Insulin Management (Dangerous Synergy: Addressing metabolic syndrome naturally)

Gymnema is an herb native to southern and central India and has been widely used in ancient medicine. An Indian study administered 200 mg kg(-1) body weight of the alcoholic extract of Gymnema montanum for three weeks.¹ The extract significantly reduced blood glucose and increased plasma insulin, whereas the effect of 50 and 100 mg kg(-1) body weight was not significant. The alcoholic extract also resulted in decreased free radical formation in plasma of diabetic rats.

Another study administered an alcoholic extract of Gymnema sylvestre to rat islets of Langerhans and several pancreatic beta-cell lines.² The extract stimulated insulin release from HIT-T15, MIN6 and RINm5F beta-cells and from islets in the absence of any other stimulus, and G. sylvestre-stimulated insulin secretion was inhibited in the presence of 1 mM EGTA.

In two studies from Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, chromium decreased SBP elevated by high-sucrose intake, bis(maltolato)oxovanadium (BMOV) overcame sucrose-induced elevation of SBP as well as some of the “genetic hypertension”, and G. sylvestre significantly lowered cholesterol, but neither lowered nor raised SBP.³ In the first study, spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) were fed either a starch, sugar or sugar diet containing chromium polynicotinate, BMOV or G. sylvestre. In a second study, SHR ingested diets containing different concentrations of BMOV. Compared to starch, SHR consuming sucrose showed a significant elevation of SBP within days that was maintained for the duration of study. Adding chromium polynicotinate to the sucrose diet prevented the sucrose-induced elevation of SBP for two weeks, but SBP rose significantly after that. BMOV at high concentrations overcame the sucrose-induced rise in SBP and decreased SBP below values seen in SHR eating the starch diet, but marked weight loss was noted. In the second study, BMOV SBP was still significantly decreased, even though SHR did not lose body weight early on. SHR consuming G. sylvestre showed no change or even elevated SBP. Hepatic thiobarbituric acid reacting substances (TBARS) formation, an estimate of lipid peroxidation, was decreased by chromium polynicotinate and BMOV, and renal TBARS by chromium polynicotinate. Circulating cholesterol concentrations were decreased in the SHR consuming G. sylvestre.