Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
Sweet broom is a small weedy plant used as a bush tea in the Caribbean. Its botanical name is Scoparia dulcis. Jamaicans call it licorice weed; in the Dominican Republic it is escobilla dulce.
The plant grows by roadsides and in yards across the tropics. People boil the leaves and stems in water. The tea tastes faintly sweet, which is how it got its name.
Here is the honest verdict. Human evidence is very thin, and no good trials in people were found. Nearly all the research is in rats, mice and cell dishes.
Long folk use tells you a plant is familiar. It does not prove that the plant works, and it does not prove the plant is safe. Both points are worth holding onto as you read on.
No one has shown how sweet broom acts in the human body. What follows comes from lab and animal work only.
In rats and mice, extracts of the plant lowered blood sugar. Some animal studies suggest it helps the pancreas release more insulin. Others point to better uptake of sugar by muscle.
In cell studies, compounds from the plant appear to damp down signals that drive swelling and pain. In test tubes, some extracts slow the growth of certain bacteria and viruses. Whether any of this happens in a person who drinks the tea is unknown.
One compound, coixol, calmed and relaxed animals in lab tests. That may explain why some people report feeling sleepy. It has not been measured in people.
Treat every line above as a lead, not a finding. Animal results often fail to repeat in humans.
Sweet broom is most often used as a simple tea. The plant is also sold in these forms:
- Fresh or dried whole herb, loose in markets. - Tea bags of the cut, dried plant. - Capsules or tablets of powdered leaf.
Two more forms turn up less often:
- Liquid tinctures in alcohol or glycerine. - A part-ingredient in mixed Caribbean bush tea blends and bitters.
Labels rarely state how much active matter is present. Some blends do not list every herb. If a product does not name its contents clearly, that is a reason to skip it.
Caribbean folk healers have used sweet broom for well over a century. It appears in Jamaican and Dominican home remedy lists as a cooling tea.
It was given for fevers, colds and coughs. It was also taken for stomach upset, for "sugar" (diabetes), and for aches. Crushed leaves were laid on bites, sores and swollen skin.
The plant spread with trade and now grows in Asia and South America. Indian, Brazilian and Taiwanese folk medicine took it up for similar reasons. Historic use is recorded here as history, not as advice to try it.
Stop taking it and call a doctor the same day if you notice:
- Shaking, sweating, a racing heart or confusion, which can mean low blood sugar. - Fainting, or dizziness that does not pass when you sit down. - Yellow skin or eyes, dark urine, or pain in the upper right belly. - A rash, itching or swelling after you take it.
Call emergency services if you have swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, or trouble breathing. Those are signs of a severe allergic reaction.
Also see your doctor if your blood sugar readings change after you start it, or if a fever lasts more than three days.
In the United States, sweet broom is sold as a dietary supplement. It is not approved there to treat or prevent any disease.
In the UK and the EU it is not a licensed medicine. Across the Caribbean it is an ordinary market herb, sold loose and unregulated.
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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