Ginkgoaceae · leaf (standardized extract)

Ginkgo

Ginkgo biloba

Conflicting evidenceUse with caution

EGb-type leaf extracts are mapped as conflicting for dementia and claudication endpoints. Crude teas and roasted seeds are not the researched drug.

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Safety first

Standardized leaf extract has a bleeding signal and must be paused before surgery. Seeds (ginkgo nuts) are a different, toxic food — they contain ginkgotoxin and can cause seizures. Leaf-extract cognition evidence is conflicting.

Tradition vs trials

Traditional record. TCM historically used the seed (baiguo) with toxicity caveats; the standardized leaf extract is a 20th-century European phytomedicine.

Trial literature. Large trials and Cochrane-type reviews of cognition and dementia are conflicting. Peripheral-arterial trials are likewise mixed. Product (often EGb 761-type 24/6 extracts) matters.

Practical ranges

Educational ranges — not a prescription. Culinary use is not an extract.

standardized leaf extract
Many trials use 120–240 mg/day of a 24/6 extract in divided doses; this is a researched range, not a prescription
ESCOP / NCCIH — Educational range only — not a prescription. A licensed clinician individualizes product, dose, and duration.

Pregnancy, nursing, children

Pregnancy. Insufficient reliable data; avoid unless a clinician directs otherwise.
Nursing. Insufficient reliable data; avoid unless a clinician directs otherwise.
Children. Insufficient reliable data; avoid unless a clinician directs otherwise.

Contraindications

active bleeding or imminent surgery without clinician plan
do not eat or decoct seeds as if they were the leaf extract
known ginkgo allergy

Key interactions

anticoagulants / antiplatelets / NSAIDs · caution
Bleeding-signal reports; pause before surgery with clinician advice.
CYP substrates · note
Mixed induction/inhibition signals; less dramatic than St John's wort.

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