The Chinese herb ginkgo biloba was shown to be unable to improve memory, attention, or problem solving in healthy individuals in a new study published on Monday.
Researchers from the University of Hertfordshire in the UK say they found “zero impact” on cognitive function, regardness of the age of the people, the dose taken, or the length of time taking the supplements.
“Gingko biloba has been widely used for a number of years to reduce the mental decline associated with aging,” says lead researcher and professor of psychology Keith Laws. “But more recently it has been marketed as a memory enhancing supplement for healthy individuals — and it is crucial to establish the validity for such claims.” In Europe and the US, ginkgo supplements are among the top-selling herbal medicines.
“Our findings show that taking Gingko biloba supplements at any age to boost memory have no impact at all — and may be a waste of time and money.”
The paper, published September 24 in the journal Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental, involved a meta-analysis of 13 randomized control trials of more than 1,000 healthy individuals across all ages.
In a separate study published earlier this month in The Lancet Neurology, scientists from the University of Toulouse in France tested the effect of ginkgo biloba on more than 2,800 elderly volunteers who took the supplement for over five years and found the herb was unable to prevent Alzheimer’s disease.
