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Lesson 6 Topic 1
Lecture and Discussion
Ginkgo and Garlic
Topic 1: History and Folk Use of Ginkgo
Topic 2: Ginkgo's Benefits: The Scientific Research
Topic 3: How to Use Ginkgo Confidently and Safely
Topic 4: History and Folk Use of Garlic
Topic 5: Garlic's Benefits: The Scientific Research
Topic 6: How to Use Garlic Confidently and Safely
Ginkgo and Garlic
Ginkgo improves blood flow throughout the body, especially through the brain. Garlic is a potent antibiotic and also helps prevent heart attacks.
History and Folk Use of Ginkgo
Making its first appearance about 200 million years ago, Ginkgo is a relic of the Dinosaur Age and is the oldest surviving tree on earth. Appropriately, ginkgo aids the oldest surviving people by helping to prevent and treat many conditions associated with aging: Alzheimer's disease, stroke, heart disease, impotence, deafness, blindness, and memory loss. Not exclusive to the aged, ginkgo can also sharpen memory in younger folks.
The ginkgo tree is native to Asia. Buddhists consider it sacred and often plant it around their temples.
Ginkgo was deemed "good for the heart and lungs" in China's first great herbal, the Pen Tsao Ching (The Classic of Herbs), attributed to legendary emperor/sage Shen Nung. Traditional Chinese physicians use ginkgo to treat various conditions, including asthma.
India's traditional Ayurvedic healers associated ginkgo with long life.
Ginkgoes were introduced to Europe in 1730; today they are popular street and park trees throughout the temperate world, including the United States. Despite its presence, traditional Western herbalists have long ignored ginkgo and, as a result, ginkgo's fan-shaped leaves have no history in Western herbal medicine.
Thanks to recent research, ginkgo has become one of the top-selling medicinal herbs in the United States and Europe, with sales approaching an estimated $1 billion annually. Ginkgo is particularly popular in Europe, where it ranks among Europe's most widely prescribed medications for the elderly. An increasing number of older Americans now use it as well.
Lesson 6 Topic 2
Lecture and Discussion
Ginkgo and Garlic
Ginkgo improves blood flow throughout the body, especially through the brain. Garlic is a potent antibiotic and also helps prevent heart attacks.
Ginkgo's Benefits: The Scientific Research
Ginkgo is rich in antioxidant compounds. Antioxidants help prevent and reverse the cell damage scientists now generally agree is at the root of many degenerative diseases associated with aging, such as heart disease, stroke, and many cancers.
In addition, ginkgo interferes with the action of a compound the body produces called platelet activation factor (PAF). Discovered in 1972, PAF is involved in an enormous number of biological processes, notably, arterial blood flow, asthma attacks, and the internal blood clots involved in heart attacks and most strokes.
Recently, ginkgo has become best known as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease. A formal study of the effects of ginkgo on Alzheimer's first appeared in a 1997 publication by the Journal of the American Medical Association. Based on research conducted at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, the study showed that ginkgo slows mental deterioration in people with Alzheimer's disease and, in some cases, improved their cognitive abilities. The researchers gave 202 people at varying stages of Alzheimer's either a placebo or a standardized ginkgo extract (120 mg a day) for one year. Compared with the placebo group, those who took ginkgo retained significantly higher mental function.
Several other studies have corroborated ginkgo's effectiveness for slowing the progression of Alzheimer's. In all of these studies, the response rate to ginkgo was similar to the response expected from the pharmaceuticals currently approved to slow the progression of Alzheimer's (notably Aricept).
It is not clear exactly how ginkgo slows the progression of Alzheimer's, but both of the herb's medicinal effects -- as an antioxidant and as a means for improving blood flow through the brain -- appear to contribute.
Commission E, the expert panel that judges the safety and effectiveness of herbal medicines for the German counterpart of the Food and Drug Administration, approves ginkgo for treatment of Alzheimer's disease and other forms of age-related dementia.
It's important to note that no current Alzheimer's treatment -- either pharmaceutical or herbal -- halts or reverses the progression of the disease. Ginkgo does, however, slow its progression and causes very few, if any, side effects.
Even when they don't develop Alzheimer's, as people age, blood flow through the brain tends to decline, a condition known as cerebral insufficiency. This condition slows reaction time and impairs memory, concentration, and problem-solving ability (effects Americans increasingly term "senior moments"). Many studies show that ginkgo improves blood flow through the brain, and, as a result, improves symptoms of cerebral insufficiency, notably memory and reaction time.
For example, European researchers gave 241 healthy elderly who complained of memory problems either a placebo or ginkgo. After six months, the gingko group showed improvement in some areas of mental acuity, notably memory.
Interestingly enough, you don't have to be elderly for ginkgo to improve your memory. British researchers gave either the herb (120 mg a day) or a placebo to 31 middle-aged individuals who complained of memory problems. After six months, the ginkgo group showed significant improvement in memory and reaction time. Commission E approves ginkgo for treatment of memory problems.
