What do the states mean?+
- Solid: well studied, and it works.
- Half-there: the science is still forming.
- A ghost: almost no real studies.
- Hollow: well studied, and it does not work.
- A cord: the pair itself has been tested together.
- Air: nobody has ever tested this pair.
The full scoring method: How we score
Ginkgo biloba benefits: where the science stands
For memory and focus: no.
Memory and focus are what most people take Ginkgo biloba for, and the strongest evidence says it does not help: two combined reviews covering 15 trials found no real difference. As of August 2026, the verdicts on this page rest on evidence from 38 trials, drawn from the strongest research among the 390 papers on PubMed that mention Ginkgo biloba. Every claim is checked below.
390 papers on PubMed · evidence from 38 trials
Claim by claim
- Memory and focusWell studied, and it does not work. The biggest review covered 13 trials.
- EnduranceThe science is still forming. No real difference found so far.
- TinnitusWell studied, and it does not work. The biggest review covered 12 trials.
Pairs people ask about
The four sources we read
- 2010Meta-analysis · pools 11 trials, 477 people · no clear effect on endurancesource
- 2012Meta-analysis · pools 13 trials, 1,132 people · no clear effect on memory and focussource
- 2022Meta-analysis · pools 2 trials · no clear effect on memory and focussource
- 2022Meta-analysis · pools 12 trials, 1,915 people · no clear effect on tinnitussource
Chosen as the strongest evidence out of 390 papers on PubMed. Every row links to its paper.
Fair questions
Does Ginkgo biloba work?+
For memory and focus, the strongest evidence says no. The biggest review covered 13 trials.
Is Ginkgo biloba safe?+
No caution is recorded on this page. That is not a safety guarantee; the studies we read were not safety trials.
Why only 4 sources, when PubMed lists 390?+
The 390 is every paper that mentions Ginkgo biloba in any way: animal studies, blood measurements, papers where it is a side note. The strongest sources are combined reviews, and each one already gathers every trial its authors could find. Our 4 cover 38 trials between them, and every one is linked above. Both counts are measured, not estimated.