Botanical Name Gymnema sylvestre
Gymnema is a Central and Southern Indian indigenous forest climbing vine. It grows in Sri Lanka and is now grown in isolayed pockets acrosss South East Asia. It is somewhat woody in its nature and habitat but the leaves of which are used to suppress the taste of sweetness – yes to suppress sweetness recognition!
It is sometimes and mostly locally known as Periploca of the Woods, Ram’s Horn, Australian cowplant, gurmari, gurmarbooti, gurmar or, in Sanskrit, Meshasringi and more recently Miracle Fruit despite the fact that the plant part used is the leaf.
Chewing the leaves (rather in the manner of chewing Betel), tends to suppress our ability to register the sweetness of anything else.
Points about Gymnema
Herbalists in India have used the leaves of this long, slender plant as a treatment for diabetes for more than 2,000 years. The Hindu word “gumar,” which means “sugar destroyer,” describes the primary use of the herb in traditional Indian medicine.
Doctors in India note that Gymnema Sylvestre is used in the treatment of diabetes mellitus and in food additives against obesity and caries. Gymnema is also reported to have anti-allergic, antiviral, lipid lowering, and other beneficial effects.
The herb Gymnema sylvestre helps the pancreas to produce insulin especially in type 2 diabetes. This herb improves the ability of insulin to lower blood sugar in type 1 as well as type 2 diabetes. This herb decreases cravings for sweets.
Successful treatment of canine diabetes is based on four primary herbs whose positive actions have stood the test of time: Fenugreek seeds, Turmeric root, Gymnema sylvestre and Bitter Melon. Infused into a tea or as a natural herbal concentrate, each herb possesses its own qualities to take care of cat or dog diabetes and keep the animal in good health while controlling blood-sugar.
If you are a person with type 2 diabetes, you are no doubt familiar with food and exercise recommendations as a part of your treatment. You may also be taking medication or insulin to help keep your blood sugar balanced. But did you know that many diabetics are adding supplements to their health regime? One important ingredient you’ll often find in a diabetic dietary supplement is Gymnema sylvestre.
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Gymnema has been, and continues to be, studied to in great detail but it is demonstrably clear that it reduces the taste of sugar when the leaf is placed in the mouth and chewed. This is probably due to the isolated glycosides known as gymnemic acids, which exhibit anti-sweet activity. This effect can last up to about 2 to 3 hours.
Historically, the leaves have been used in The Indian sub continent for stomach ailments, constipation, water retention, and various liver diseases, however, these claims are not supported by any scientific study of any kind.
The active ingredients in the plant leaf are thought to be the family of compounds related to gymnemic acid: purified gymnemic acids are widely used as experimental reagents in taste physiology and have also an anti-diabetic effect in animal models, reduce intestinal transport of maltose in rats when combined with acarbose, and reduce absorption of free oleic acid in rats. There really is a great deal more research that needs to be done but its an exciting area of development.
extracts derived from Gymnema sylvestre may be useful as therapeutic agent to stimulate the production of insulin secretion in individuals withtype 2 diabetes. The rise in insulin levels may be due to the regeneration of the cells in the pancreas. Gymnema sylvestre can also help prevent adrenal hormones from stimulating the liver to produce glucose (tested in mice only), and thereby reducing blood sugar levels.Clinical trials with type 2 diabetics in India have used 400 mg per day of water-soluble acidic fraction of the Gymnema sylvestre leaves administered for 18-20 months as a supplement to the conventional oral drugs.
During GS4 supplementation, the patients showed a significant reduction in blood glucose, glycosylated haemoglobin and glycosylated plasma proteins, and conventional drug dosage could be decreased as a result. Five of the 22 diabetic patients were able to discontinue their conventional drug and maintain their blood glucose homeostasis with GS4 alone.
Its an interesting area of research with far reaching consequences given that type 2 diabetes is very much the scourge of the western world with its current lifestyles.
Information provided here is not medical advice – you should always consult your doctor.
Author’s resource: Gymnema – a leaf with remarkable properties which deserves ongoing research.
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Gurmar or Gymnema Sylvestra
Vaidya speak about the famous ayurvedic herb, Sugar- killer, or Gymnema Sylvestra (Gurmar – Skt)
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Gymnema
