White Mulberry Leaf Extract for Healthy Blood Sugar and More!

By Vera Tweed

Last Updated: November 25, 2024

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Did you know that ancient hunter gatherer societies had almost no diabetes or heart disease? It’s true. They may have been killed by tigers and poisonous snakes, but not by processed carbohydrates and sugary foods.

Mostly they ate fruits, nuts, other plant foods, and fresh meats. One study that examined their diets found that these healthy people ate less than half the carbs and sugars we eat today.^[1] By contrast, carb overload is unprecedented today, and it’s a major driver of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.

So, should you eat like a caveman to stay healthy?

Sure, but hundreds of sweet and satisfying foods tempt us daily and that makes eating healthy difficult. Fortunately, there is something you can take with a meal to help your body control blood sugar. And it’s White Mulberry Leaf Extract.

What Is White Mulberry Leaf Extract?

White mulberry leaf extract is a dietary supplement made from the leaves of the white mulberry tree. The tree is native to China and other Asian countries, and in traditional Asian medicine, the leaves have been a leading treatment for diabetes.

White mulberry leaves are also the staple food of silkworms. And because of that, the tree was brought to America in the 1600s as the start of what some entrepreneurs hoped would become a thriving silk business. An American silk industry never took off but many white mulberry trees were planted around the country, where they continue to grow to this day.^[2]

How White Mulberry Leaf Extract Works

White mulberry leaves contain a wide range of antioxidants, minerals, and other plant compounds that are beneficial for good health. In fact, detailed lab analysis has identified more than 100 substances in the plant.^[3]

Lab studies show the combination of these natural plant chemicals help to prevent diabetes and its complications. They also reduce harmful cholesterol and make it easier to lose weight. Finally, they reduce inflammation and even protect organs.^{[4] [5] [6]}

For many people today, one of the most important benefits is that white mulberry leaf extract reduces spikes in blood sugar after eating carbohydrate foods. This is a vital first step in preventing diabetes, and even in reversing the disease. Other human research has found that white mulberry leaf extract lowers cholesterol and triglycerides, which reduces risk for heart disease.

Other human research has found that white mulberry leaf extract lowers cholesterol and triglycerides, which reduces risk for heart disease.

5 Important Health Benefits of White Mulberry Leaf Extract

Here are five ways in which white mulberry leaf extract enhances health and helps to prevent the most common conditions that can rob you of life’s joys:

1. Making it Easier to Follow a Healthy Diet

We all know that we should be eating a healthy diet, but this is easier said than done. Convenient snacks, fast food, addictive sweets, and packaged foods are hard to resist.

Unfortunately, these popular foods are typically high in processed carbohydrates. Think pizza with extra garlic bread, a burger or sandwich on a big bun with fries, and all kinds of cookies and cakes, plus sodas loaded with sugar.

When you eat carbs, it’s normal for blood sugar to temporarily rise and then drop as carbs are digested. But when you eat too many carbs, that process goes haywire, with blood sugar spiking too high, and then crashing too low. This is particularly pronounced in processed foods with added sugar.

You might get a burst of energy at first, but then as the blood sugar crashes fatigue sets in. And that causes cravings for more high-carb or sugary foods.

If you think about it -- who can eat just one potato or corn chip? One cookie? Or one piece of candy? And so starts a cycle of chronically elevated blood sugar, weight gain, and eventually diabetes and its complications.

Of course, eating good food is important, but we modern humans need help. And that’s where white mulberry leaf extract comes in.

White mulberry leaf extract has the unique ability to reduce the harmful impact of carbs and sugar. It helps to break the vicious cycle of blood-sugar spikes and crashes. And it reverses the harmful process of blood sugar spikes and insulin resistance that leads to diabetes.

One study of 15 healthy people tested the effects of drinks made with water and different sugars that are added to many foods and drinks. When study subjects took a white mulberry leaf extract supplement with the drink, the rise in blood sugar was reduced by between 8 and 53 percent, depending on the type of sugar. ^[7]

How White Mulberry Leaf Extract Lowers Blood Sugar

Among the many substances in white mulberry leaves, one is especially good at controlling blood sugar. The full name of this beneficial compound is a mouthful — 1-deoxynojirimycin -- so let’s call it DNJ for short

DNJ stops some of the carbs you eat from being broken down and digested. It’s as though you ate fewer starchy foods and sugars, resulting in less impact on your blood sugar.

While this may sound too good to be true, it isn’t. The mechanism has been thoroughly documented by many lab, animal, and human studies. In fact, scientists have described in detail how it works.^[8]

When we eat any type of food, various enzymes are secreted to break it down, so that the nutrients and calories can be absorbed. Different enzymes break down proteins, fats, starches, and sugars.

The DNJ in white mulberry leaves inhibits key enzymes that break down starch and sugar. As a result, some of the starches and sugars are not absorbed and are excreted instead. It’s almost as if you didn’t eat them. This gives you some leeway in your diet, especially when you crave foods like pizza or ice cream.

2. Preventing Diabetes

More than 1 in 3 American adults have prediabetes, meaning blood sugar that is elevated but not high enough to be classified as type 2 diabetes. Prediabetes puts people at high risk for developing diabetes within the next 5 years. Sadly, most prediabetics are not aware of their condition,^[9] but white mulberry leaf extract can help mitigate this problem.

A review of human trials with several hundred people found that white mulberry leaf extract significantly reduced spikes in blood sugar after high-carb foods or drinks. In 60-to-90 minutes after eating, the rise in blood sugar was less than half the usual rise.^[10]

Yes, less than half. As you might imagine, that is an important step in preventing disease.

