Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
Falso boldo is a soft-leaved garden shrub used as a bitter tea for upset stomach and "liver" complaints. Its botanical name is Plectranthus barbatus. It is also sold as Coleus forskohlii or country boldo.
The name causes real confusion. True boldo is a different plant, Peumus boldus, from Chile. Falso boldo means "false boldo", and markets and labels often mix the two.
The plant is a household fixture in Brazil, where people pick a leaf and steep it after a heavy meal. Dried leaf tea, tinctures and root extract capsules are also sold. The capsules are a different product from the garden tea.
Here is the honest verdict on evidence. Almost all research is on forskolin, one compound drawn from the root, not on the leaf tea. Long use in Latin American homes is not proof that it works, and it is not proof that it is safe.
Most of what is claimed for this plant comes from lab and animal work, not from people drinking the tea.
Forskolin, found mainly in the root, raises cyclic AMP in cells. Cyclic AMP is a chemical messenger that switches cell activity on. This has been shown in test tubes and in animals.
Through that route, forskolin has relaxed blood vessels and airways in lab and animal studies. It has also made the heart beat harder. These same actions are the reason for most of the drug warnings further down this page.
The traditional digestive claim rests on a different idea. The leaves are bitter, and bitter plants are thought to prompt saliva, stomach juice and bile. Animal studies with Plectranthus barbatus extracts do report more bile flow.
In animals, extracts of the leaf have also slowed stomach emptying and eased gut spasm. Whether a cup of the tea does any of this in a person has not been shown.
One point matters for shoppers. The leaf tea holds far less forskolin than a standardised root capsule. Findings from forskolin research cannot be read straight across to the tea.
You will meet it in several forms: - fresh leaf, torn and steeped in hot water at home - dried loose leaf and tea bags - liquid tincture or fluid extract - capsules of root extract, labelled forskolin or Coleus forskohlii - pressed juice of the fresh leaf, a folk preparation
The tea and the capsules are not the same thing. Capsules are concentrated and act more like a drug. Research on asthma and on eye pressure used inhaled or eye-drop forskolin, which are not consumer products.
The plant spread from Africa and India into Latin American gardens and became a kitchen staple in Brazil. There it was known as boldo-da-terra or falso boldo.
Home use was mainly for a heavy stomach, poor digestion and the morning after too much alcohol. Folk healers also linked it to the liver and to bile, a claim common to many bitter plants.
The same species has a long record in Ayurvedic medicine in India, under names such as makandi and pashanabhedi. There it was used for heart and urinary complaints.
In parts of Latin America the leaf was also taken to bring on a late period. That use is one reason pregnancy is a firm no on this page.
Stop and see a doctor if any of these happen: - you feel faint, dizzy or your heart races - stomach pain gets worse or sharper - you notice unusual bruising or bleeding - your skin or eyes turn yellow - a rash, swelling or trouble breathing starts
Also see a doctor if indigestion lasts more than two weeks, or if you lose weight without trying. Those need a proper check, not a tea.
In Brazil the leaf is an ordinary household tea and appears in ANVISA's herbal guidance for traditional use. In the United States it is sold as a dietary supplement, mostly as forskolin capsules, and is not an approved drug. In the United Kingdom and the European Union there is no authorised medicine made from it.
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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