WELCOME TO A HEALTHIER LIFE

by Jan de Vries

HEALTHY WAY MAGAZINE WEBISSUE 44 ARTICLE 2

Ginkgo biloba has been used medicinally by the Chinese for many thousands of years. Ginkgo is known to improve circulation, increasing the blood supply to all areas of the body. It is vitally important to maintain the bloodflow to the brain, as it can only last a couple of minutes without it. Many people find that once they take Ginkgo, their mental performance improves, with their memory, focus and concentration increasing. Not for nothing is Ginkgo also known as ‘Memory Tree’!
A recent study found that elderly people given Ginkgo biloba for four months felt better able to cope with their daily activities and experienced better sleep and improved moods.

Lack of blood supply to other areas can be extremely troublesome. ‘Intermittent claudication’ is a condition whereby the blood supply to the legs is decreased due to problems such as atherosclerosis (furred-up arteries). Ginkgo has shown excellent results in improving the distances walked without pain or difficulty in this condition.

In addition those suffering from Raynaud’s Disease, or just plain cold hands and feet, will benefit from its action, as will those with the type of dizziness that comes from decreased blood supply to the head.

However, always remember that as Ginkgo discourages the platelets in the blood from clumping together, thereby reducing the likelihood of blood clots and strokes, it cannot be taken alongside other blood-thinning medication.

As my old friend Alfred Vogel wrote many years ago: ‘Everyone reasonably sensible and natural in his nutrition and lifestyle will be able to achieve a veritable regeneration and rejuvenation when taking a course of Ginkgo biloba.’