Banaba Leaf: Helps Blood Sugar and Bones while Reducing Inflammation

Banaba leaf (Lagerstroemia speciosa L) comes from a Southeast Asia tree.  The leaves have been used in traditional medicine in the Philippines and India for diabetes and weight management.  The active component in banaba leaf is called corosolic acid.  Scientists at Arkansas State University¹ are now suggesting that this plant-derived corosolic acid is a diabetic drug of the future. 

The use of insulin to help regulate diabetes has a tendency to provoke an undesirable immune response leading to the production of anti-insulin antibodies.  This causes deterioration of the usefulness of insulin to function correctly in metabolism.  Corosolic acid mimics the function of insulin but it does not cause the production of these problematic auto-antibodies.  While human studies still need to be done, animal studies and traditional use support a powerful use of this nutrient in the regulation of blood sugar.

Other research on corosolic acid shows that it may also help bones².  In an animal study it was found to help stimulate the formation of osteoblasts, the important bone-building carpenter cells.  It is becoming more evident with each passing day that bone health and blood sugar metabolism are highly inter-dependent. 

Yet another study shows that corosolic acid can reduce inflammation³ in heart cells, preventing hypertrophy, a common problem in diabetes.  It did so by reducing the powerful inflammatory gene signal, NF-kappaB Protein complex that controls DNA transcription and is involved with cellular responses to stress, cytokines, free radicals, UV radiation, oxidized LDL, and infections. . 
Collectively, these studies show multiple benefits for key issues affecting millions of Americans.