Banaba Leaf News

Banaba is a medicinal plant that grows in India, Southeast Asia and the Philippines, usually used for blood sugar control. The major effect banaba leaf extract has proved to have is similar to that of insulin –which induces glucose transport from the blood into body cells. In the case of banaba leaf, this process is mainly caused by the content of corosolic acid. So that similarity means banaba leaf properties are obviously useful in the treatment for diabetes and hyperglycemia.

However, this blood sugar control can also produce some benefits in other fields apart from blood diseases. In fact, after many researches an interesting “side effect” was discovered.

Fat loss action
Theory affirms the tighter control of blood sugar and insulin levels banaba promotes can produce fat loss as a consequence. In fact it is thought in some individuals, fluctuations in blood sugar and insulin are related to appetite, hunger and various food cravings, particularly for those related to carbohydrates. When an excess amount of carbohydrates are consumed, the body, which automatically breaks them down into glucose, may reach its limit and run out of space to store it. So the excess glucose is then converted and stored as fat, leading to weight gain. So, apparently, when a modulation of glucose and insulin levels occurs, total caloric intake can be reduced, encouraging moderate fat loss.

In order to prove the veracity of this hypothesis, a scientific studied has been made at the Central Research Institute, in Shizuoka, Japan.

Female mice of the same strain showing remarkable body weight gain were used to examine the antiobesity effect of dietary banaba extract. Five-week-old female mice were fed a control diet or test diet containing 5% of a hot-water extract from banaba leaves instead of cellulose for 12 wk., and neither group showed any changes in diet intake during the experimental period.

In the banaba diet group, body weight gain and by the other, while parametrial adipose tissue weight were lowered significantly. Although blood glucose levels were not suppressed in the banaba diet group, hemoglobin A1C was, at the end of the experiment. No effects on the serum lipids were observed, but the mice fed banaba extract showed a significant decrease, to 65% of the control level in total hepatic lipid contents. This decrease was due to a reduction in the accumulation of triglyceride.

So these results shows banaba had a beneficial effect on these obese female mice, which gives hopeful perspectives of finally confirming the hypothesis explained previously, in obese humans. Besides, according to many physicians, since the majority of diabetic medication on the market is “glucose-lowering and weight-gain promoting”, the use of this natural medication may provide a reliable alternative to treating diabetes and diabetes-related concerns without fat gaining at all.

In conclusion, the three proved major benefits are:

• Blood sugar balance.
• Healthy insulin levels promotion.
• Appetite and food craving control.

When doses of banaba extract in the range of 16-48mg per day have to be consumed, usually they are divided with meals, which makes them more effective in reducing blood glucose and insulin levels.

Crushed banaba leaves can be ingested as an herbal tea or as a pure compound isolated from the leaves. This form is available in soft gelatin capsules, tablets and two-piece hard shell capsules.

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