By Sherry Christiansen
Medically reviewed by Taz Bhatia, MD on March 21, 2020

Gymnema (Gymnema sylvestre) is a plant in the Apocynaceae family, well known in Ayurvedic medicine for its medicinal purposes. The plant is a perennial woody vine that is found in tropical regions of India, Africa, and Australia.


Gymnema is a climbing plant with elongated, oval leaves that have soft hairs on the top surface. The plant has small, yellow flowers that are produced throughout the year.

The Hindi term for G. sylvestre is gurmar, which is translated as sugar destroyer. This is because Gymnema sylvestre leaves contain gymnemic acids, which are major bioactive ingredients that act to suppress the taste of sugar by interacting with taste receptors on the tongue.1

This suppression of sugar taste is temporary, and it has been found to be useful in treating diabetes, particularly in Ayurvedic practice.

Another reason that G. sylvestre is considered a sugar destroyer is because it is thought to inhibit sugar absorption in the body, thus, the plant has appeared in many research studies, evaluating its effectiveness for the treatment of weight loss and diabetes in Western medicine as well as in India.

Other names for gymnema include Australian cowplant and periploca of the woods.

Health Benefits
Gymnema sylvestre is said to lower sugar cravings2 while reducing the rate at which sugar is absorbed into the body,3 potentially providing a two-fold action to combat weight gain and diabetes.


Diabetes is a common disorder caused by the body’s inability to utilize (or produce) insulin properly. Lack of insulin—or lack of insulin’s efficiency—results in high blood sugar; this is because insulin is a hormone that is responsible for moving the glucose (blood sugar) from the blood, into the cell, to be used for energy.


Many people take insulin or other blood sugar medication that helps the body more efficiently regulate glucose levels, but a natural plant supplement, like G. sylvestre may help. What does the research say?