Chronically high blood sugar can lead to diabetes and heart disease. But when people with prediabetes took the white mulberry extract with meals for at least 4 weeks. chronic blood-sugar levels were reduced. ^[11]

3. Helping Type 2 Diabetics

For people living with type 2 diabetes, reducing blood-sugar spikes and crashes helps to prevent complications of the disease. This can be difficult to do, even with medications, but white mulberry leaf extract helps to keep blood sugar more stable.

One study tested the supplement among veterans with type 2 diabetes who were also taking one or more oral diabetes drugs (not insulin). Researchers found that taking 1,000 mg of white mulberry leaf extract with a drink of pure sugar significantly reduced blood sugar spikes and crashes more than drugs alone. ^[12]

Another study of type 2 diabetics tested 1,000 mg of white mulberry leaf extract, taken with each meal for 3 months. In addition to reducing blood-sugar spikes, the longer-term effect was lower levels of blood sugar — lower than with diabetes drugs alone.

Researchers concluded that for type 2 diabetics, “mulberry leaf extract may be a useful complementary mealtime glucose option.”^[13] In plain language, that means it can help you better maintain healthy blood sugar levels.

4. Promoting Weight Loss

In a weight-loss study of 46 people that tested white mulberry leaf extract against a placebo, researchers found that the extract increased weight loss. For 3 months, everyone ate a low-calorie diet — 1,300 calories daily. Half the dieters took 800 mg of white mulberry leaf extract with each meal while the other half took dummy pills.

At the end of 3 months, people who took the extract lost an average of 10 percent of their starting weight, while those taking the dummy pill lost only 3 percent. Yet they all ate the same diet!^[14]

This study found that as well as reducing spikes in blood sugar, the extract lowered levels of insulin, and this played an important role in increasing weight loss. Insulin promotes fat storage so when insulin levels are lower, it’s easier to lose body fat — and you’re less likely to gain weight.

5. Improving Heart Health

Researchers know that elevated cholesterol and triglycerides can damage arteries and lead to heart disease. And a healthy diet and lifestyle aren’t always enough to correct the situation. Fortunately, a combination of plant substances in white mulberry leaf extract work together to reduce these risk factors. ^[15]

Here’s proof…

One study tested the extract on 23 people who were not diabetic but had mildly elevated cholesterol and triglycerides. They were not taking any medications but had tried to lower their blood fats with diet — and failed.

In the study, they took 280 mg of white mulberry leaf extract with each meal for 12 weeks and at the end of that time, they achieved significant improvements. Total cholesterol dropped by 4.9 percent. “Bad” LDL cholesterol dropped by 5.6 percent. Triglycerides dropped by 14.1 percent. And “good” HDL cholesterol rose by 19.7 percent.

Researchers concluded that the supplement was “capable and safe in reducing cholesterol levels and enhancing HDL in patients with mild dyslipidemia.”^[16] An important finding, since uncorrected dyslipidemia is known to promote heart disease.

Another study compared the effects of white mulberry leaf extract and a diabetes drug (glibenclamide) in 24 type 2 diabetics. Half took the drug and half took the mulberry leaf extract.

At the end of 30 days, the extract was more effective than the drug in lowering blood sugar. And when it came to cholesterol, the extract was much more beneficial.

White mulberry leaf extract lowered total cholesterol by 12 percent and “bad” LDL cholesterol by 23 percent, and it increased “good” HDL cholesterol by 18 percent. By contrast, the drug did not significantly improve any of these.

The mulberry extract also came out on top when it came to triglycerides, lowering them by 16 percent. By comparison, the drug lowered triglycerides by only 10 percent. ^[17]

White mulberry leaf extract may be an impactful supplement for those concerned about heart health, as it helps maintain healthy levels of blood sugar, cholesterol, and triglycerides.

Can You Get White Mulberry Leaf Extract from Food?

In a word, no. Mulberries are nutritious and delicious fruits that can be eaten raw or used to make preserves or pie filling. But they don’t provide the same combination of therapeutic ingredients found in the leaves.

White mulberry leaves can be made into a tea, and you can buy the tea in tea bags or as loose tea leaves, but the beneficial components are not nearly as concentrated as in white mulberry leaf extract supplements.

Analysis of the white mulberry leaves shows that the amount of DNJ, the key ingredient for lowering blood sugar, is as little as 0.1 percent in the leaves. That’s one-tenth of one percent — a tiny fraction!^[18]

You may enjoy sipping mulberry tea. But it won’t produce the results found in studies of white mulberry leaf extract supplements.

How Much White Mulberry Leaf Extract Should I Take?

White mulberry leaf extract is taken with or just before each meal, 3 times per day. The idea is to have the supplement in your digestive system when you eat carbs or drink a sugary beverage.

In studies, dosages with each meal have varied from 280 mg to lower cholesterol and 800 mg for weight loss to 1,000 mg to lower blood sugar in type 2 diabetics. For many people, a medium dose around 400 mg per meal can work well.

Does White Mulberry Leaf Extract Have Side Effects or Risks?

Studies have not found any risks in taking white mulberry leaf extract and most often, side effects have not been a problem. However, there have been some reports of bloating, gas, and loose stools with high doses. ^[19]

The Bottom Line

White mulberry leaf extract is not a substitute for a healthy diet, but studies show it can help reduce the harmful effects of eating too many carbs and sugars. And that can go a long way toward improving your health and preventing disease.

References

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12. Mudra, M., et al. “Influence of mulberry leaf extract on the blood glucose and breath hydrogen response to ingestion of 75 g sucrose by type 2 diabetic and control subjects. Diabetes Care." 2007 May;30(5):1272-4.
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14. Da Villa, G., et al. “White mulberry supplementation as adjuvant treatment of obesity." J Biol Regul Homeost Agents. Jan-Mar 2014;28(1):141-5.
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