Breadfruit leaf
Quick Facts
- What it is: A Caribbean bush tea made from the leaf of the breadfruit tree.
- Main uses: High blood pressure, High blood sugar, Sleep and nerves, Coughs, Mouth and gum rinse
- Active ingredients: Quercetin, Kaempferol, Geranyl flavonoids, Sitosterol, Tannins
- Forms: Fresh leaf tea, Dried cut leaf, Tea bags, Capsules, Tinctures
- Time to effect: Not established; it may do nothing
- Side effects: Usually mild stomach upset; watch for low blood sugar, dizziness and allergy.
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What is Breadfruit leaf?
Breadfruit leaf is the big, lobed leaf of the breadfruit tree, Artocarpus altilis. In the Caribbean it is boiled fresh or dried to make a bush tea. Haitian Creole speakers call the tree lam veritab; in Jamaica the drink is called breadfruit bush tea.
People drink the tea for high blood pressure, high blood sugar, coughs and poor sleep. The fruit is a well known staple food. The leaf is not a food; it is a home remedy.
Here is the honest verdict. Almost all the research sits in test tubes and rats, and good human trials are missing. Long use in a tradition is not proof that something works, and it is not proof that it is safe.
How does Breadfruit leaf work?
No one has shown how breadfruit leaf works in people. The ideas below come from laboratory and animal work only.
In test tubes, leaf extracts slow enzymes that break starch down into sugar. That could in theory blunt a rise in blood sugar. Whether it does anything in a person drinking tea is unknown.
In test tubes, extracts also slow ACE, an enzyme that helps raise blood pressure. In rats, some leaf extracts lowered blood pressure and blood sugar. The extracts used were strong and measured, unlike a home-brewed cup.
Lab studies also report antioxidant activity, meaning the plant chemicals mop up reactive molecules in a dish. Antioxidant activity in a dish does not predict a health effect in a body.
What forms does Breadfruit leaf come in?
Most people use it as a hot tea made from the leaf.
Forms you may meet: - fresh green leaves, boiled at home - dried cut leaf, sold loose in markets - tea bags from Caribbean brands - dried leaf powder in capsules - liquid extracts and tinctures
The leaf is also used as a mouth rinse and as a wash for the skin in some households.
Most products are not tested for strength or purity. Many labels do not say how much leaf a dose holds.
Where it comes from:
Breadfruit reached the Caribbean from the Pacific in the late 1700s. It was brought in to feed enslaved people on the plantations.
The leaf then entered local bush medicine. Healers in Haiti, Jamaica, Trinidad and the wider islands used the tea for high blood pressure, high blood sugar, coughs and sleep.
The practice passed down through families and market sellers. Doses, limits and side effects were not written down. That gap is why so little is known today about safe use.
Who should avoid Breadfruit leaf?
- Never use breadfruit leaf in place of your prescribed medicine for high blood pressure, diabetes or asthma.
- Do not use it if you are pregnant or trying to get pregnant, because its effects in pregnancy are unknown.
- Do not use it if you are breastfeeding.
- Do not give it to babies or young children.
- Do not use it if you take insulin or diabetes tablets such as metformin or glibenclamide, unless your doctor agrees.
- Do not use it if you take blood pressure tablets, such as lisinopril or amlodipine, unless your doctor agrees.
- Do not use it if you have ever reacted to breadfruit, jackfruit or natural latex.
- Avoid it for two weeks before any planned surgery, and tell your surgeon you have used it.
- Do not use it if you have kidney disease or liver disease, unless a doctor is supervising you.
- Do not keep drinking it if your blood sugar or blood pressure readings start dropping.
When should you see a doctor?
Stop the tea and get urgent help if your lips, tongue or throat swell, or you struggle to breathe. That can be a severe allergic reaction.
Stop and call a doctor the same day if you feel shaky, sweaty or confused, which can mean low blood sugar. Do the same if you faint or feel very dizzy on standing.
See a doctor if your skin or eyes turn yellow, or if stomach upset lasts more than two days. Always see a doctor rather than self-treating a pressure, sugar or asthma problem.
Is Breadfruit leaf legal where you live?
In the United States it is sold as a food or dietary supplement. The FDA has not approved it to treat any condition.
In the UK and the EU it is not an authorised medicine, and health claims on the label are not allowed.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
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