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Dried herbs lose effectiveness with time. You’ll want to use it within the year. Best results are within the first few months, with quality deteriorating after that. I think of the yellows as slightly less potent, but still useful and quite lovely!

@@dr.mindya.curryndpassionfo7590 thank you

Good luck!

You could use glycerine to make a glycerite extract. Glycerine is sweet and a good preservative and can extract medicinal compounds, but the resulting glycerite will be much weaker than an alcohol tincture. Also glycerites only last around two years vs tinctures which last more than five years. You can also preserve in vinegar, but also less potent.

There are ways to treat tinnitus. You should probably get that checked out by a naturopathic doctor first though, before starting any herbs or supplements on your own for this.

I don't know much about this condition but I recently saw a long interview with Don and he mentioned that he had ringing in his ear for a long time. Maybe you could learn a bit about his approach. Search YT with this "Interview with Don Bennett by Zoria"

I have had tinnitus for fifteen years I have learned to block it out when it first happened I thought there were thousands of crickets then I realised the pitch of sound changed it doesn't worry me anymore

Hot beverages are fine, and much quicker to make. To make a cold beverage, you would want to chop it up then let it soak overnight.

Pia yes, it’s rather bitter due to the alcohol pulling out more compounds. It’s just a stronger solvent.

@@dr.mindya.curryndpassionfo7590 I found gingko helpful as tea for memory when I was taking a foreign language as an older student. Water does solvent different chemicals than alcohol does. Not necessarilly stronger, but different. . . depends what compounds you are looking for and what the plant has to offer. I will have to try gingko in alcohol. There is water in alcohol, too, of course, but some things require heat and water.

Pia there are many ways to use ginkgo as medicine. Try having a tasting party with different sorts of extracts, powders, teas, raw. You’ll get to know your herb better, and get a good feel for which you prefer for yourself. Unless you’re tincturing with Everclear, there’s really quite a lot of water in vodka, so it pulls a pretty good selection of phytochemical constituents into solution, plus excellent long term preservation.

@@dr.mindya.curryndpassionfo7590 I prefer Rum. The St. Elmos Rum from Beverages and More (buy one + one for 5 cents) tastes like Everclear anyway--neutral spirits. The Potters Rum from Grocery Outlet actually tastes like Rum. I like my milk thistle just powdered. I eat it. I don't know about gingko. I used to do Milk thistle tea and just ate all the solids with the tea in my vacuum thermal cup and I actually think that was better medicinally than just eating it, but it's easier and quicker to just eat milk thistle seed (ground in the Oster blender) and it tastes pleasant.

Pia Rum can be a very pleasant tincture solution! I like to lightly toast the milk thistle seeds before grinding to eat. Makes the flavor more nutty, less bitter!

Sladexe Tinctures are usually taken orally. Dosage depends on your medical needs and individual sensitivity to herbs, and should be determined by a Naturopath or herbalist.

Clean the poop fruit off the nut, then roast the nut. Don’t eat more than a small handful a day. They are toxic. Traditional Chinese Medicine used the nut, not the leaves.

Hello and thanks for your question. This is one I get a lot. It's been my experience that other methods such as water, glycerin, or vinegar do not extract nearly as much of the medicinal constituents. That being said, they are an acceptable alternative for those who avoid alcohol. The doses will be much higher. Alcohol tincture doses range from drops to teaspoons. Water extraction (tea) is dosed in the cup full.

@@dr.mindya.curryndpassionfo7590 If i was to use a bottle of vodka like you did, and have it just completely cover the leaves, then leave it fir 2 months... when i was to harvest it, how much should a daily dosage be?

I don’t think I would use this without some indication. It thins the blood, and if that’s not what you need, you could get some easy bruising or bleeding. Studies haven’t shown much benefit for cognition in healthy people, except some possible benefit to short term memory. It can be used for stress. So maybe if your otherwise healthy, but coming up on a stressful class or test, then that might be a time to use this. This one isn’t food like, except the nuts, which are toxic, and must not eat more than a small handful per day.

Sure! Dried leaves should be used within a year for full benefit. The flavor isn’t great, so add in your favorite flavor teas. Lemongrass or lemon verbena would be nice.

S.w _ my guess is that it could be beneficial for you and have a mild overall effect. Seek help from a trained Naturopathic Doctor or professional Herbalist to determine a formula of several herbs that will combine to produce better results for your specific needs.

Some herbal traditions recommend the use of leaves that are harvested at the gold point in the season, when the medicinal properties of the plant are believed to be at their strongest. Studies have shown the concentrations of medicinal compounds to be highest around September-ish. Recent research into the plant has discovered a range of active compounds in the leaves and this has excited a lot of interest in the health-promoting potential of the plant. The leaves contain ginkgolides, these are compounds that are unknown in any other plant species. The leaves are best harvested in the late summer or early autumn just as they begin to change color. Leaves that are fully yellow or fallen probably have somewhat less concentrated compounds than those that just turned. The tree will pull many of it’s nutrients back before discarding leaves.

The leaves should be equally good in females as males. If you can get the stink goo off, you can roast and eat the nuts…just don’t eat very many at once. Only a very small handful! They’re toxic when eaten in excess.

