What is banaba, and can it help my diabetes?
Banaba is a leaf extract from a crepe myrtle species found in the Philippines and Southeast Asia. This product may help promote glucose uptake and produce insulin-like effects. It has been studied in rodents, but a small study in patients with type 2 diabetes found that a soft-gel formulation of the extract, called Glucosol (now called GlucoTrim), lowered glucose. There are no serious side effects associated with the use of banaba, but hypoglycemia may occur, and the patient’s dose of diabetes medications may have to be lowered. There is limited information regarding the use of this product, so it is not recommended at this time.
