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Banaba leaf

Supplement botanical general nutrition
Aka: Lagerstroemia speciosa, corosolic acid
Brands seen in Singapore: Paradise Herbs, Swanson Vitamins, NOW Foods, Vitacost
Not medical advice. Check with your doctor or pharmacist before you start, stop or change the timing of anything you take.
How to use
What it’s for
Blood-sugar claims rest on small trials and lab work
Pros & cons
Pros
  • Review: corosolic acid lowered blood sugar in 60 min
  • No adverse effects reported in the trials reviewed
Cons
  • 2026 review: preclinical promise, clinical gap
  • Listed strengths run 1.33 mg to 250 mg a capsule
  • HSA's list is not exhaustive — absence is not clearance
Sources
  1. A review of the efficacy and safety of banaba (Lagerstroemia speciosa L.) and corosolic acid (Stohs et al., Phytother Res 2012) · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “Pure corosolic acid has been reported to decrease blood sugar levels within 60 min in human subjects.”
  2. Stohs et al. 2012 — reported safety · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “No adverse effects have been observed or reported in animal studies or controlled human clinical trials.”
  3. Stohs et al. 2012 — the preparations studied · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “Studies have been conducted in various animal models, human subjects and in vitro systems using water soluble banaba leaf extracts, corosolic acid-standardized extracts, and purified corosolic acid and ellagitannins.”
  4. A review of the pharmacological mechanism of corosolic acid (Xu et al., Front Pharmacol 2026) · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “despite numerous in vitro and animal studies elucidating potential mechanisms … a critical gap exists between this promising preclinical data and robust clinical validation.”
  5. HSA — Guidelines on Prohibited and Restricted Ingredients in Health Supplements and Traditional Medicines, GL-CHPB-1-012 Rev. No. 001 (Oct 2025) — banaba / Lagerstroemia speciosa / corosolic acid not listed in Annex A or B (PDF full text searched) · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “The objective of this guideline is to highlight the substances of concern when used in HS and TM and is not meant to be an exhaustive list.”
  6. iHerb Singapore — Banaba Leaf category page, default (best-selling) order, 6 products listed; no Singapore shipping-restriction notice shown · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “Paradise Herbs, Banaba Leaf Extract, 180 Vegetarian Capsules (250 mg per Capsule) … Swanson Vitamins, Banaba Extract, 90 Capsules (60 mg per Capsule) … NOW Foods, GlucoFit, 60 Softgels (1.33 mg per Softgel) … Vitacost”
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Updated 2026-08-29. Every line above traces to a numbered source. Kozen-X is not a medical device and does not give medical advice. It lists what published sources have written down — nothing more. A pair not listed is unrecorded, not cleared. Before you start, stop or re-time anything, talk to your doctor or pharmacist.