Ginkgo also helps prevent and treat cardiovascular problems -- those related to the heart ("cardio") and the blood vessels ("vascular"). Ginkgo improves blood flow through the brain, through the heart, and around the body. In Europe, it is widely prescribed as an aid for stroke recovery. (Commission E approves ginkgo for the treatment of stroke.)
Ginkgo also improves blood flow through the heart muscle and has antioxidants that help prevent heart disease. Further, the herb has anticoagulant (anti-clotting) action that helps prevent the internal blood clots that trigger heart attacks and most strokes.
In addition, ginkgo improves blood flow through the legs. When cholesterol deposits narrow the arteries in the legs, the result is intermittent claudication -- pain, cramping, and weakness, particularly in the calves. In a German study, researchers measured how far people with intermittent claudication could walk before developing leg pain. The participants then began taking either a placebo or ginkgo. After six months, the placebo group showed scant improvement, but those who took ginkgo were able to walk 50 percent farther before developing leg pain. (Commission E approves ginkgo for the treatment of intermittent claudication.)
A study published in the Journal of Urology shows that ginkgo helps relieve impotence caused by narrowing of the arteries that supply blood to the penis. Sixty men with erection problems caused by impeded penile blood flow were given ginkgo (60 mg a day). After one year, half the men had regained the ability to raise erections.
On the subject of sexual dysfunction, ginkgo can help relieve the sex problems caused by pharmaceutical antidepressants, notably the Prozac family of drugs, which have been linked to impotence in men, loss of vaginal lubrication in women, and loss of libido and difficulty reaching orgasm in both sexes.
At the University of California, San Francisco, Medical Center, an elderly man taking ginkgo for memory preservation told his doctor that the herb also seemed to give him a little sexual boost. This comment led to a study of ginkgo's effects in 63 people suffering sex problems while taking antidepressants. In addition to their medication, they also took ginkgo (207 mg/day). The herb helped 91 percent of the women and 76 percent of the men. They reported more sexual desire, improved ability to raise erections or produce lubrication, and generally more pleasurable sex.
Ginkgo also helps treat another serious condition associated with aging: macular degeneration. This involves deterioration of the retina, the nerve-rich area in the eye necessary for sight. Macular degeneration is a leading cause of older adult blindness. In a French study, ginkgo produced "significant improvement" in the vision of people suffering from this disease.
Ginkgo has also been shown to help treat chronic ringing in the ears (tinnitus) and chronic dizziness (vertigo).
Lesson 6 Topic 3
Lecture and Discussion
Ginkgo and Garlic
Ginkgo improves blood flow throughout the body, especially through the brain. Garlic is a potent antibiotic and also helps prevent heart attacks.
How to Use Ginkgo Confidently and Safely
The medicinal compounds in ginkgo leaves appear in concentrations too weak for infusions or tinctures to provide any benefit. Commercial preparations use a concentrated 50:1 extract -- 50 pounds of leaves are processed to provide one pound of standardized extract containing the herb's active compounds. Follow package directions. Most studies showing benefit have used doses of 120 or 240 mg a day, typically divided in thirds -- 40 mg or 80 mg three times a day.
Ginkgo is considered safe in amounts typically recommended. No serious side effects have been noted in ginkgo studies to date. Allergic reactions, however, are possible, as well as mild side effects including stomach upset, headache, and rash. Some people who take large doses have reported irritability, restlessness, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting. If you develop unpleasant symptoms while taking ginkgo, stop taking it.
While Ginkgo's anticlotting action may help prevent heart attacks and strokes, medicinal amounts could conceivably cause problems for those with clotting disorders or for people about to have surgery. If you have a clotting disorder, or you take any anticoagulant medication or supplement (for example, vitamin E), consult your physician before taking ginkgo. Stop taking the herb at least two weeks before surgery.
That Might Not Be Poison Ivy. . .
Avoid contact with ginkgo's fruit pulp and seed coats, as they contain substances similar to those found in poison ivy and can cause irritation or allergic reaction.
See The Complete Guide to Herbal Medicines for further indications.
Lesson 6 Topic 4
Lecture and Discussion
Ginkgo and Garlic
Ginkgo improves blood flow throughout the body, especially through the brain. Garlic is a potent antibiotic and also helps prevent heart attacks.
History and Folk Use of Garlic
Most people are unaware of garlic's usefulness outside of its abilities as a culinary herb. Although it certainly plays a major role in many cuisines, garlic is also one of the most versatile and valuable herbal medicines.
While the entire ancient world loved garlic, there was not a culture that enjoyed it more than the ancient Egyptians. Notorious for their garlic breath, Greek writers called the ancient Egyptians "the stinking ones." The Egyptians believed that the herb prevented illness and increased strength and endurance. The herb appeared prominently in the world's oldest surviving medical text, the Ebers Papyrus, and was an ingredient in 22 remedies for headache, insect and scorpion bites, menstrual discomforts, intestinal worms, tumors, and heart problems. Garlic was even found in the tomb of King Tut.
Soon after Moses led the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt (around 1200 B.C.), they complained that bondage robbed them of the finer things of life. As the Bible relates: "We remember the fish we ate in Egypt, and the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic" (Numbers 11:5).
