If you are seeking a sharp mind, ginkgo biloba may be the key to enhancing your brainpower, as well as providing a host of other health benefits.

Ginkgo has been shown to:

· Increase mental alertness

· Enhance vitality levels

· Improve circulatory health

· Improve blood vessel health

· Enhance sex drive.

Unlike many herbs where claims made which are not backed up by medical research and substantiation, Ginkgo is one of the most researched herbs in history, and medical evidence points to its many health benefits.

Turn Back the Ageing Clock

Its high antioxidant activity is renowned for fighting age related conditions.

All over the world, millions of people have claimed Ginkgo to be beneficial in the fight against the gradual erosion of energy, associated with aging.

History

The ginkgo is the oldest living tree species – geological records indicate this plant has been growing on earth for 100 to 200 million years.

Chinese monks kept the tree in existence, as they considered it a sacred herb with a wide range of health benefits.

Arriving in Europe in the 1700’s, it is now a commonly prescribed drug in many countries.

It is also one of the best researched, and popular medical herbs used in the world today.

Benefits

Ginkgo has been shown to be nutritional support for:

· Mental alertness

· Enhanced vitality levels

· Better circulatory health

· Better blood vessel health

Its high antioxidant activity is particularly valuable in fighting a wide range of age related conditions.

How it works

Few herbs have been as extensively researched as ginkgo biloba extract (GBE).

Throughout the past thirty years, around five hundred pharmacological studies have been conducted on the proprietary, standardized extracts of the ginkgo biloba leaf.

This research has concluded that the herb has three major health benefits:

1. It increases cognitive function and memory

2. It helps Improve circulation throughout the body

3. It helps slow the aging process

Ginkgo contains the following active substances:

· Flavonoids

· Terpene lactones

· Ginkgolides A, B, and C

· Bilobalide

· Quercetin

· Kaempferol.

1. Antioxidant Benefits

Ginkgo acts as a powerful antioxidant and contributes to the oxidation of free radicals, which are associated with premature aging and dementia.

Antioxidants protect eyesight, the cardiovascular, and central nervous system.

The herb has been used in the treatment of a wide variety of circulation related disorders, such as:

· Diabetic peripheral vascular disease

· Raynaud’s syndrome

· Hemorrhoids

· Varicose veins.

2. Sexual Benefits

Ginkgo also helps control the transformation of cholesterol to plaque associated with the hardening of arteries. It can also relax constricted blood vessels, which has seen it used as a supplement to increase both male and female libido.

3. Memory Enhancer and Energy Booster

Ginkgo active compounds increasing the flow of oxygen to the brain, as well as optimizing the brain’s use of glucose.

When consumed, food is converted into glucose – a sugar that can easily be used by the body’s cells for energy.

By helping the body to make glucose available for energy use, ginkgo enhances both mental alertness and memory function.

Ginkgo therefore helps to combat fatigue by its increase in glucose utilization.

RDA for Ginkgo

There is no RDA for ginkgo since it is not an essential nutrient, but many experts recommend taking 40-80 mg, 3 times a day, on an empty stomach for best results.

It can take around 12 weeks for the benefits of ginkgo biloba supplementation to become apparent.

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With all of the information on acid reflux disease or GERD that is available, back pain is NOT in the mix. While it is true that there is no apparent connection between Acid reflux disease and back pain, there is an indirect possibility. As part of the treatment for GERD or acid reflux disease, positional therapy might be prescribed. This includes such things as sleeping on the left side or sleeping with the head elevated. You are probably asking yourself what this has to do with acid reflux disease.

Acid reflux is a weakening of the muscles associated with the esophagus. The stomach produces acids and materials, which are supposed to be kept in the stomach. This is done through a combination of valves and muscular structures between the top of the stomach and the throat. When these muscular structures are weakened, the acid in the stomach is allowed to enter into the esophagus-sometimes all the way into the mouth.

That being said, it should become obvious why the use of positional therapy is sometimes used. The acid is subject to gravity. So when you are lying flat on your back, the weakened valves allow the acid to submit to gravity’s pull and travel up the esophagus. When this happens, the sufferer may awaken several times during the night with severe pain in the chest. This pain occasionally makes it’s way around to the back. Many acid reflux patients report moderate to severe upper back and neck pain associated with attacks of acid reflux.

The remedy for some acid reflux sufferers is to sleep with the head and shoulders elevated a bit and this may be why some people combine together acid reflux and back pain. While this may lessen or even alleviate the nocturnal acid reflux, it needs to be done properly and, if not done properly, may indirectly cause chronic lower back pain as well. This back pain will not be immediate, but can occur over a period of time. That can mean lasting damage to the back. Since acid reflux does not directly affect the back (the back pain is always an indirect by-product), please consult your physician in all cases.

It is well and good to mention that sometimes, pain from acid reflux that radiates to the back can indicate a cardiac condition. Also, the back pain associated with acid reflux may be hidden among other pains and, as a result, overlooked or simply ignored. In some cases, a chiropractor may be the ticket.

If you have found yourself in any of these situations, it is imperative that you consult a physician. Statistics show that patients who seek out medical treatment for acid reflux have less occurrences and a lower level of pain. Only your doctor knows for sure what the best remedy is in each case.

So to summarize, acid reflux disease and back pain are related simply because back pain is an indirect product of positional therapy used to treat the pain associated with acid reflux disease. It can be relieved through proper elevation of the head and shoulders as prescribed by a doctor. If the back pain is chronic or high level, a chiropractor may be consulted.

By
Lee Dobbins
Published: 6/18/2007