Supports healthy glucose metabolism
• Helps deal with diabetes
• Lowers blood sugar levels
• Increases insulin levels
• Helps reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease

Healthy blood sugar levels
Gymnema-75 is an extract of the herb Gymnema sylvestre. This herb is used in Ayurvedic medicine to help with glucose metabolism. Gymnema extracts have been tested scientifically and found to help with diabetes and its complications, such as cardiovascular disorders.

Benefits for diabetics
Clinical trials have found that Gymnema can lower blood glucose in both insulin-dependent (type 1) and insulin-independent (type 2) diabetes. In non-insulin dependent diabetes, Gymnema reduced the requirements for other medications. In diabetes mellitus patients, Gymnema increased the body's levels of insulin and reduced the requirement for insulin. To date, no other substance has had this effect among insulin-requiring individuals. Gymnema was also found to help normalize lipid levels. Gymnema is though to increase insulin sensitivity, and has been suggested to help regenerate or repair beta cells.

Gymnema for glucose
Gymnema's effect on glucose metabolism offers important benefits for anyone dealing with diabetes and/or the effects of high blood glucose levels. It also offers protection against diabetic complications. AOR's Gymnema-75 provides a high-potency, standardized extract of this powerful herb.

The Trouble With Glucose
A high dietary glycemic load, coupled with sedentary and stressful lifestyles, has contributed to the alarming incidence of diabetes. Clinical complications include cardiovascular disease, peripheral vascular disease, strokes, renal disease, atherosclerosis, and blindness. Numerous therapeutic approaches are available and depend on individual response. Dietary restrictions and insulin administration, though effective, are not found to correct the multiple tissue defects completely.

Oral hypoglycemic drugs such as sulfonylureas and biguanides are known to have serious side effects; hence, the search for hypoglycemic agents which deal with the disease more completely and with minimum possible undesirable effects still persists. In this context, the Ayurved herb Gymnema sylvestre has gained considerable importance and generated much scientific and medical interest.

An Ayurvedic Herb
Gymnema sylvestre (GS), an herb belonging to the Asclepiadacea family, is a woody branched vine growing in the wild forests of Central and South India. The plant has been used by the traditional medical practitioners of India since Buddha's era. Early scientific studies of this herb observed that GS lowered blood glucose levels in diabetic dogs but not in pancreactomized animals, suggesting that some residual pancreatic tissue is needed for this herb to be effective. Further studies revealed that GS significantly lowered blood glucose levels in both insulin-dependent and non-insulin-dependent diabetic rats.

Both Types of Diabetes
In human clinical trials, gymnema extracts were effective in patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes (both insulin-dependent and independent). In 22 type 2 diabetes patients, gymnema extract resulted in a significant reduction in blood glucose, and in sugar-modified haemoglobin and plasma proteins. 5 of the 22 patients were able to discontinue their standard medications and maintain healthy blood glucose levels with gymnema alone.

Similar results were found in a study of 27 diabetes mellitus patients on insulin therapy. The gymnema, along with its other effects, reduced the requirements for insulin and brought serum lipids to almost normal levels. The gymnema extract appeared to enhance the body's own insulin, possibly by regenerating or repairing beta cells which produce insulin.

Gymnema's Actions
More recent studies suggest that the GS may inhibit the release of Gastro-Intestinal Peptide (G.I.P.), which normally occurs following duodenal infusion of glucose. In addition to reducing the insulinotropic action of gastro-intestinal hormones, GS is thought to increase peripheral insulin sensitivity. This might then result in lowered insulin levels during a glucose tolerance test. The mechanism of action may be via the interaction with the glucose receptor. This may explain the folklore claims of loss of sweet sensation following chewing of GS leaves. In fact, GS is considered a carbohydrate metabolism modifier and has the following properties:

(1) Sensation of taste. The tongue sugar receptors are effectively blocked by GS, thereby inhibiting sensation of sweetness.

(2) Glucose Control. Inhibition of uptake of glucose in the intestines by interacting with and blocking the glucose receptor sites, thereby reducing the "spike" in glucose and insulin seen after a meal.

The active ingredients are thought to be saponin and glycoside derivatives. So far, eleven different types have been isolated and identified as gymnemic acids. The chemical structure has been identified by nuclear magnetic resonance and X-ray studies to be similar to glycuronides.