Preliminary human evidence suggests
that gymnema may be efficacious for the management of serum glucose levels in type 1 and type 2 diabetes, as an adjunct to
conventional drug therapy, for up to 20 months. Gymnema appears to lower serum glucose and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c)
levels following chronic use, but may not have significant acute effects.
Expert Opinion and Folkloric Precedent:
Gymnema leaves have been used
for over 2000 years in India to treat madhu meha, or "honey urine". It has been used alone and as a component
of the Ayurvedic medicinal compound "Tribang shila," a mixture of tin, lead, zinc, gymnema sylvestre leaves, neem
leaves (Melia azadirachta), Enicostemma littorale and jambul seeds (Eugenia jambolana). Traditional healers
observed that chewing the leaves of gymnema resulted in a reversible loss of sweet-taste perception.
The plant has also been used
in African healing traditions, for example by Tanzanian healers traditional applications include use as an anti-malarial agent,
digestive stimulant, laxative, diuretic, and snake venom antidote
