Banaba Leaf
A Philippine tree leaf that carries corosolic acid.
- On the label as
- Banaba (Lagerstroemia speciosa) leaf
- Position
- 4 of 14, heaviest first
- Botanical or chemical name
- Lagerstroemia speciosa
- Part used
- Leaf
- Where it comes from
- The Philippines, southern India and southeast Asia
- Human evidence for glucose
- Moderate — Human trials exist and agree in direction, but are small, short or unevenly run.
- Amount in GlycoAid
- Not disclosed; part of one 500 mg blend
Banaba is a purple-flowered tree so ordinary across the Philippines that it grows as street planting. Households there have brewed its leaves as tea for generations, and specifically for complaints that would now be described as blood sugar related.
Corosolic acid is what draws the research interest. Commercial banaba extracts are normally standardised to a stated percentage of it, which puts banaba in the small group of properly specified botanicals on this label.
What the research shows
Not many trials exist, but those that do point the same way. The work most often cited used a corosolic acid preparation at somewhere between 32 and 48 mg daily and recorded glucose reductions across a few weeks.
The proposed route is transporter activity: corosolic acid seems to encourage GLUT4 to move to the cell surface, which is roughly the job insulin does in getting glucose into muscle. What the evidence lacks is volume. Add every banaba study together and the total number of participants stays small, with little independent replication.
Evidence grade: Moderate
Human trials exist and agree in direction, but are small, short or unevenly run.
What that means inside GlycoAid
Fourth on the list. Because the doses used in studies are small in absolute terms, banaba is in principle better suited to a blend than an ingredient that needs grams. Without a published share or a standardisation figure, that stays a principle.
Everything above describes banaba leaf as a named substance at doses used in published work. It does not describe GlycoAid, which declares one combined 500 mg covering all fourteen ingredients and publishes no individual amount.
Cautions and interactions
- It can add to the effect of glucose-lowering medication.
- A single case report linked a corosolic acid product taken with a diuretic to kidney injury.
- No safety data exists for pregnancy or breastfeeding, so it is not recommended.
- Discontinue before planned surgery.
Questions About Banaba Leaf
Three that come in most often about this ingredient.
What exactly is corosolic acid?
A compound found in banaba leaf, and the marker most extracts are standardised against.
Is the banaba here standardised?
The label gives no extract ratio and no percentage, only the leaf.
How good is the evidence?
Consistent in direction but thin in volume and short in duration.
Other Ingredients In The Blend
The label lists ingredients heaviest first, so position is the only quantitative information it carries.
See all fourteen ingredients · About the product · Safety information
GlycoAid Contains Banaba Leaf
Alongside thirteen other ingredients inside one 500 mg blend, taken as a single capsule a day.
- 14 ingredients in one 500 mg blend
- 30 capsules a bottle, one a day
- 60-day money-back guarantee from the charge date
- $49 a bottle on six with free US shipping
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