The Effect of a 14-Day gymnema sylvestre Intervention to Reduce Sugar Cravings in Adults

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
File version

Version of Record (VoR)

Author(s)
Turner, Sophie
Diako, Charles
Kruger, Rozanne
Wong, Marie
Wood, Warrick
Rutherfurd-Markwick, Kay
Stice, Eric
Ali, Ajmol
Griffith University Author(s)
Primary Supervisor
Other Supervisors
Editor(s)
Date
2022
Size
File type(s)
Location
Abstract

Gymnemic-acids (GA) block lingual sweet taste receptors, thereby reducing pleasantness and intake of sweet food. Objective: To examine whether a 14-day gymnema-based intervention can reduce sweet foods and discretionary sugar intake in free-living adults. Healthy adults (n = 58) were randomly allocated to either the intervention group (INT) or control group (CON). The intervention comprised of consuming 4 mg of Gymnema sylvestre containing 75% gymnema acids, a fibre and vitamin supplement, and an associated healthy-eating guide for 14 days; participants in the CON group followed the same protocol, replacing the GA with a placebo mint. Amount of chocolate bars eaten and sensory testing were conducted before and after the 14-day intervention (post-GA or placebo dosing on days zero and 15, respectively). Food frequency questionnaires were conducted on days zero, 15 and after a 28-day maintenance period to examine any changes in intake of sweet foods. A range of statistical procedures were used to analyse the data including Chi square, t-test and two-way analysis of variance. Post dosing, INT consumed fewer chocolates (2.65 ± 0.21 bars) at day zero than CON (3.15 ± 0.24 bars; p = 0.02); there were no differences between groups at day 15 (INT = 2.77 ± 0.22 bars; CON = 2.78 ± 0.22 bars; p = 0.81). At both visits, a small substantive effect (r < 0.3) was observed in the change in pleasantness and desire ratings, with INT showing a slight increase while CON showed a small decrease over the 14-day period. No differences were found in the intake of 9 food categories between groups at any timepoint. There were no differences in consumption of low sugar healthy foods between visits, or by group. The 14-day behavioural intervention reduced pleasantness and intake of chocolate in a laboratory setting. There was no habituation to the mint over the 14-day period. This study is the first to investigate the effect of longer-term gymnema acid consumption on sweet food consumption outside of a laboratory setting; further research is needed to assess how long the effect of the 14-day intervention persists.

Journal Title

Nutrients

Conference Title
Book Title
Edition
Volume

14

Issue

24

Thesis Type
Degree Program
School
Publisher link
Patent number
Funder(s)
Grant identifier(s)
Rights Statement
Rights Statement

© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Item Access Status
Note
Access the data
Related item(s)
Subject

Clinical sciences

Nutrition and dietetics

Public health

Science & Technology

Life Sciences & Biomedicine

Nutrition & Dietetics

sugar reduction

sensory evaluation

Persistent link to this record
Citation

Turner, S; Diako, C; Kruger, R; Wong, M; Wood, W; Rutherfurd-Markwick, K; Stice, E; Ali, A, The Effect of a 14-Day gymnema sylvestre Intervention to Reduce Sugar Cravings in Adults, Nutrients, 2022, 14 (24), pp. 5287

Collections