Indian Plant Helps Maintain Blood Sugar and Cholesterol Balanced

Hydroxycitric Acid Supports Weight-Loss Efforts
Hydroxycitric acid helps support weight-management efforts in obese adults, report Georgetown University researchers.*

In a trial of 90 obese adults, one group took a daily dose of hydroxycitric acid, a second group received hydroxycitric acid in combination with niacin-bound chromium and Gymnema sylvestre extract, and a third group took a placebo. All three groups consumed the same diet and participated in a 30-minute walking program five days a week.

After eight weeks, the hydroxycitric acid group reduced their body weight by 5.4%, their triglycerides by 6.9 %, and their low-density lipoprotein (LDL) by 12.9%, while increasing beneficial high-density lipoprotein (HDL) by 8.9%. Urinary excretion of fat metabolites increased by 32-109%. The hydroxycitric acid-chromium-Gymnema extract group demonstrated similar but even more pronounced effects.

Hydroxycitric acid—used along or in combination with niacin-bound chromium and Gymnema extract—thus helps to reduce body weight, improve blood lipid profiles, and increase fat oxidation.

—Elizabeth Wagner, ND
Reference

* Preuss HG, Garis RI, Bramble JD, et al. Efficacy of a novel calcium/potassium salt of (-)-hydroxycitric acid in weight control. Int J Clin Pharmacol Res. 2005;25(3):133-44.

If you are at risk for diabetes or diagnosed as prediabetic, you should maintain your fasting insulin level in the low normal range through a diet with a reduced glycemic load and the judicious use of supplements that augment the activity of insulin (for example, magnesium,10,11 zinc,12 niacin,13 and biotin14), one’s sensitivity to insulin (for example, chromium polynicotinate,15 alpha lipoic acid,16 vitamin E,17 taurine,18 vitamin C,19 DHEA,20 and hydroxycitric acid13), or glucose homeostasis (for example, gymnema sylvestre,21 quercetin,22 biotin,14,23 bitter melon,24 conjugated linoleic acid and alpha lipoic acid in combination,25 selenium,26 vitamin E,17 pyridoxine,27 and vanadyl sulfate28,29).

21. Shanmugasundaram ER, Rajeswari G, Baskaran K, et al. Use of Gymnema sylvestre leaf extract in the control of blood glucose in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. J Ethnopharmacol. 1990 Oct;30(3):281-94.