The Hindi name, gurmar, means "destroyer of sugar."

chewing a leaf temporarily eliminates the ability to taste sweetness for 1–2 hours.

used for malaria and as a snake bite antidote, digestive stimulant, laxative, appetite suppressant, and diuretic.

Reduces sugar cravings by making sweet foods taste less appealing.

Helps lower blood sugar levels.

enhances insulin secretion from the pancreas and improve glucose uptake.

used for diabetes, arthritis, diuretic, anemia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolemia, cardiopathy, asthma, constipation, microbial infections, indigestion, and anti-inflammatory.

prevents absorption of glucose (sugar) in your blood, reducing caloric extraction from carbohydrates.
gymnemic acids block intestinal glucose absorption.
clinical studies document significant body weight reduction with Gymnema supplementation over 8–12 weeks.

gymnemic acids protect against radiation-induced oxidative damage.

gymnemasaponins stimulate insulin secretion from pancreatic beta cells; and most remarkably, gymnemic acid promotes regeneration of pancreatic beta cells (that are damaged and depleted in type 2 diabetes) through stimulation of islet cell neogenesis.
almost no pharmaceutical drug and very few natural compounds have documented capacity to actually regenerate the insulin-producing cells destroyed in diabetes progression.

reduces tumor incidence.

reported to lower the elevated cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL level and increase the HDL level.