Gymnema Sylvestre and Diabetes Cannot Live Together
Mother Nature has been very courteous to us. Look around and you will find many powerful herbs like Gymnema Sylvestre, Gymnema Sylvestre, and Diabetes are inseparable because This super herb has been used to treat diabetes in Ayurvedic Science since the 6th century BC. Gymnema Sylvestre helps in reducing insulin dosage in type-1 diabetics and reducing fasting blood sugar levels in type-2 diabetics. It is true that which help in our well being. Although we have come a long way as far as our pharmaceutical products are concerned the basic ingredient of most of our drugs comes from plants.
The plant products are processed; their active ingredients are isolated and formulated into different medicines. These medicines are packed in attractive packs and sold to us as pharmacological wonders! More often these formulations come with a hefty price tag as well. Have we ever wondered about the source of these ingredients?
Won’t it be much better if we include these plants in our diet? Most of us would say an enthusiastic YES… Information is wealth, so let’s know about one such plant today. Let’s start with Gymnena sylvestre…
This plant is native to central and western India, tropical Africa, and Australia. It’s known by different names. In Sanskrit, it is known as Meshashringi or madhunashini. In Hindi, this plant is called as Gur-Mar or Merasingi. For our readers from different parts of India, it is known as podapatri in Telugu, Adigam or Cherukurinja in Tamil, and Sannagerasehambu in Kannada. This plant has been mentioned for its medicinal properties in various systems of native medicine.
Literature about Gymenema Sylvestre the wonder herb depicts its usefulness in a variety of health problems. Some of them worth mentioning here are asthma, inflammations, anti-microbial activity, protection of the liver, and Diabetes.
How does Gymnema Sylvestre plant look?
Gymnena sylvestre is a slow-growing, perennial woody climber. Leaves are usually elliptical. The flowers are small and yellow in color. Follicles are terete, lanceolate, up to 3 inches in length. Phytochemically this plant is rich.
Gymnena sylvestre’s Leaf extracts have an array of chemical compounds. These include saponins (Gymnemasaponins, Gymnemasides), flavones, anthraquinones, phytin, resins, d-quercitol and alkaloids. All these high-sounding words should deliver a clinical benefit right? Many scientists claim that the chemical structure of Gymnemic acid closely resembles the structure of glucose molecules and these acids occupy the empty spaces in the receptors for glucose. This prevents the binding of glucose to our body cells.
Gymnema Sylvestre can reduce Sugar cravings
An additional effect seems to be alleviation of craving for sugar. How? researchers say that the extracts of the leaves interfere with the ability of taste buds to taste sweet and bitter which may in turn help people to limit the sweet intake.
Gymnena sylvestre has also been seen to have a positive effect on blood cholesterol levels. The active components have been seen to promote the fecal excretion of cholesterol. This is a welcome addition as an increase in blood cholesterol values is commonly seen in Diabetes patients. Cholesterols also increase in our body because of poor eating habits as well as lack of physical activity. So to have one molecule to tackle both diabetes and cholesterol would be a dream come true. Our ancestors have used Gymnena sylvestre in various systems of medicines in different forms.
