Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
Stone breaker is a small weedy herb taken as a tea or capsule, mostly for kidney stones, liver complaints and fevers. The plant is Phyllanthus amarus. In Yoruba it is known as eyin olobe.
It grows ankle-high, with tiny oval leaves. Little green seed capsules sit in a row under each stem. That look gave the plant its other common names, such as seed-under-leaf and gale of the wind.
Close relatives, above all Phyllanthus niruri, are sold under the very same names. Many products mix the two. Much of the research people quote was done on niruri, not amarus.
Long use in a tradition is not proof that a remedy works, and it is not proof that it is safe. Here is the honest verdict. Human trials exist, but they are few, small and mixed, so no use is settled.
Nobody has shown how stone breaker acts in the human body.
In test tubes and in animals, extracts appear to slow the growth of calcium oxalate crystals. Those crystals are the building blocks of most kidney stones. Whether this happens in a person's kidney is not established.
Cell studies also suggest the plant can block part of the hepatitis B virus life cycle. Animal work points to a mild fall in blood sugar and blood pressure. Human results have not matched that in a reliable way.
Lab tests find tannins and lignans that lower inflammation markers. That is a dish-and-animal finding. It does not tell you what the tea will do for you.
You will meet stone breaker in a few plain herb forms.
- Dried whole herb, loose or in tea bags, brewed as a tea or boiled as a decoction. - Fresh plant, boiled at home, which is the common West African market form. - Capsules and tablets of powdered herb.
Other products are liquid or concentrated.
- Liquid tinctures and glycerites. - Extracts said to be standardised to phyllanthin.
Check the Latin name on the label. Many products marked "chanca piedra" hold Phyllanthus niruri, not amarus.
Some blends hold several Phyllanthus species at once.
Healers in West Africa used stone breaker for gravel and stones in the urine, for jaundice, and for fevers thought to be malaria. The whole plant was boiled and drunk.
It also held a place in other systems. In Ayurveda it was called bhumi amla and used for liver and stomach trouble. In the Amazon it was called chanca piedra, which means stone breaker.
The name is a claim, not a finding. Older writers also used the plant for coughs, skin sores and diarrhoea. These uses were recorded well before any trials were run.
Stop and call a doctor if you get a rash, swelling of the lips or face, or trouble breathing.
Get urgent care for severe pain in your side or back with fever, chills or vomiting. That can mean a blocked or infected kidney.
See a doctor quickly for yellow eyes or skin, dark urine, pale stools, or no urine for many hours. Also stop if you feel faint, or get shaky and sweaty, which can signal low blood sugar.
In the United States it is sold as a dietary supplement. It is not approved there to treat or prevent any disease. In the UK and EU it is sold as a food supplement, not a licensed medicine. In parts of West Africa it is sold freely as a market herb.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
What it is typically used for, usual dose, cautions, and the study behind it where real trial data exists.
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