to run properly. Therefore, these
guys are the ones that help improve memory and mental function. PAF
(platelet-activating factors) in the blood cause clogging not only in
broken blood vessels, but also along the inside of blood vessels. The
terpenoids can aid in unclogging the unwanted build-up.
* Picture above illustrates a blood clot. This picture was taken by
"Pauli2990" from flicker.com.
Now that you understand how Ginkgo biloba works, visit
PREVENTION OF ALZHEIMER'S? to see if there is a correlation between
Alzheimer’s disease and Ginkgo biloba.
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