pedra ume caá
Quick Facts
- What it is: An Amazonian shrub leaf, Myrcia sphaerocarpa, brewed as a tea and sold as "vegetable insulin" for high blood sugar.
- Main uses: Type 2 diabetes (high blood sugar), Blood sugar spikes after meals, Diarrhoea, Mouth rinse for sore gums
- Active ingredients: Myrciacitrins I and II, Myrciaphenones A and B, Tannins, Flavonoids such as myricitrin and quercetin
- Forms: Dried cut leaf for tea, Powdered leaf capsules, Tinctures and liquid extracts, Mixed blood sugar blends
- Time to effect: Unknown, and it may do nothing; the one small trial on a relative saw no change in seven weeks.
- Side effects: Mostly mild stomach upset and dry mouth; the main risk is a dangerous drop in blood sugar when mixed with diabetes drugs.
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What is pedra ume caá?
Pedra ume caá is a leaf tea from the Amazon. The plant is a shrub, Myrcia sphaerocarpa, in the myrtle family. Healers in Brazil and Peru used the dried leaves for high blood sugar.
The name points to alum stone, a sharp, drying mineral. The leaves taste much the same way: sharp and puckery. Sellers often label the product "vegetable insulin".
That nickname is a selling line, not a fact. The plant is not insulin. It cannot take the place of insulin or of your diabetes tablets.
Here is the honest verdict. Test tube and animal work on this plant group looks interesting. The one small human trial, run on a close relative, found no drop in blood sugar.
Long use in a tradition is worth noting. It is not proof that a plant works, and it is not proof that it is safe.
How does pedra ume caá work?
The short answer: the proposed way it works has been studied in test tubes and animals, not in people.
In test tubes, compounds from Myrcia leaves slow alpha-glucosidase. That is a gut enzyme that breaks starch down into sugar. Slowing it could, in theory, blunt the rise in blood sugar after a meal.
The same extracts also slow aldose reductase in lab tests. That enzyme is linked to nerve and eye damage in long-term diabetes. Whether blocking it helps a person is not settled.
In animal studies, some Myrcia extracts lowered blood sugar. Others did not. Results shifted with the species, the dose and how the extract was made.
The leaves are also high in tannins, which are drying compounds. Tannins can bind proteins and starch in the gut. That is a known lab effect, not a measured benefit in people.
None of this has been shown to happen in your body. A plant can act on an enzyme in a dish and do nothing useful in a person.
What forms does pedra ume caá come in?
Dried cut leaf, brewed as a tea, is the main form.
Other forms you may see on a shelf:
- Capsules or tablets of powdered leaf.
- Liquid extracts and tinctures made with alcohol.
- Mixed "blood sugar" blends that add pata de vaca, carqueja or cinnamon.
Blends are the hardest to judge. You cannot tell which plant is doing anything, or how much of each you are getting.
Names on packets vary. You may see pedra hume caa, insulina vegetal, or the botanical names Myrcia salicifolia and Myrcia multiflora. Some stock is a different Myrcia species than the label claims.
Where it comes from:
Pedra ume caá belongs to the folk medicine of the Amazon basin.
Indigenous peoples and river communities in Brazil brewed the dried leaves. They drank the tea for sugar in the urine, the old sign of diabetes.
Healers also used it as a mouth rinse and for loose bowels. Some used it as a wash for sore eyes. The astringent, drying taste shaped most of these uses.
Brazilian herbal books of the 1900s listed it among the diabetes plants. From there it reached shops in Europe and North America under the name "vegetable insulin".
These records describe what healers did and what they believed. They were never set up as trials.
Who should avoid pedra ume caá?
- Never use this instead of insulin if you have type 1 diabetes. Stopping insulin can be fatal.
- Do not lower, skip or stop any diabetes medicine in order to try this tea.
- Do not use it if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, as it has not been studied in either case.
- Do not give it to children.
- Do not use it if you take insulin, glipizide, glibenclamide, gliclazide or repaglinide without your doctor's agreement and closer blood sugar checks.
- Avoid it for at least two weeks before planned surgery, because it may affect blood sugar control.
- Do not use it if you have liver or kidney disease unless your doctor has reviewed it.
- Do not use it if you have had an allergic reaction to myrtle family plants such as clove, guava or eucalyptus.
- Avoid stacking it with other blood sugar herbs such as fenugreek, bitter melon or gymnema.
When should you see a doctor?
Treat a suspected low blood sugar at once with fast sugar, then call your doctor.
Get urgent medical help if you have:
- Shaking, sweating, confusion or faintness, which can mean low blood sugar.
- Heavy thirst, lots of urine, deep fast breathing or fruity breath. These can mean very high blood sugar and need emergency care.
- Swelling of the lips, face or throat, or trouble breathing.
Stop the tea and speak to your doctor if you get:
- Ongoing nausea, stomach pain or constipation.
- A rash or itching.
- Blood sugar readings that swing more than usual.
Is pedra ume caá legal where you live?
In the United States it is sold as a dietary supplement and is not approved to treat or prevent any disease. In the United Kingdom and the European Union it is sold as a herbal tea or food supplement, with no licensed medicine status. In Brazil it is traded as a common herbal product.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
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