Senna Leaves

What Is Senna Leaf?

Senna is a low shrub in the pea family, Cassia angustifolia, grown mostly in southern India and Pakistan. Its leaves are compound: several pairs of narrow leaflets on one stalk. The leaflets are dried, milled and encapsulated here as certified organic senna leaf, 470 mg per serving.

How It Works in the Body

Senna leaf is defined by its sennosides, A through D — dianthrone glycosides, meaning two linked ring systems with sugar units attached. The sugars make them water-soluble and stable, so they travel through the small intestine largely intact and reach the lower intestine, where resident bacteria take the sugars off.

Senna came into European herbal practice through Arab physicians, who wrote about both the leaf and the pod. This capsule is the whole dried leaf, not a standardized extract.

What It Supports

• Organic whole leaf: The capsule holds milled senna leaflets, not an isolated or standardized extract.
• Sennoside content: Sennosides A through D are the leaf's signature compounds, concentrated in the leaflets and pods.
• Supports regularity: Senna is one of the older botanicals in continuous herbal use, and it supports regularity.
• A single ingredient: One plant and one plant part, with nothing else active in the capsule.

Who It May Suit

People who prefer a single traditional botanical to a blend, and who want the organic whole leaf rather than an extract standardized to one compound. The capsule is hypromellose and the other two ingredients are plant-derived, so it fits vegetarian and vegan eating.

Good To Know

Because this is milled leaf rather than an extract, sennoside content varies with the harvest. Senna is meant for short-term rather than ongoing daily use. Talk with your healthcare provider before use — and especially if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, if you take digoxin or a diuretic, since senna can affect your potassium, or if you have a gut condition your provider is managing.