Breadfruit leaves good for the heart and kidneys

Breadfruit leaves good for the heart and kidneys

Ridlo Aryanto, Contributor, The Jakarta Post

Few people are aware that breadfruit leaves are good for heart
failure. Usually, breadfruit is fried for snacks or mixed into
kolak pisang, a sweet compote made of bananas stewed in coconut
milk and sugar.

Susilowati, 70, who works at a school library in Magelang
began to suffer from chest pains and had difficulty breathing in
October 1999.

"When the pain came, I just drank three glasses of warm water
and went to sleep. However, over time, this plain water treatment
no longer worked," she said.

One morning in October 2000, she fainted and had to be treated
at Sardjito General Hospital, Yogyakarta. The diagnosis made by
her doctor was that her heart valves did not function well. The
valves did not close fully, causing the blood to be pumped into
the lungs sporadically, therefore posing a threat to her kidneys.

"It felt painful when urinating," she said. As it was
expensive to stay in hospital, she left after being treated there
for two weeks, preferring to be an outpatient.

After she stayed at home for a week, one of her old friends,
Kusdiyati, a herbalist at Magelang General Hospital, suggested
that she drink the water taken from boiling breadfruit leaves.

"Add a leaf to five glasses of water and then boil it so that
only one glass of water is left. Drink this water before you go
to sleep, God willing, your condition will improve," she quoted
her old friend as saying.

After drinking this water for two weeks, she felt better and
could urinate without problems. After several months, she felt
that she had been cured of heart failure.

To ensure that her heart trouble had gone, in October 2001,
she met her doctor at Sardjito General Hospital. She was relieved
to be told that her heart was in a normal condition again.

"I stopped drinking this water three months ago. By then I had
started working again as I felt really healthy. I take public
transport from my house to work now," she said.

Meanwhile, head of the traditional medicine clinic at Bethesda
Hospital in Yogyakarta, R. Broto Sudibyo, confided that he had
heard similar stories from other people, including his own
patients.

"Breadfruit leaves contain a substance that has a diuretic
effect. It causes urine to pass without obstruction and rids
blood of the impurities that cause it to clog up arteries," he
said.

He said that a patient with heart failure, coronary trouble or
kidney failure could regularly drink the water taken from boiled
breadfruit leaves but that they should first have themselves
properly diagnosed by their doctor.

"It is enough for them to boil a leaf in five glasses of
water. Keep it boiled until one glass of water is left. A larger
quantity is not recommended because breadfruit leaves also
contain acetycholine and hydrocyanic acid, which are both toxic
substances, unless boiled. That's why it is not recommended to
eat the leaves raw," he said.

Although herbalists recommend water taken from boiling
breadfruit leaves to patients with heart or kidney failure, Dr
Suwijio Pramono, a specialist at the School of Pharmacy, Gadjah
Mada University, said that the effectiveness of breadfruit leaves
as a cure for heart failure remained a mystery to him.

"I'm not sure that the free flow of blood to the heart and
free passage of urine are attributable to the zantorisal compound
found in breadfruit leaves. I believe there are other compounds
or substances whose medicinal property is yet to be clinically
found in breadfruit leaves," he said.

"What I know is that beside zantorisil, breadfruit leaves
contain tannin and riboflavin, which are both common vitamins.
The leaves contain other substances like hydrocyanic acid that
are toxic. All these compounds do not have a diuretic effect.
Potassium and flavonoid have this effect. I haven't checked
whether breadfruit leaves contain these two substances. Of
course, a lab test will be necessary. And remember, that the
toxic substances in breadfruit leaves will disappear if properly
boiled," he said.

Naturally, progress will be made when you experiment. In the
case of breadfruit leaves, although the effectiveness to cure
heart failure or kidney failure has been witnessed, it cannot be
clinically proven unless a lab test is conducted.

Breadfruit is nice to eat and the leaves have some medicinal
properties. According to R. Broto Sudibyo of the traditional
medicine clinic at Bethesda Hospital, Yogyakarta, a number of
hepatitis patients have been cured after drinking the water taken
from boiling breadfruit leaves.

Other uses of these leaves according to Broto are as follows:

* For a patient suffering from liver disease, squash or
pulverize two breadfruit leaves and then apply externally to the
waist.

* To free the urinary tract from obstruction, boil one
breadfruit leaf in five glasses of water until only one glass of
water is left. Drink this water before going to sleep.

* For a swollen spleen, squash or pulverize the leaves and
then apply them externally on the affected part.

* To alleviate fever, squash the leaves and apply them firmly
to the forehead and arms.