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.