An analysis *) of eight Ginkgo products sold on the American market found recognisable Ginkgo in only two of them. But you can improve your chances of buying a true product, when you know what to look for in the declaration and in choice of manufacturer.

Only Ginkgo Contains Terpenoids
Ginkgo biloba is a popular supplement extracted from the leaves of the ginkgo tree. It contains a variety of active plant substances, among others flavonoid glycosides and terpenoids.
The terpenoids are unique components in the Ginkgo leaves. But the flavonoid glycosides are also found in several other plants. And this is the crux of the matter: an easy way to make a fake Ginkgo product is to use flavonoid glycosides from other plants. An analysis only checking the flavonoid glycoside content will not discover the fake products. But measuring terpenoid content uncovers the fraud.

Ginkgo Leaves are Expensive
It is long-winded and expensive to manufacture Ginkgo products. It takes 50 kg of Ginkgo leaves to produce 1 kg of extract. So some manufacturers are tempted to increase the flavonoid glycoside content of the ginkgo product by adding the common flavonoid glycosides quercetin and rutin which are much cheaper.

Trustworthy Products
With the results from the American survey in mind it seems obvious that buying the cheapest product does not automatically give you the most value for your money. A way of making sure, that you actually get, what it says on the box is to choose manufacturers who can document the content of their product. Pharma Nord's Ginkgo biloba extract is standardised, pharmaceutically controlled and produced under the Danish Medicines Act, controlled by the Danish Health and Medicines Authority. The product is analysed for both flavonoid glycoside and terpenoid content. This guarantees you a high quality product with the declared content – in every box. 

Quality Differs Significantly
In a British university study *) of 18 ginkgo biloba brands (including Bio-Biloba), scientists measured the antioxidant strength of the extracts to determine their potential for protecting cells in the human body. Great variations were observed in the study, indicating significant quality differences in terms of the protective power of the products. Bio-Biloba was the product that came out with the best score in this trial.

*) Ref: Chandra A, et al.: "Qualitative categorization of supplement grade Ginkgo biloba leaf extracts for authenticity." J Funct Foods 2011;3: pages 107-14.

*) Ref: "Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine", October 2003: pages 625-629.

1. Where do you catch the fish?
2. Which fish do you use to make the oil?
3. What does it mean, that the fatty acids are ”free?”

Hello

Thank you for your questions.

The fish oil in Bio-Marine comes from controlled fishing of sardines and anchovies in the waters off the Southamerican westcoast. The fish oil from these species of fish is especially rich in the important omega 3 fatty acids EPA and DHA.

In nature omega-3 fatty acids occur as triglycerides - imagine a molecule with three long tails (chains of fatty acids). The body cannot absorb this. In our digestive system the enzyme lipase cuts the fatty acid chains off – and in this state, they are called free fatty acids and can be absorbed. Bio-Marine Plus contains omega-3 in the form of free fatty acids that have already been broken down and are ready for absorbtion. The advantage with this type of omega-3 fatty acids is that they can be absorbed directly even by individuals with impaired lipid absorption. Also you get more omega 3 in the free fatty acid capsules as they contain 65% omega 3 compared with only 30-35% omega 3 in ordinary fish oil capsules.

Kind regards
Alex Dybring
Web Editor, Naturopath ibm
Pharma Nord

Do you have any questions or concerns? Please visit www.pharmanord.com/contact. For the sake of privacy we do not mention the name or anything else that could identify the person asking the question of the month.

Here we manufacture both food supplements and medical drugs under pharmaceutical control after the GMP standards.

Pharma Nord's principles are evident in every aspect of our work – from the selection and handling of raw materials through production to the sale of our products.

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