Greek athletes ate garlic before races, and Greek soldiers munched the herb before battle. In his play Knights, Aristophanes wrote: "Now bolt down garlic. You will have greater mettle for the fight."
Greek midwives hung garlic cloves around birthing rooms to safeguard newborns from disease and witchcraft. As the centuries passed, Europeans fastened braided garlic plants to their doorposts to keep evil spirits at bay, a custom which survives today in the garlic braids that hang in many kitchens.
Greek and Roman physicians loved garlic. Hippocrates recommended it for infections, wounds, cancer, leprosy, and digestive problems. Many of these uses have been supported by modern science.
Upper-class Greeks and Romans came to abhor garlic. Calling it the "stinking rose," they viewed garlic breath as a sign of low birth. Antipathy for garlic breath is still with us today.
Ambivalence to garlic was also rife in medieval Europe. The well-to-do shunned it while the peasantry consumed huge amounts and viewed it as an all-purpose preventive medicine -- a cure-all -- hence its name "heal-all."
As the centuries passed, the upper class eventually returned to garlic, using it sparingly and exclusively for medicinal purposes. Nicholas Culpeper (1652) endorsed it "as a remedy for all diseases and hurts . . . a good remedy for any plague." Being an affluent, educated man, however, Culpeper also embraced the upper-class disdain for garlic, warning against its "offensiveness on the breath . . . therefore, let it be used inwardly with great moderation."
Culpeper's call for moderation fell on deaf ears. A Welsh rhyme advised: "Eat leeks in March, and garlic in May / And all the year after, physicians may play."
America's 19th-century Eclectic physicians shared the Victorian prejudice against garlic's "strong, offensive smell . . . and acrimonious, almost caustic taste." On the other hand, they conceded its effectiveness in treating colds, coughs, whooping cough, and other respiratory ailments.
During World War I, British, French, and Russian army physicians treated infected battle wounds with garlic juice. They also prescribed garlic to prevent and treat amebic dysentery.
Alexander Fleming's discovery of penicillin in 1928 launched the Age of Antibiotics. By World War II, penicillin and sulfa drugs had largely replaced garlic as the treatment of choice for infected wounds. However, with Russia's more than 20 million World War II casualties, the Red Army's antibiotic supply became overwhelmed and Russian physicians relied heavily on garlic, which came to be called "Russian penicillin."
Lesson 6 Topic 5
Lecture and Discussion
Ginkgo and Garlic
Ginkgo improves blood flow throughout the body, especially through the brain. Garlic is a potent antibiotic and also helps prevent heart attacks.
Garlic's Benefits: The Scientific Research
Garlic is botanically related to several other culinary herbs: onions, scallions, leeks, chives, and shallots. While these other herbs also have similar medicinal benefits, garlic is the most potent and the one most commonly used medicinally.
During World War I, garlic's success in treating infected wounds and amebic dysentery clearly showed it had potent antibacterial and anti-protozoan effects, validating thousands of years of herbal tradition.
Despite this, garlic's antibiotic constituent remained a mystery until the 1920s, when researchers at Sandoz Pharmaceuticals in Switzerland isolated alliin (pronounced AL-lee-in) from the herb. Alliin alone has no medicinal value, but when garlic is chewed, chopped, bruised, or crushed, the alliin mixes with a garlic enzyme called allinase and transforms into another chemical, allicin, which is a powerful antibiotic.
Since the 1920s, garlic's broad-spectrum antibiotic properties have been confirmed in dozens of animal and human studies. Garlic kills the bacteria that cause tuberculosis (Mycobacterium tuberculosis), food poisoning (Salmonella), women's bladder infections (Escheric hia coli), and Helicobacter pylori, the bacteria responsible for most ulcers. (Commission E endorses garlic's antibiotic value.)
Garlic has further been shown to prevent heart disease and stroke. That is, while some pharmaceuticals lower cholesterol, others reduce blood pressure, and some prevent the internal blood clots that trigger heart attacks and most strokes, garlic does all three -- thanks to allicin and another chemical in the herb called ajoene.
Dozens of medical journal reports have documented garlic's ability to reduce cholesterol. American researchers reviewed five rigorous trials involving 365 people. They concluded that a daily dose of either one fresh clove or one gram of a dried high-allicin preparation reduced total cholesterol levels approximately 9 percent. For every 1 percent decrease in cholesterol, heart attack risk drops about 2 percent, so this analysis suggests that a clove a day can decrease heart attack risk by about 18 percent.
Over the years, a few highly publicized studies have shown that garlic has no effect on cholesterol. These reports have been criticized for poor methodology. The scientific consensus is that garlic lowers cholesterol. (Commission E endorses garlic for reducing cholesterol.)
Several studies dating back to the Sandoz experiments confirm garlic's ability to reduce blood pressure in animals and humans.
Garlic also helps prevent the blood clots that trigger heart attacks. One researcher called the herb "at least as potent as aspirin," a standard anticlotting heart-attack preventer.
Recently, researchers at Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany, demonstrated that garlic not only helps prevent heart disease, but also treats the condition -- even in its advanced stages. They gave 152 people with advanced heart disease either a placebo or 900 mg of a standardized powdered garlic preparation (Kwai). Four years later, the placebo group had 16 percent more arterial narrowing, while in the garlic group, arterial blockages actually receded 3 percent.
