Gymnema

What Is Gymnema?

Gymnema is known as “the sugar destroyer” because of its unique ability to inhibit our ability to taste sweet foods.

This quality is used to combat sugar cravings in diabetics to control blood sugar levels.

It’s been used for thousands of years in India for treating conditions involving “sweet urine.” This is a common symptom of diabetes as sugar diffuses into the urinary tract. Old methods of diagnosis involved tasting the urine to identify a sweet taste.

Gymnema offers a variety of unique benefits towards conditions like diabetes, including changes to the pancreatic beta-cells, responsible for releasing insulin into the blood.

Gymnema is also a diuretic, helping to clear glucose from the blood through urine (in combination with plenty of water of course).

Finally, gymnema leaves inhibit the sweet sensation on the taste buds, making food taste bland and dull, which can be used to reduce the cravings for sweet (high sugar) foods responsible for maintaining the pathophysiology of diabetes and metabolic syndromes.

What Is Gymnema Used For?

Gymnema is mainly used to treat metabolic conditions like diabetes, PCOS, and metabolic syndrome. It’s also used for dental caries, and poor digestion.

Mechanisms

• Increases the number of insulin-secreting beta cells in the pancreas
• Decreases the perception of sweet taste on the taste buds
• Inhibits peripheral utilization of glucose by somatotrophin and corticotrophin.

Botanical Information

Gymnema is a member of the Apocynaceae (dogbane) family of plants.

In the past, gymnema was included in the milkweed (Asclepiadaceae) family — but has since been changed to a subfamily category.

The Apocynaceae family now contains 5 subfamilies (Apocynoideae, Asclepiadoideae, Periplocoideae, Rauvolfioideae, and Secamonoideae).

It contains 5100 species and 366 genera. There are roughly 50 different species of Gymnema — many of which are used interchangeably.

Many plants in the Apocynaceae family are trees preferring tropical environments — except for a handful of species that prefer to grow in deserts.

Phytochemistry

Gymnema’s signature constituents are the gymnemic acids — a family of oleanane-type triterpenoid saponins that account for both the antisweet effect on the tongue and much of the blood-sugar activity. Their concentration in the raw leaf is modest and variable, reported at roughly 0.67–1.06% of leaf dry weight, which is why commercial material is concentrated to standardised extracts of 25% or 75% gymnemic acids ^{1Reference 1Tiwari et al. · 2014Phytochemical and pharmacological properties of Gymnema sylvestre: an important medicinal plantView study →}. Closely related gymnemasaponins and other triterpenoid saponins add to the same activity.

A second, structurally unrelated antisweet principle is gurmarin, a 35-amino-acid polypeptide that suppresses sweet-taste signalling in some species ^{1Reference 1Tiwari et al. · 2014Phytochemical and pharmacological properties of Gymnema sylvestre: an important medicinal plantView study →}. The leaf also contains the quaternary amine betaine.

Constituent Summary

Figures are percent of leaf dry weight; gymnemic acid content varies with cultivation site and harvest, and extracts are typically standardised well above raw-leaf levels.

Clinical Applications

Gymnema is mainly used for metabolic conditions including hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, metabolic syndrome, PCOS, hypertriglyceridemia, and both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. It’s diuretic and increases the number of pancreatic beta cells.

One of the more unique effects of gymnema is its ability to inhibit sweet flavor. By simply chewing on the leaves, our ability to perceive sweet flavors gradually fades away — helping to prevent excessive sugar intake in habituated individuals.

Cautions & Safety

High saponins may cause gastrointestinal upset, caution advised with high doses.

Caution advised if taking hypoglycemic medication due to agonistic interaction.

Contraindications

• Caution advised with hypoglycemic drugs

References

1. Tiwari, P., Mishra, B. N., & Sangwan, N. S. (2014). Phytochemical and pharmacological properties of Gymnema sylvestre: an important medicinal plant. BioMed Research International, 2014, 830285. doi:10.1155/2014/830285