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Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Gymnema Leaf Tea



"The atomic arrangement of gymnemic acid molecules is similar to that of glucose molecules. These molecules fill the receptor locations on the taste buds thereby preventing its activation by sugar molecules present in the food, thereby curbing the sugar craving. Similarly, Gymnemic acid molecules fill the receptor location in the absorptive external layers of the intestine thereby preventing the sugar molecules absorption by the intestine, which results in low blood sugar level."

- Text taken from HERE -

Foods with high glycemic index send me straight to sleep. One morning, I ingested a bowl of pork rice porridge at 9 am (the sort of rice porridge that is so mushed up you can't see the individual grains anymore). Within half an hour, I crawled into the covers of my bed and floated all over dream land until 1pm. Wow! Who needs sedatives when all you need is porridge to drop like a ton of bricks?! The downsides are these...
(1) as I sleep, the sugar goes straight into my fat cells (and so I put on weight but cannot take it off)
(2) one can't enjoy life perpetually asleep

If rice porridge floats me off to dreamland then assuredly, all manner of sweet desserts such as ice cream, cakes, tarts... all sing inveiglingly sweet lullabies to my tummy. That's not a good way to live. One minute, I'm there chatting over cake and tea. The next minute I'm prostrate, under the table or wherever it may be where I can curl up and sleep.

I tried all manner of artificial sweeteners and gave up. Almost all artificial sweeteners have side effects - stevia or sucralose or aspartame. Besides, they all taste awful. I would rather have my stuff unsweetened than eat artificial sweeteners.

So, I'm thrilled to discover gymnema tea. I first blogged about gymnema tea HERE. After a judicious half scoop of ice cream, I down one mug of gymnema tea to prevent my body from absorbing sugar. This prevents further weight gain from newly absorbed sugar. It also helps weight loss because I stay awake and active enough to burn fat. One must remember to drink the tea AFTER eating the yummy dessert because the gynmemic acid molecules fill the receptor locations on the tastebuds. If you drink the tea BEFORE eating the yummy dessert, then your dessert is going to taste half as sweet as it really is.

For those of you who have the same problem as I, may this tea bless you as much as it has blessed me. I buy my gymnema tea from Herbal Sense Life.


4 comments:

Blur Ting said...

I have the same problem with bread! I'm glad you found the solution.

Petunia Lee said...

Ting - Me too!

Rachel Tan said...

Hi Petunia,

I love breads, pasta, rice and even glutinous rice desserts (apparently glutinous rice is like superduper high GI). Having read the literature on GI and stuff, I do count my carbs instake.

Yet at the same time, I wonder how the older generation survived (and seem to survive well) with a carbo-rich diet. You don't seem to hear of starch or wheat intolerance among the older generation. I mean my grandma literally had little/no protein in her diet for half her life at least.

Petunia Lee said...

Rachel - Actually, I come from a long line of people who have glucose intolerance. Uncles and aunties in the past died in 40s and 50s from diabetic complications. My grandfather died early too. My mom ate not more than 2 tablespoons of rice at every meal. I was never allowed sugared drinks and such like either because we knew this tendancy ran in our blood.

My daughter has inherited this sensitivity to glucose. She is young and so her body copes better. My son has no such issues at all. His father's genes probably call the shots in this regard with him.

I also believe that the amount of physical activity plays a part. Part of my rehabilitation (for adrenal exhaustion and hypothyroidism) requires an hour of vigorous aerobic exercise every day. I can actually tolerate 2 roti prata AFTER 60 lengths of the pool.

With the sedentary lifestyle we have, the diet that our ancestors could tolerate becomes toxic for us... especially since many of our ancestors farmed the land. Heavy labour involving a great deal of physical exertion.