In addition to being an antibiotic, the allicin in garlic is also a potent antioxidant and helps prevent the cell damage at the root of cancer. Many cell culture, animal, and human studies show that garlic helps prevent various cancers, especially cancers of the digestive tract.
In the Iowa Women's Health Study, researchers have followed the diet, lifestyle, and health of 41,387 middle-aged Iowa women for many years. Those who ate the most garlic enjoy the lowest risk of colon cancer. A few cloves a week cut risk 35 percent and even greater consumption decreased risk more. Fruit and vegetable consumption in general helps prevent cancer, but in this study, of all plant foods analyzed, garlic yielded the greatest preventive benefit.
For years Dutch researchers have followed a group of more than 120,000 middle-aged men and women in the Netherlands Cohort Study. As their consumption of onion -- garlic's close relative -- increased, their risk of stomach cancer decreased significantly. Similarly, a study of 1,800 Chinese showed that those most likely to develop stomach cancer ate the least garlic. These researchers concluded that a diet high in garlic "can significantly reduce risk of stomach cancer."
Lesson 6 Topic 6
Lecture and Discussion
Ginkgo and Garlic
Ginkgo improves blood flow throughout the body, especially through the brain. Garlic is a potent antibiotic and also helps prevent heart attacks.
How to Use Garlic Confidently and Safely
Garlic is considered safe in amounts typically recommended. However, allergic reactions are possible, and some cases of stomach upset have been reported.
For minor skin infections, minced garlic or garlic juice applied externally may prove to be sufficient. Unless you are an experienced herbalist, however, it's a mistake to rely exclusively on garlic to treat infectious diseases. No antibiotic, including garlic, kills all disease-causing microorganisms.
The standard medical approach is for a physician to conduct a "sensitivity test" in which several antibiotics are tested against the specific germ. The doctor then prescribes the one that works best. You might ask your physician to include garlic in a sensitivity test. If not, you could simply take the herb in addition to standard medication.
To treat infectious diseases, most herbalists recommend chewing three fresh cloves three or four times a day. Of course, that's a lot more garlic than many people are prepared to ingest.
Today, deodorized medicinal garlic preparations are available in health food stores and some pharmacies. Many scientists believe that the herb's medicinal value resides in its odor-causing sulfur compounds. This has raised doubts about the medicinal effectiveness of deodorized garlic. However, some studies show that even without the "stink," garlic retains its healing benefits. Garlic capsules and tinctures are also available.
To help reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, eat at least one clove a day, preferably fresh, or lightly cooked. Before it's eaten, garlic must be chewed, chopped, bruised, or crushed to transform inert alliin into medicinally active allicin.
What about garlic breath? Several traditional herbal breath fresheners can help. You might try parsley, fennel, and fenugreek.
Garlic's anticlotting action may help prevent heart attacks and some types of stroke, but medicinal amounts could conceivably cause problems for those with clotting disorders or people about to have surgery. If you have a clotting disorder or you take any anticoagulant medication or supplement (for example, vitamin E), consult your physician before using garlic in medicinal amounts. Stop taking garlic at least two weeks before surgery.
Garlic and Reflux
People with reflux disease should not take garlic medicinally. See The Complete Guide to Herbal Medicines for further indications.
Lesson 6 Assignment
Activity: Ginkgo and Garlic
Visit your local health food store, supplement center, or herb shop -- any place that sells medicinal herbs. Explore all the different ginkgo and garlic products. Buy one or more if you wish (or buy fresh garlic), or simply decide which one you would buy if you needed either herb. This way, if you ever decide you need one or both herbs, you can go right to your product of choice.
In your textbook, read the sections on these two herbs.
Lesson 6 Review
Activity: Ginkgo and Garlic
1. The ginkgo tree is:
A. Related to apple and pear trees
B. Hardy enough to grow in the Arctic
C. The oldest surviving tree species on Earth
D. Related to eucalyptus
2. Ginkgo slows the progression of Alzheimer's disease:
A. About as well as the main pharmaceutical, Aricept
B. Not as well as Aricept, but it still has benefit
C. Better than Aricept
D. Better than Aricept in those with early-stage Alzheimer's
3. To use ginkgo medicinally:
A. You can brew an infusion
B. You must brew a decoction
C. You can use a decoction or a tincture
D. You must use a commercial preparation that concentrates the medicinal compounds in its leaves
4. The custom of hanging braided garlic in the kitchen comes from:
A. The ancient Chinese belief that it would bring good luck
B. The medieval European belief that it would keep evils spirits away
C. The Italian belief that the herb should always be handy for cooking
D. The Arab belief that it would make residents of the home stronger
5. How does garlic help prevent heart disease?
A. It lowers cholesterol
B. It reduces blood pressure
C. It helps prevent the internal blood clots that trigger heart attack
D. All of the above
6. Starting about two weeks before surgery, it's best to:
A. Double your garlic consumption
B. Triple your garlic consumption
C. Stop taking garlic
D. Eat only well cooked garlic
Lecture and Discussion
Ginkgo and Garlic
Topic 1: History and Folk Use of Ginkgo
Topic 2: Ginkgo's Benefits: The Scientific Research
Topic 3: How to Use Ginkgo Confidently and Safely
Topic 4: History and Folk Use of Garlic
Topic 5: Garlic's Benefits: The Scientific Research
Topic 6: How to Use Garlic Confidently and Safely
Ginkgo and Garlic
Ginkgo improves blood flow throughout the body, especially through the brain. Garlic is a potent antibiotic and also helps prevent heart attacks.
