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Terminalia bellirica is a hardwood tree found in tropical areas such as India and Asian countries. Its fruit is a component of "triphala" in Ayurveda, the Indian traditional medicine system. T. bellirica extract is an aqueous extract of fruit of T. bellirica. It has been reported that T. bellirica extract suppresses the postprandial elevation of triglyceride and glucose concentration of blood; this suppression was mediated through the inhibition of pancreatic lipase and alpha-glucosidase; the presence of gallic acid in T. bellirica extract was suggested to be responsible for lipase inhibition. In this report, we focused on gallic acid and investigated its involvement in the suppression of the postprandial elevation of triglyceride and glucose concentration of blood. Our in vitro tests with T. bellirica extract and its components demonstrated that the contribution of gallic acid to the inhibition of pancreatic lipase and alpha-glucosidase was almost 100%. In addition, our in vivo tests with T. bellirica extract and gallic acid showed that gallic acid suppressed the elevation of triglyceride concentration of blood and fat absorption to lymph after fat loading, and suppressed the elevation of glucose concentration of blood after sucrose loading, similar to the effects of T. bellirica extract. These results indicated that gallic acid was the substance in T. bellirica extract responsible for the suppression of the postprandial elevation of triglyceride and glucose concentration of blood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]