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Dietary supplement

St. John's Bread Ingredients & Drug Interactions

by TerraVita

Liquid Category: Botanical
Most serious interaction: Minor
The interaction bottom line Most serious interaction: Minor

St. John's Bread is a dietary supplement by TerraVita with 1 active ingredient. Its ingredients are commonly taken for diarrhea (especially in children), cocoa/chocolate substitute, digestive upset.Based on those ingredients, 2,022 medications have a known interaction with it, the most serious rated minor. The ingredients most likely to interact are St. John's Bread Bean Pod Glycerite Liquid Extract. Use the checker below to test your specific medication, or read the full HelloPharmacist Interaction Report.

HelloPharmacist Scorecard of St. John's Bread by TerraVita

Our pharmacy team’s full take, with four database checks built into the cards below — a summary of what is known, not a grade of the product itself.

From our pharmacy team — supplement deep dive

What’s inside

Full disclosure
Ingredient Transparency · database check
Full

Every active ingredient lists its own amount on the label.

Why this rating?
  • The label discloses an exact amount for 1 of its 1 active ingredient.
  • No proprietary blends here — you can verify the dose of every single component.

This product is a single-ingredient liquid: carob bean pod glycerite extract from St. John's Bread.

Carob (sometimes called locust bean) has a long history as a food thickener and chocolate substitute. It's mixed here in glycerin to create a liquid form, with strawberry flavor added for taste.

Does it work?

Moderate evidence
Evidence for Intended Use · database check
By FDA rules, dietary supplements can’t claim to treat, cure, or prevent disease — so labels speak in careful marketing language. We discern each product’s intended use from its name, label claims, and label statements, then grade the clinical evidence for that use. How these ratings are computed

This product doesn't appear to be marketed for a specific use, so we graded Carob's overall clinical evidence instead.

Moderate

Some clinical evidence supports Carob for:

Why this rating?
  • We looked at the product name, claims, and label statements and couldn't find a stated purpose to grade.
  • Since the label doesn't commit to one use, we graded the ingredient's overall clinical evidence instead.
  • On file: Diarrhea — rated "Possibly Effective" (Natural Medicines).

Carob has possibly effective evidence for helping with diarrhea — that's the main reason people reach for it. For athletic performance, diabetes management, and familial hypercholesterolemia (a genetic cholesterol condition), the evidence we hold is too limited to say whether it works.

If diarrhea is what you're after, the data suggests it may help; for the other uses, you'd be trying something without solid proof yet.

The evidence, ingredient by ingredient Carob

How safe is it?

Well-documented data
Safety Information · database check
Well characterized

Adverse-effect, pregnancy, and general safety data are on file for most of these ingredients.

Why this rating?
  • We hold adverse-effect (side-effect) data for 1 of the 1 matched ingredient.
  • Pregnancy & breastfeeding safety ratings cover 1 of 1.
  • General safety write-ups exist for 1 of 1.
  • Remember: this measures how much safety information exists. