Does AP cause a dulling of sensitivity to insulin?
Would I need to watch my carbs after 30 days on AP to avoid any unwanted fat gains?
(lol- I already signed up for the newsletter... should I do it again?)
Ah,.. ok, here's a little something as to the HOW
Lagerstroemia Speciosa
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Other names:
Banaba,Queen's Crape Myrtle,
Queen's flower
Botany:
A decidious tropical flowering tree, 5 to 7 m high, sometimes growing to a height of 20 meters. Leaves, large, spatulate, 2-4 inches in width, 5-8 inches in length; shedding its leaves the first months of the year. Before shedding, the leaves are bright orange or red during which time it is thought to contain higher levels of corosolic acid).Flowers are racemes, pink to lavender; flowering from March to June. After flowering, the tree bears large clumps of oval nutlike fruits.
Supplement
Banaba Leaf
Description
Banaba is a medicinal plant that grows in India, Southeast Asia and the Philippines. Traditional uses include brewing tea from the leaves as a treatment for diabetes and hyperglycemia (elevated blood sugar). The hypoglycemic (blood sugar lowering) effect of banaba leaf extract is similar to that of insulin — which induces glucose transport from the blood into body cells.
Claims
Balances blood sugar
Promotes healthy insulin levels
Controls appetite and food craving (especially carbohydrate cravings)
May promote weight loss
Theory
Banaba leaf extract contains a triterpenoid compound known as corosolic acid — which has actions in stimulating glucose transport into cells. As such, banaba plays a role in regulating levels of blood sugar and insulin in the blood. For some people, fluctuations in blood sugar and insulin are related to appetite, hunger and various food cravings — particularly craving for carbohydrates such as bread and sweets. By keeping blood sugar and insulin levels in check, banaba may be an effective supplement for promoting weight loss in certain individuals.
The blood sugar regulating properties of banaba have been demonstrated in cell culture, animal and human studies. In isolated cells, the active ingredient in banaba extract, corosolic acid, is known to stimulate glucose uptake. In diabetic mice, rats and rabbits, banaba feeding reduces elevated blood sugar and insulin levels to normal. In humans with type II diabetes, banaba extract, at a dose of 16-48mg per day for 4-8 weeks, has been shown to be effective in reducing blood sugar levels (5%-30% reduction) and maintaining tighter control of blood sugar fluctuations. An interesting “side-effect” of tighter control of blood sugar and insulin levels is a significant tendency of banaba to promote weight loss (an average of 2-4 lbs. per month) — without significant dietary alterations. It is likely that modulation of glucose and insulin levels reduces total caloric intake somewhat and encourages moderate weight loss.
Numerous studies have been done on this remarkable herb, much of it in Japan, with researchers such as Dr. Yamazaki, professor of Pharmaceutical Science, Hiroshima University School of Medicine. One study mixed banaba dried leaf powder with chicken feeds, and then analyzed the yolk of the chicken egg. When the banaba enriched egg yolk was fed to diabetic mice, their blood sugar level was normalized. In another study, the alcohol extract of banaba leaves was sprayed into the air of a room at night while the patient was sleeping via a mist generating device. It was found that as the person slept, their lungs received trace amounts of corosolic acid which helped regulate blood sugar levels.
Following the studies done by the Japanese which isolated corosolic acid as the active component, other studies followed. In 1999 a clinical study was conducted on diabetes patients by Dr. William V. Judy at the Southwestern Institute of Biomedical Research, Brandenton, Florida, which found that corosolic acid universally lowered blood sugar levels of all patients. The higher the dosage of corosolic acid, the lower blood sugar levels dropped.
However, more recent studies have shown that the entire herb is useful in lowering blood sugar, and that corosolic acid is probably not the only active ingredient in banaba leaves. A study published in 2001 by Edison Biotechnology Institute, Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine, in Athens, Ohio compared a whole leaf extract of banaba with insulin in cell cultures. They concluded that the whole herb had a glucose lowering effect and could be used to fight diabetes and obesity. A study reported in the Feb. 2002 volume of Planta Med stated that corosolic acid alone could not account for the glucose transport effect of banaba extracts, and identified at least three active components. (Go here to see details of these studies.)
Because of the way banaba helps the body to handle glucose (glucose transport activator) it is also used effectively in weight-loss products. Supplementwatch.com says: "An interesting 'side-effect' of tighter control of blood sugar and insulin levels is a significant tendency of banaba to promote weight loss – without significant dietary alterations. It is likely that modulation of glucose and insulin levels reduces total caloric intake somewhat and encourages moderate weight loss."