History and Folk Use of Ginkgo
Making its first appearance about 200 million years ago, Ginkgo is a relic of the Dinosaur Age and is the oldest surviving tree on earth. Appropriately, ginkgo aids the oldest surviving people by helping to prevent and treat many conditions associated with aging: Alzheimer's disease, stroke, heart disease, impotence, deafness, blindness, and memory loss. Not exclusive to the aged, ginkgo can also sharpen memory in younger folks.
The ginkgo tree is native to Asia. Buddhists consider it sacred and often plant it around their temples.
Ginkgo was deemed "good for the heart and lungs" in China's first great herbal, the Pen Tsao Ching (The Classic of Herbs), attributed to legendary emperor/sage Shen Nung. Traditional Chinese physicians use ginkgo to treat various conditions, including asthma.
India's traditional Ayurvedic healers associated ginkgo with long life.
Ginkgoes were introduced to Europe in 1730; today they are popular street and park trees throughout the temperate world, including the United States. Despite its presence, traditional Western herbalists have long ignored ginkgo and, as a result, ginkgo's fan-shaped leaves have no history in Western herbal medicine.
Thanks to recent research, ginkgo has become one of the top-selling medicinal herbs in the United States and Europe, with sales approaching an estimated $1 billion annually. Ginkgo is particularly popular in Europe, where it ranks among Europe's most widely prescribed medications for the elderly. An increasing number of older Americans now use it as well.
Lesson 6 Topic 2
Lecture and Discussion
Ginkgo and Garlic
Ginkgo improves blood flow throughout the body, especially through the brain. Garlic is a potent antibiotic and also helps prevent heart attacks.
Ginkgo's Benefits: The Scientific Research
Ginkgo is rich in antioxidant compounds. Antioxidants help prevent and reverse the cell damage scientists now generally agree is at the root of many degenerative diseases associated with aging, such as heart disease, stroke, and many cancers.
In addition, ginkgo interferes with the action of a compound the body produces called platelet activation factor (PAF). Discovered in 1972, PAF is involved in an enormous number of biological processes, notably, arterial blood flow, asthma attacks, and the internal blood clots involved in heart attacks and most strokes.
Recently, ginkgo has become best known as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease. A formal study of the effects of ginkgo on Alzheimer's first appeared in a 1997 publication by the Journal of the American Medical Association. Based on research conducted at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, the study showed that ginkgo slows mental deterioration in people with Alzheimer's disease and, in some cases, improved their cognitive abilities. The researchers gave 202 people at varying stages of Alzheimer's either a placebo or a standardized ginkgo extract (120 mg a day) for one year. Compared with the placebo group, those who took ginkgo retained significantly higher mental function.
Several other studies have corroborated ginkgo's effectiveness for slowing the progression of Alzheimer's. In all of these studies, the response rate to ginkgo was similar to the response expected from the pharmaceuticals currently approved to slow the progression of Alzheimer's (notably Aricept).
It is not clear exactly how ginkgo slows the progression of Alzheimer's, but both of the herb's medicinal effects -- as an antioxidant and as a means for improving blood flow through the brain -- appear to contribute.
Commission E, the expert panel that judges the safety and effectiveness of herbal medicines for the German counterpart of the Food and Drug Administration, approves ginkgo for treatment of Alzheimer's disease and other forms of age-related dementia.
It's important to note that no current Alzheimer's treatment -- either pharmaceutical or herbal -- halts or reverses the progression of the disease. Ginkgo does, however, slow its progression and causes very few, if any, side effects.
Even when they don't develop Alzheimer's, as people age, blood flow through the brain tends to decline, a condition known as cerebral insufficiency. This condition slows reaction time and impairs memory, concentration, and problem-solving ability (effects Americans increasingly term "senior moments"). Many studies show that ginkgo improves blood flow through the brain, and, as a result, improves symptoms of cerebral insufficiency, notably memory and reaction time.
For example, European researchers gave 241 healthy elderly who complained of memory problems either a placebo or ginkgo. After six months, the gingko group showed improvement in some areas of mental acuity, notably memory.
Interestingly enough, you don't have to be elderly for ginkgo to improve your memory. British researchers gave either the herb (120 mg a day) or a placebo to 31 middle-aged individuals who complained of memory problems. After six months, the ginkgo group showed significant improvement in memory and reaction time. Commission E approves ginkgo for treatment of memory problems.
Ginkgo also helps prevent and treat cardiovascular problems -- those related to the heart ("cardio") and the blood vessels ("vascular"). Ginkgo improves blood flow through the brain, through the heart, and around the body. In Europe, it is widely prescribed as an aid for stroke recovery. (Commission E approves ginkgo for the treatment of stroke.)
