Gymnema and Diabetes: Our past and the introduction of gymnema
Gymnema sylvestre and diabetes are becoming a very popular “couple” over here in the United States of America. When looking around at US citizens from the outside inward, you will notice that were are a very odd or different culture than any other. Different parts of this one country also have different moral and value sets than other parts of the country. The northern part of the country, specifically the North East for example, is strikingly different from the Southern states. New Englanders are fast paced and a stressful, of sorts, set of individuals. People in the south are far more laid back and take their time with things. You may even notice we fancy, like a country, the kind two diabetes diet that would leave many scratching their heads and wondering “do they have any idea what they are doing to their bodies?” with proper reason. As a country, generally we have a severely horrible diet. Do not take that statement as an implication that we are purposely going out of our way and intentionally increasing our risk of diabetes. In fact, as a country we realize we are inducing type two diabetes when we could alter path rapidly, for some reason we just have not done that in the past. Actually, the fact we are on the wrong diabetic diet has more or less been classified as “out of sight and out of mind”, however we are cognoscente of it and that is a reason gymnema is starting to come up in conversation. Lately, supplements like gymnema have been a popular course of action for inclusion in the diabetic diet. One of the more popular supplements has been gymnema sylvestre. This course of action is pretty much needed as we fill our bodies regularly with unprocessed, trans fat filled junk food, greasy fast food, snacks, and many other food items that lack any nutritional benefits. Food is not seen as fuel, however more as a reward or activity, which is a leading factor toward why you could find us to be a peculiar set of people. This is where gymnema enters the equation and here is my argument as to how gymnema and diabetes are becoming a popular “couple” in regards to the diabetic diet, and how we can possibly reverse the effects of our current diet.
A little plant called gymnema does what?
What makes gymnema stand out anyway, after all gymnema is only a plant right? You are correct that gymnema is a plant, however this plant is more of an “anti diabetic” Swiss army knife! Gymnema serves multiple uses and purposes. The most important property gymnema contains is the fact it has proven to stabilize blood sugar levels. Aside from that, gymnema sylvestre goes far beyond diabetes in fact gymnema has been said to help with a variety of other symptoms and conditions such as: being antiviral, the lowering of cholesterol, and here’s how vast it’s properties are – gymnema sylvestre has been noted as having the ability to reduce the effects of snake bites!
Gymnema sylvestre is carried by any decent natural supplement store such as Vitamin World or GNC. The supplement is normally sold in capsule, however I have seen (and used) it as a tincture or liquid idea. Store’s have carried it for a couple years now as a diabetic and blood sugar stabilizing agent, however in one of the countries of its origin, gymnema is seen as much more. In India as well as isolated areas of Africa gymnema is said to (not proven in the US- yet) actually get rid of type two diabetes. In fact, when I first mentioned the diabetic type two diet jokingly, a person of Indian decent said it is not a new theory and they “use it in India all the time”. Diabetes is actually a newer “mainstream” health concern in India, as obesity has not been entirely commonplace as India has slowly been erasing its third World status over the course of the last few decades. This should not be a problem as gymnema is literally right there waiting to help!
Gymnema is breaking through!
Although gymnema sylvestre has been gaining popularity lately, a couple groups have held this plant and extract as a treasure for over a century. Holistic healers as well as herbologists have given the plant praise for a very long time. The government and other authoritarian institutes are slow, with proper reason, to acknowledge the properties of natural items such as gymnema. However, gymnema has caught the attention of a new and widely respected fan. That new fan is none other than the Harvard Medical School! This is going to be a massive popularity boost for this little wonder plant. Although alternative medicine and healing normally are a second thought due to the prevalence in our society of the pharmaceutical approach, gymnema’s jump in fame could rapidly change that view. Will alternative medicines and healing agents, such as gymnema sylvestre, overcome the powers of traditional pharmaceutical healing? No and for very good reason. Many natural remedies may have a known attribute or ability to aid in the healing of certain conditions; they widely have different effects on different people. For example, some people have a better result using gymnema as a weight loss aid when trying to lower their blood sugar. Gymnema is not the only odd ball, another example of a, what I label them, “weird healer” is green tea where some have a thermogenic effect on them while others will find they are not losing weight however have a stronger immune system. I feel, and have zero scientific backing – just a wise hypothesis – this is because we are all individuals and are not mass-produced yet (kidding but you never know).
Why is gymnema seen as the “sugar destroyer”? Easy, another way of saying gymnema sylvestre is “gumar” which in Hindu, means literally “sugar destroyer”. I don’t know about you, however when I hear destroyer I instantly imagine a United States Naval ship or maybe an army. A simply, wimpy looking plant though? With its history and known attributes, I think those speaking Hindu labeled it very properly! The type two diabetes diet is known to cause insulin to have an inability or a lack of effectiveness to process sugar, thus giving the body higher blood sugars. Gymnema is used to treat, as previously mentioned, diabetes by helping to make the cells in our body more receptive to insulin in turn lowering our blood sugar. What about the destroyer, Gumar? That is simply another name for Gymnema. Although they do not say it Directly, Harvard Medical School apparently believes the type two diabetes diet can be eased by allowing gumar (gymnema) to act as the” sugar destroyer”.
So why should a case be made for gymnema sylvestre? For one, we covered the fact that for millenniums Indian and some African countries have used and acknowledged gymnema as having anti-diabetic properties and have used it to get rid of diabetes, which is not currently an accepted statement in the USA. Gymnema has no known dangerous side effects (you could have an allergy to it as many of us do). It can also lower your cholesterol. If used properly, I feel gymnema does have properties where you could supplement your normal diabetic health routine with it. I personally would say go for it however, I cannot highly enough suggest and (if you don’t mind) dictate that you talk to your doctor about implementing gymnema. From the people I have spoken with, it is extremely rare, as I do not remember hearing one, a doctor will say no! Gymnema anyone? Don’t you think it’s about time to get on the right diabetic diet with a little help from gymnema?
