By Fiona Chapman.

Gymnema sylvestre is an Ayurvedic herb which means ‘sugar destroyer’. This is because if you take it, it ‘destroys’ the taste of sugar. It does, too!

You need to take a dropper-ful in a very small glass of water, swill it around your mouth for at least ten seconds, gargle for another ten, and then swallow. This procedure is important as there are taste receptors all over your tongue, right down to the back of it, and the gymnema needs to get into each taste bud. You then eat sugar and you can’t even taste the sweetness.

This is obviously a brilliant herb if you have a sweet craving or sweet tooth and are trying to stop eating sugar or to lose weight. It is also very good for fat metabolism as it stimulates the pancreas to release bile which helps to digest fats. I would not however just prescribe it if someone came to me saying they wanted to lose weight and would be extremely careful if that person was diabetic. It is no good just addressing a symptom and not the root cause.

Often weight gain is because you are eating the wrong food – fairly obviously – or not eating proper food, regularly.
Yoyo diets are notorious for being unsuccessful. Starving yourself puts the body into panic mode and any food it gets will be laid down as fat as it thinks it will need it for energy. Blood sugar levels then drop and invariably energy levels plummet so people reach for a sugary treat to give them a boost. This shoots the blood sugar up and provides a spike in energy which, after the sugar is burned up, leaves the body to crash down again and so a vicious cycle starts.

Eating regularly with preferably a protein breakfast will stabilise the blood sugar and mean energy is released slowly so avoiding those horrible dips. Having three good meals a day – they do not need to be huge, really we should only really eat the equivalent size of our fist each meal – is important and, if you really want to lose weight, don’t eat after 6pm so all your food is digested before you go to bed.
Exercise is obviously vital, not only aiding in weight loss but brilliant for the mood.
I am not quite sure why I am writing this coming into winter when all we do is crave comfort food and personally I can’t wait for mince pies – but, for the most part, for comfort, try and eat squashes and root vegetables instead of biscuits and cakes!

Fiona Chapman is a Naturopathic Herbalist (Pellyfiona@gmail.com)