Ginkgo also improves blood flow through the heart muscle and has antioxidants that help prevent heart disease. Further, the herb has anticoagulant (anti-clotting) action that helps prevent the internal blood clots that trigger heart attacks and most strokes.
In addition, ginkgo improves blood flow through the legs. When cholesterol deposits narrow the arteries in the legs, the result is intermittent claudication -- pain, cramping, and weakness, particularly in the calves. In a German study, researchers measured how far people with intermittent claudication could walk before developing leg pain. The participants then began taking either a placebo or ginkgo. After six months, the placebo group showed scant improvement, but those who took ginkgo were able to walk 50 percent farther before developing leg pain. (Commission E approves ginkgo for the treatment of intermittent claudication.)
A study published in the Journal of Urology shows that ginkgo helps relieve impotence caused by narrowing of the arteries that supply blood to the penis. Sixty men with erection problems caused by impeded penile blood flow were given ginkgo (60 mg a day). After one year, half the men had regained the ability to raise erections.
On the subject of sexual dysfunction, ginkgo can help relieve the sex problems caused by pharmaceutical antidepressants, notably the Prozac family of drugs, which have been linked to impotence in men, loss of vaginal lubrication in women, and loss of libido and difficulty reaching orgasm in both sexes.
At the University of California, San Francisco, Medical Center, an elderly man taking ginkgo for memory preservation told his doctor that the herb also seemed to give him a little sexual boost. This comment led to a study of ginkgo's effects in 63 people suffering sex problems while taking antidepressants. In addition to their medication, they also took ginkgo (207 mg/day). The herb helped 91 percent of the women and 76 percent of the men. They reported more sexual desire, improved ability to raise erections or produce lubrication, and generally more pleasurable sex.
Ginkgo also helps treat another serious condition associated with aging: macular degeneration. This involves deterioration of the retina, the nerve-rich area in the eye necessary for sight. Macular degeneration is a leading cause of older adult blindness. In a French study, ginkgo produced "significant improvement" in the vision of people suffering from this disease.
Ginkgo has also been shown to help treat chronic ringing in the ears (tinnitus) and chronic dizziness (vertigo).
Lesson 6 Topic 3
Lecture and Discussion
Ginkgo and Garlic
Ginkgo improves blood flow throughout the body, especially through the brain. Garlic is a potent antibiotic and also helps prevent heart attacks.
How to Use Ginkgo Confidently and Safely
The medicinal compounds in ginkgo leaves appear in concentrations too weak for infusions or tinctures to provide any benefit. Commercial preparations use a concentrated 50:1 extract -- 50 pounds of leaves are processed to provide one pound of standardized extract containing the herb's active compounds. Follow package directions. Most studies showing benefit have used doses of 120 or 240 mg a day, typically divided in thirds -- 40 mg or 80 mg three times a day.
Ginkgo is considered safe in amounts typically recommended. No serious side effects have been noted in ginkgo studies to date. Allergic reactions, however, are possible, as well as mild side effects including stomach upset, headache, and rash. Some people who take large doses have reported irritability, restlessness, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting. If you develop unpleasant symptoms while taking ginkgo, stop taking it.
While Ginkgo's anticlotting action may help prevent heart attacks and strokes, medicinal amounts could conceivably cause problems for those with clotting disorders or for people about to have surgery. If you have a clotting disorder, or you take any anticoagulant medication or supplement (for example, vitamin E), consult your physician before taking ginkgo. Stop taking the herb at least two weeks before surgery.
That Might Not Be Poison Ivy. . .
Avoid contact with ginkgo's fruit pulp and seed coats, as they contain substances similar to those found in poison ivy and can cause irritation or allergic reaction.
See The Complete Guide to Herbal Medicines for further indications.
Lesson 6 Topic 4
Lecture and Discussion
Ginkgo and Garlic
Ginkgo improves blood flow throughout the body, especially through the brain. Garlic is a potent antibiotic and also helps prevent heart attacks.
History and Folk Use of Garlic
Most people are unaware of garlic's usefulness outside of its abilities as a culinary herb. Although it certainly plays a major role in many cuisines, garlic is also one of the most versatile and valuable herbal medicines.
While the entire ancient world loved garlic, there was not a culture that enjoyed it more than the ancient Egyptians. Notorious for their garlic breath, Greek writers called the ancient Egyptians "the stinking ones." The Egyptians believed that the herb prevented illness and increased strength and endurance. The herb appeared prominently in the world's oldest surviving medical text, the Ebers Papyrus, and was an ingredient in 22 remedies for headache, insect and scorpion bites, menstrual discomforts, intestinal worms, tumors, and heart problems. Garlic was even found in the tomb of King Tut.
Soon after Moses led the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt (around 1200 B.C.), they complained that bondage robbed them of the finer things of life. As the Bible relates: "We remember the fish we ate in Egypt, and the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic" (Numbers 11:5).
