On 05-07-05 THOM LACOSTA Scrivened to ALL  about Herbals

TL>Hello All!

TL>I'm beginning to collect information about herbals that may assist in
TL>the reduction of blood sugar.  If you have any information on the
TL>subject, please let me know.

I use Gymnema sylvestre. The cut & paste below is from:
http://healthyherbs.about.com/cs/herbfaqs/a/aa030602.htm

If you Google "gymnema sylvestre" you will find many sources of 
information on the herb. It surely helps me. I have cut down by 50% my 
Glipizide and ditched the Glucophage altogether.
        
The "sugar destroyer" .

Gymnema sylvestre, known as the "sugar destroyer", is showing up in more 
and more over the counter weight loss products and blood sugar balancing 
formulas. What does it really do?

Blood Sugar

The main focus of gymnema research is blood sugar regulation and glucose 
metabolism. It has been used in India for treatment of diabetes for 
about 2000 years. Today in India it is being used to treat primarily 
type II diabetes and type I as well. The herb has shown to reduce blood 
sugar, glycosylated haemoglobin and glycosylated plasma proteins when 
used for 18-20 months [1]. The effect is gradual rather than immediate 
with conventional drugs. The active components responsible for lowering 
glucose are the gymnemic acids.

Weight Loss

I was intrigued when I read how gymnema could reduce and alter the taste 
of sugar, and it does just that.

By placing the herb on your tongue or drinking the tea, the perception 
of sugar or aspartame is reduced or eliminated completely. That may come 
in handy if you want to deter a binge on chocolate cheesecake. Some 
articles state that this is not true so I tried it myself by breaking 
open a capsule and placing a small amount in my mouth. It did indeed 
eliminate the perception of sugar. The effect lasted for about 15 
minutes as I sampled other foods and drinks. Sweet Relief gum is 
available which contains gymnema.

It is also said that the herb reduces cravings for sugars. More research 
needs to be done on that statement. Some believe that the sugar taste 
blocking feature has a factor in not only the reduction in cravings, but 
the hypoglycemic reactions as well.

Warnings: Gymnema should not be taken in place of insulin. It could 
potentially lower blood sugar too much, resulting in a hypoglycemic 
reaction. If you have been diagnosed with diabetes and wish to use 
gymnema consult your physician first. It should not be a substitute, 
only a supplement to your current therapy.

Interactions: Gymnema may interact with medications taken to lower blood 
sugar levels resulting in hypoglycemia.

Side Effects: There are no side effects listed at the time of writing 
this feature (3/2002). Only those which seem to be connected with 
hypoglycemia. Adverse effects reported to the FDA appear to be mainly 
blends containing gymnema targeted for weight loss or energy.

References and Resources:

[1] Gymnema - Alternative Medicine Foundation Monograph;
Gymnema - By Liz Swain Mechanisms, warning and interactions

ENJOY!!!
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