I purchased the NOW brand Gymnema Sylvestre at the casual recommendation of my favorite herbalist, Rachelle Robinett. I trust her to share high quality products through her platforms, so I was not concerned about the quality of this one. I do not have diabetes, however, I have been told by a past primary care doctor that I am “near pre-diabetic,” despite being in my early thirties, at a healthy weight—in fact, close to underweight—for my height (5’10” and approx. 128lbs), a vegetarian, dairy-free, mostly gluten-free, and moderately active. My mother was recently diagnosed pre-diabetic, and I have ALWAYS had a MAJOR sweet tooth, so I have been more conscious of my consumption of added sugars. Sylvestre is known in the herbalist community for its ability to stabilize blood sugar levels, support healthy glucose metabolism, and even suppress sugar cravings. I’ve also read that it removes the sweetness from sweet foods. I’ve been taking this supplement daily for about 2 months now, usually in the morning before or after my first meal. Even though I take it as directed, I have not noticed any change in the sweetness or flavor of sweet foods. However, I have noticed a significant reduction in my cravings for sweets. This could be due to other personal factors (for example, I practice intermittent fasting most days out of the week and supplement with other blood sugar-stabilizing herbs). But I really think it’s because of the Gymnema Sylvestre. I went from eating some sort of sweet—a cookie, non-dairy ice cream, sugar hot beverages, etc—about 3-4 days out of every week to only having a small portion of something sweet (if anything at all) once every other week. And I almost never crave sweets anymore; mainly, I eat them as an experiment with this supplement. My first month of taking this, I did not eat any foods containing added sugars. I’ve never been able to do that without great difficulty. Therefore, I will probably keep buying this product, and I do recommend it.