Greek athletes ate garlic before races, and Greek soldiers munched the herb before battle. In his play Knights, Aristophanes wrote: "Now bolt down garlic. You will have greater mettle for the fight."
Greek midwives hung garlic cloves around birthing rooms to safeguard newborns from disease and witchcraft. As the centuries passed, Europeans fastened braided garlic plants to their doorposts to keep evil spirits at bay, a custom which survives today in the garlic braids that hang in many kitchens.
Greek and Roman physicians loved garlic. Hippocrates recommended it for infections, wounds, cancer, leprosy, and digestive problems. Many of these uses have been supported by modern science.
Upper-class Greeks and Romans came to abhor garlic. Calling it the "stinking rose," they viewed garlic breath as a sign of low birth. Antipathy for garlic breath is still with us today.
Ambivalence to garlic was also rife in medieval Europe. The well-to-do shunned it while the peasantry consumed huge amounts and viewed it as an all-purpose preventive medicine -- a cure-all -- hence its name "heal-all."
As the centuries passed, the upper class eventually returned to garlic, using it sparingly and exclusively for medicinal purposes. Nicholas Culpeper (1652) endorsed it "as a remedy for all diseases and hurts . . . a good remedy for any plague." Being an affluent, educated man, however, Culpeper also embraced the upper-class disdain for garlic, warning against its "offensiveness on the breath . . . therefore, let it be used inwardly with great moderation."
Culpeper's call for moderation fell on deaf ears. A Welsh rhyme advised: "Eat leeks in March, and garlic in May / And all the year after, physicians may play."
America's 19th-century Eclectic physicians shared the Victorian prejudice against garlic's "strong, offensive smell . . . and acrimonious, almost caustic taste." On the other hand, they conceded its effectiveness in treating colds, coughs, whooping cough, and other respiratory ailments.
During World War I, British, French, and Russian army physicians treated infected battle wounds with garlic juice. They also prescribed garlic to prevent and treat amebic dysentery.
Alexander Fleming's discovery of penicillin in 1928 launched the Age of Antibiotics. By World War II, penicillin and sulfa drugs had largely replaced garlic as the treatment of choice for infected wounds. However, with Russia's more than 20 million World War II casualties, the Red Army's antibiotic supply became overwhelmed and Russian physicians relied heavily on garlic, which came to be called "Russian penicillin."
Lesson 6 Topic 5
Lecture and Discussion
Ginkgo and Garlic
Ginkgo improves blood flow throughout the body, especially through the brain. Garlic is a potent antibiotic and also helps prevent heart attacks.
Garlic's Benefits: The Scientific Research
Garlic is botanically related to several other culinary herbs: onions, scallions, leeks, chives, and shallots. While these other herbs also have similar medicinal benefits, garlic is the most potent and the one most commonly used medicinally.
During World War I, garlic's success in treating infected wounds and amebic dysentery clearly showed it had potent antibacterial and anti-protozoan effects, validating thousands of years of herbal tradition.
Despite this, garlic's antibiotic constituent remained a mystery until the 1920s, when researchers at Sandoz Pharmaceuticals in Switzerland isolated alliin (pronounced AL-lee-in) from the herb. Alliin alone has no medicinal value, but when garlic is chewed, chopped, bruised, or crushed, the alliin mixes with a garlic enzyme called allinase and transforms into another chemical, allicin, which is a powerful antibiotic.
Since the 1920s, garlic's broad-spectrum antibiotic properties have been confirmed in dozens of animal and human studies. Garlic kills the bacteria that cause tuberculosis (Mycobacterium tuberculosis), food poisoning (Salmonella), women's bladder infections (Escheric hia coli), and Helicobacter pylori, the bacteria responsible for most ulcers. (Commission E endorses garlic's antibiotic value.)
Garlic has further been shown to prevent heart disease and stroke. That is, while some pharmaceuticals lower cholesterol, others reduce blood pressure, and some prevent the internal blood clots that trigger heart attacks and most strokes, garlic does all three -- thanks to allicin and another chemical in the herb called ajoene.
Dozens of medical journal reports have documented garlic's ability to reduce cholesterol. American researchers reviewed five rigorous trials involving 365 people. They concluded that a daily dose of either one fresh clove or one gram of a dried high-allicin preparation reduced total cholesterol levels approximately 9 percent. For every 1 percent decrease in cholesterol, heart attack risk drops about 2 percent, so this analysis suggests that a clove a day can decrease heart attack risk by about 18 percent.
Over the years, a few highly publicized studies have shown that garlic has no effect on cholesterol. These reports have been criticized for poor methodology. The scientific consensus is that garlic lowers cholesterol. (Commission E endorses garlic for reducing cholesterol.)
Several studies dating back to the Sandoz experiments confirm garlic's ability to reduce blood pressure in animals and humans.
Garlic also helps prevent the blood clots that trigger heart attacks. One researcher called the herb "at least as potent as aspirin," a standard anticlotting heart-attack preventer.
Recently, researchers at Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany, demonstrated that garlic not only helps prevent heart disease, but also treats the condition -- even in its advanced stages. They gave 152 people with advanced heart disease either a placebo or 900 mg of a standardized powdered garlic preparation (Kwai). Four years later, the placebo group had 16 percent more arterial narrowing, while in the garlic group, arterial blockages actually receded 3 percent.
