Leaf of Life Evidence & Safety Explorer

Read the labels narrowly

An evidence band applies only to the named use and preparation—not to every claim made for the plant. “Indication-specific” still means formulation-specific evidence with limitations, not proof that a plant treats disease broadly.

This is an educational comparison, not dosing, diagnosis or treatment guidance. Plant identity, plant part, extraction method and medicine interactions can change both effect and risk.

Australia watch

Leaf of Life can escape cultivation. Brisbane City Council lists Bryophyllum pinnatum as pest vegetation and an environmental weed in Queensland and New South Wales. Check local rules and prevent plantlets from spreading. See the council weed profile.

Lookup table

Compare plants

Search any word, combine filters, or select a column heading to sort. “High caution” flags a serious toxicology concern, an unsafe route, or a major safety gap—it is not a dose calculation.

16 of 16 plants shown Horizontal scroll reveals every field on small screens.

Evidence and safety comparison for Leaf of Life and 15 other wellness plants
				Evidence snapshot		Source
Leaf of LifeKalanchoe pinnata (syn. Bryophyllum pinnatum)Focus plant	Respiratory, wound/skin and digestive folk uses	Multiple	Traditional / preclinical	Ethnomedicinal use is broad, but most pharmacology remains laboratory, animal or small-study evidence. No standardized clinical dose is established.	High Contains bufadienolides with cardioactive and toxic potential. Avoid unsupervised internal use, especially in pregnancy or with heart medicines.	Review
Aloe veraAloe vera	Topical burns and selected skin conditions	Multiple	Indication-specific human	Topical gel may speed burn healing and reduce pain. Evidence for many promoted oral uses is insufficient.	High Oral latex can cause cramps and diarrhoea; non-decolorized whole-leaf extract has additional safety concerns. Oral use may be unsafe in pregnancy.	NCCIH
MoringaMoringa oleifera	Nutrition and metabolic markers	Oral	Limited / mixed human	The leaves are nutrient-rich food. Small, heterogeneous trials report metabolic effects, but recent pooled evidence found little effect for most outcomes.	Moderate Supplement composition and plant part vary. Clinical dosing and pregnancy safety are not well established; check for medicine interactions.	Meta-analysis
Soursop leafAnnona muricata	Traditional tea and oncology claims	Oral	Traditional / preclinical	Anticancer and other activity is mostly preclinical. Sparse human studies do not establish soursop as a cancer treatment.	High Acetogenins, including annonacin, raise neurotoxicity concerns. Do not self-treat cancer or combine it with therapy without oncology advice.	Safety review
GingerZingiber officinale	Pregnancy-related nausea and menstrual cramps	Oral	Indication-specific human	Human research suggests benefit for pregnancy-related nausea and possibly menstrual cramps. Results vary by condition and formulation.	General May cause heartburn or diarrhoea. Supplements can interact with medicines; pregnancy use still warrants clinician discussion.	NCCIH
TurmericCurcuma longa	Knee osteoarthritis and metabolic-liver measures	Oral	Limited / mixed human	Initial results for knee osteoarthritis and some fatty-liver measures are positive, but products differ and definitive conclusions are lacking.	Moderate Enhanced-bioavailability curcumin has been linked to liver injury. Supplement use may be unsafe in pregnancy.	NCCIH
Peppermint oilMentha × piperita	Adult irritable bowel syndrome symptoms	Multiple	Indication-specific human	Enteric-coated oil has modest evidence for adult IBS symptoms. Peppermint leaf itself is much less studied.	General Can cause reflux or indigestion. Never apply menthol-containing oil to an infant or young child’s face.	NCCIH
ChamomileMatricaria recutita	Anxiety, sleep and mouth irritation	Multiple	Limited / mixed human	Preliminary anxiety and mouth-rinse findings exist. Evidence is insufficient for most promoted uses, including insomnia.	Moderate Allergic reactions can be severe in people sensitive to ragweed relatives. Warfarin and sedative interactions are reported or plausible.	NCCIH
LavenderLavandula angustifolia	Anxiety and aromatherapy	Multiple	Limited / mixed human	A specific oral lavender-oil product may help anxiety. Aromatherapy findings are unclear, and study limitations reduce confidence.	General Oral products can cause gastrointestinal effects; topical allergy is possible. Sedative interactions are plausible, and pregnancy data are limited.	NCCIH
EchinaceaEchinacea spp.	Common-cold prevention	Oral	Indication-specific human	May slightly lower the chance of catching a cold. Whether it shortens the duration of a cold remains unclear.	General Allergic reactions, sometimes severe, can occur. Interactions with immunosuppressants and liver-metabolized drugs are possible.	NCCIH
Tea tree oilMelaleuca alternifolia	Topical acne and athlete’s foot	Topical	Limited / mixed human	Small human studies suggest possible benefit for acne and athlete’s foot. Evidence is insufficient for most other uses.	High Do not swallow: oral exposure can cause confusion, inability to walk or coma. Topical irritation is possible.	NCCIH
SageSalvia officinalis	Menopausal hot flashes and cognition	Oral	Limited / mixed human	Small studies suggest possible effects on hot flashes and some cognition measures. Evidence is not definitive.	Moderate Common sage contains thujone, which can be toxic at high dose or with long use. Medicinal use may be unsafe in pregnancy.	NCCIH
GarlicAllium sativum	Elevated cholesterol and blood pressure	Oral	Indication-specific human	Supplements may modestly lower total and LDL cholesterol and, on limited evidence, blood pressure in people with elevated levels.	Moderate Supplements can increase bleeding risk. Raw topical garlic can cause chemical burns; pregnancy doses above food amounts may be unsafe.	NCCIH
CinnamonCinnamomum verum / C. cassia	Diabetes and weight-loss claims	Oral	Limited / mixed human	Studies are difficult to compare by species and product. Research does not clearly support cinnamon for any health condition.	Moderate Cassia can contain substantial coumarin, a concern with prolonged high intake or liver disease. Concentrated products vary.	NCCIH
ElderberrySambucus nigra	Cold and flu symptom claims	Oral	Limited / mixed human	A few small studies suggest symptom relief in upper-respiratory infections. Evidence is preliminary, and it is not a COVID-19 treatment.	High Raw or unripe berries, leaves and stems contain cyanide-producing compounds. Pregnancy and interaction data are limited.	NCCIH
Green teaCamellia sinensis	Cholesterol and body-weight measures	Oral	Indication-specific human	Extracts may modestly lower total and LDL cholesterol and slightly affect weight. Cancer-prevention evidence is inconsistent.	Moderate Extract supplements can raise blood pressure and have rare liver-injury reports. The beverage contains caffeine; several drug interactions are known.	NCCIH

How the evidence bands work

Indication-specific human: human studies or a clinical guideline support a narrow use for a defined preparation, but limitations still apply.
Limited / mixed human: evidence is preliminary, small, inconsistent, product-specific or insufficient for a firm conclusion.
Traditional / preclinical: support is mainly ethnobotanical, laboratory or animal research, or reliable human evidence is absent.

The bands are editorial lookup labels, not a formal GRADE assessment and not a recommendation to use a product.

Source and scope notes

Most comparator summaries use the U.S. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health fact sheets linked in the table.
Leaf of Life taxonomy was cross-checked with Kew Plants of the World Online.
Moringa and soursop use linked reviews because NCCIH does not maintain matching fact sheets for those entries.
Safety text prioritizes preparation-specific red flags and does not attempt to list every interaction or adverse event.