“Slopes of linear regression lines were not statistically different for either sex.” pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25781709/

Thank you, Dr. Much appreciation@@dr.mindya.curryndpassionfo7590

Yes! That’s just fine. Big companies have specialized equipment that makes standardized extracts, but for home wildcrafting, just dry and grind. I hope your blender is powerful!

Sure. Or dry for teas. Could probably freeze them too. The alcohol extraction is preservative, and most people find these leaves have a rather bitter flavor and rather leathery texture. Not an easy salad green.

@@dr.mindya.curryndpassionfo7590 awesome, thanks for the reply!

You can eat them raw? I thought they were toxic raw I really wanted to juice some raw but then found out they have high toxicity levels?

Thanks for your question! Yes, 20 - 30℃ (or 68 - 86℉) is a great growing temperature for ginkgo biloba trees.

I have hundreds of ginkgo plant and would like to sell them.

Sure! Some people prefer it, claim it has less potential toxins at that stage. Personally I think that they’re stronger with some green left. But it isn’t always about strength, and these leaves are plenty strong, maybe too strong, as some people get easily bruising or prolonged bleeding from it’s blood thinner effects.

Generally not to the public. I do make and sell these small-batch herbal products to my established patients as needed. Mountain Rose Herbs is my favorite online herb shop. Prices are great, quality is dependable.

Lol. They are actually quite tough leaves. And their fate is basically to be promptly shredded… Take all the time you want. Sing to the tree. Talk to it. Let it know it will become part of you and serves an important purpose. I tend to make rather large batches of this yearly as close to yellowing and total leaf drop as possible to not strain the tree. He comes back bigger and stronger every year! Sending some good vibes his way probably helps.

@@dr.mindya.curryndpassionfo7590 "lol"...not funny, just how I felt. Yes, I love that!...I always speak and ask permission from our loving, giving elders of the plant world (and have even made up some short songs for some plants 🎶😊) And speak about elders...a living fossil! 💚 Happy medicine making :)

Wow, that’s one way to get fiber! It’s pretty bitter and hard too chew, and certainly not very palatable. That’s not a way that I have tried personally, but if you’re willing, then I’d guess a small dose would be one leaf, medium 3 leaves, more would be large. Really dosing of herbs is very much individual to each person and also must take into consideration what you’re trying to fix and if you’re using a single herb or a synergistic formula. For dosing, you’d benefit from seeing an herbalist or Naturopathic doctor, who can take your wholistic case and give you informed advice.

It's usually used to enhance circulation and mental clarity.

@@dr.mindya.curryndpassionfo7590 Thanks for the video. Beautiful tree.

Tinctures are usually dosed by the drop or by the teaspoon. Dosing can be rather personal, depending on your sensitivity to herbs. It’s advisable to work with an ND or trained herbalist to develop an effective formula (multiple herbs) for your needs and figure out your dosing needs.

Tonee Norman It’s OK to use 100 proof vodka. I don’t think there is an advantage in using higher proof alcohol with this herb however. Some plants contain compounds that need high alcohol in order to fully extract. I don’t think this one needs this, so I usually use 80 proof to preserve.

Dr. Mindy A. Curry, ND Passion For Healing Naturopathic Thank you!

Male trees do not make nuts. The female nut definitely smells like vomit. It’s unmistakable.

I have not heard of that use. There is some evidence that Ginkgo may reduce the effectiveness of Depakote, a common bipolar drug.

I have not tried to use ginkgo for R. arthritis. Maybe I should! The high antioxidant and antiinflammatory content should help reduce a number of diseases. I see they’re finding good results in mice! www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7729381/

Here's a good place to start: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4557237/

If you google "herbal glycerites" you can find a tincturing method that doesn't require alcohol. It's not quite as efficient as alcohol but it is an option.

Yes, absolutely!

Yes. You can use Everclear for even more extraction. Most strong alcohols 80 proof+ can be used if you prefer a different flavor. It preserves for long storage and extracts.

@@dr.mindya.curryndpassionfo7590 I picked some leaves to make tea. Any recommendation on how to dry them without a dehydrator?

@@rosapinto1857 they’re not very juicy leaves, so it should be fine to just spread them out on a screen and let them dry in a spare room. They should dry completely by a week or two depending on humidity. Store in a jar with a lid or at least a ziplock bag. They should last about a year before losing potency.

Ginkgo Biloba leaf extract has been widely used for the prevention and treatment of thrombosis (clots) and cardiovascular disease in both eastern and western countries, but the bioactive constituents and the underlying mechanism of anti-thrombosis have not been fully characterized. It could probably help, but you would need to be careful and rather scientific about it since the family history is so lethal. If you add this to a typical blood thinner regimen, there’s some risk of too much blood thinning, so blood work should be taken to monitor therapy and the dose should be very regular. There is some preliminary research suggesting add-on benefits, but it is not well studied for effectiveness in humans yet.

@@awabaca well, I personally went to the nearby town of Fossil and dug up a 50 million year old fossilized Gingko leaf in a well known fossil bed behind the high school. Otherwise I just have to trust what the scientists are saying about their diggings.

@@dr.mindya.curryndpassionfo7590 LOL. That's a leap of faith.

It's fall she explains why and what she is doing.