Can Ginkgo Leaves Be Brewed Directly as Tea? A Detailed Explanation of Their Benefits and Effects
Ginkgo leaves are the leaves of the ginkgo plant of the Ginkgoaceae family. The leaves are sweet, bitter, astringent and neutral in nature, and have effects such as benefiting the heart, astringing the lungs, and removing dampness to stop diarrhea. So can ginkgo leaves be brewed directly as tea? What benefits and effects do they have?
1. Can ginkgo leaves be brewed directly as tea?
Although ginkgo leaves have very good health-promoting effects, brewing them directly in water is toxic.
According to modern pharmacological research, ginkgo leaves can lower blood pressure and blood lipids, mainly because they contain active ingredients such as flavonoids and terpene compounds, which help improve the circulatory function of the heart, brain and peripheral blood vessels. However, they are insoluble in water and need to be extracted through a series of scientifically standardized procedures before they can be made into medicines, such as the relatively familiar Chinese patent medicine ginkgo leaf tablets.
2. What are the benefits and effects of ginkgo leaves?
The “Zhongyao Zhi” (Records of Chinese Materia Medica) records that it can “astringe lung qi, calm wheezing and cough, and stop turbid vaginal discharge.” According to modern pharmacological research, ginkgo leaves have relatively broad effects on the human body and animals, such as improving the circulatory function of the cardiovascular system and peripheral blood vessels, improving myocardial ischemia, and promoting memory and improving brain function. In addition, it can also reduce blood viscosity and eliminate free radicals.
1. Preventing high blood lipids
Ginkgo leaf extract has a preventive effect on hyperlipidemia, can significantly lower blood lipid levels, and reduce the incidence of coronary heart disease in middle-aged and elderly people. Preventing cerebrovascular diseases: through the clinical application of ginkgo leaf extract preparations, it has been found that it can improve cellular blood circulation and activate cellular metabolism, and therefore has significant therapeutic effects on diseases such as senile dementia, sequelae of brain injury, and cerebral thrombosis
2. Anti-aging, eliminating free radicals in the human body
Ginkgo leaf lactones have neuroprotective effects and anti-aging effects on nerve endings. At the same time, the terpenoids and flavonoids in ginkgo leaves can resist cellular peroxidation, resist cell necrosis, and eliminate free radicals, so ginkgo leaves can play an anti-aging role; ginkgo leaf extract can promote microvascular circulation, improve skin blood circulation, and promote and stimulate hair growth and skin care, with beauty and anti-aging effects.
3. Improving memory, activating thinking ability
In people above middle age, thinking ability and concentration weaken. This is caused by the atrophy of brain cells that manage this function and an increase in cell aging. Flavonoids can reduce blood viscosity, improve blood circulation, increase cerebral blood flow, improve cerebral oxygen supply, promote cerebral circulation, directly protect nerve tissue, improve the brain's hypoxia tolerance, and have a protective effect on locally ischemic brain tissue, and are therefore called “cognitive activators” or “cognitive enhancers.”
4. Regulating blood pressure
Ginkgo leaf preparations contain flavonols, which can strengthen arteries, veins and capillaries, and can also strengthen the resistance of peripheral blood vessels. Eliminating blood stasis, preventing various internal organ disorders, and promoting normal vascular function: in addition to being confirmed by many animal experiments, these effects can also be proven by clinical experiments in major hospitals, and ginkgo leaf preparations are very suitable for patients with high blood pressure.