In addition to being an antibiotic, the allicin in garlic is also a potent antioxidant and helps prevent the cell damage at the root of cancer. Many cell culture, animal, and human studies show that garlic helps prevent various cancers, especially cancers of the digestive tract.
In the Iowa Women's Health Study, researchers have followed the diet, lifestyle, and health of 41,387 middle-aged Iowa women for many years. Those who ate the most garlic enjoy the lowest risk of colon cancer. A few cloves a week cut risk 35 percent and even greater consumption decreased risk more. Fruit and vegetable consumption in general helps prevent cancer, but in this study, of all plant foods analyzed, garlic yielded the greatest preventive benefit.
For years Dutch researchers have followed a group of more than 120,000 middle-aged men and women in the Netherlands Cohort Study. As their consumption of onion -- garlic's close relative -- increased, their risk of stomach cancer decreased significantly. Similarly, a study of 1,800 Chinese showed that those most likely to develop stomach cancer ate the least garlic. These researchers concluded that a diet high in garlic "can significantly reduce risk of stomach cancer."
Lesson 6 Topic 6
Lecture and Discussion
Ginkgo and Garlic
Ginkgo improves blood flow throughout the body, especially through the brain. Garlic is a potent antibiotic and also helps prevent heart attacks.
How to Use Garlic Confidently and Safely
Garlic is considered safe in amounts typically recommended. However, allergic reactions are possible, and some cases of stomach upset have been reported.
For minor skin infections, minced garlic or garlic juice applied externally may prove to be sufficient. Unless you are an experienced herbalist, however, it's a mistake to rely exclusively on garlic to treat infectious diseases. No antibiotic, including garlic, kills all disease-causing microorganisms.
The standard medical approach is for a physician to conduct a "sensitivity test" in which several antibiotics are tested against the specific germ. The doctor then prescribes the one that works best. You might ask your physician to include garlic in a sensitivity test. If not, you could simply take the herb in addition to standard medication.
To treat infectious diseases, most herbalists recommend chewing three fresh cloves three or four times a day. Of course, that's a lot more garlic than many people are prepared to ingest.
Today, deodorized medicinal garlic preparations are available in health food stores and some pharmacies. Many scientists believe that the herb's medicinal value resides in its odor-causing sulfur compounds. This has raised doubts about the medicinal effectiveness of deodorized garlic. However, some studies show that even without the "stink," garlic retains its healing benefits. Garlic capsules and tinctures are also available.
To help reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, eat at least one clove a day, preferably fresh, or lightly cooked. Before it's eaten, garlic must be chewed, chopped, bruised, or crushed to transform inert alliin into medicinally active allicin.
What about garlic breath? Several traditional herbal breath fresheners can help. You might try parsley, fennel, and fenugreek.
Garlic's anticlotting action may help prevent heart attacks and some types of stroke, but medicinal amounts could conceivably cause problems for those with clotting disorders or people about to have surgery. If you have a clotting disorder or you take any anticoagulant medication or supplement (for example, vitamin E), consult your physician before using garlic in medicinal amounts. Stop taking garlic at least two weeks before surgery.
Garlic and Reflux
People with reflux disease should not take garlic medicinally. See The Complete Guide to Herbal Medicines for further indications.
Lesson 6 Assignment
Activity: Ginkgo and Garlic
Visit your local health food store, supplement center, or herb shop -- any place that sells medicinal herbs. Explore all the different ginkgo and garlic products. Buy one or more if you wish (or buy fresh garlic), or simply decide which one you would buy if you needed either herb. This way, if you ever decide you need one or both herbs, you can go right to your product of choice.
In your textbook, read the sections on these two herbs.
Lesson 6 Review
Activity: Ginkgo and Garlic
1. The ginkgo tree is:
A. Related to apple and pear trees
B. Hardy enough to grow in the Arctic
C. The oldest surviving tree species on Earth
D. Related to eucalyptus
2. Ginkgo slows the progression of Alzheimer's disease:
A. About as well as the main pharmaceutical, Aricept
B. Not as well as Aricept, but it still has benefit
C. Better than Aricept
D. Better than Aricept in those with early-stage Alzheimer's
3. To use ginkgo medicinally:
A. You can brew an infusion
B. You must brew a decoction
C. You can use a decoction or a tincture
D. You must use a commercial preparation that concentrates the medicinal compounds in its leaves
4. The custom of hanging braided garlic in the kitchen comes from:
A. The ancient Chinese belief that it would bring good luck
B. The medieval European belief that it would keep evils spirits away
C. The Italian belief that the herb should always be handy for cooking
D. The Arab belief that it would make residents of the home stronger
5. How does garlic help prevent heart disease?
A. It lowers cholesterol
B. It reduces blood pressure
C. It helps prevent the internal blood clots that trigger heart attack
D. All of the above
6. Starting about two weeks before surgery, it's best to:
A. Double your garlic consumption
B. Triple your garlic consumption
C. Stop taking garlic
D. Eat only well cooked garlic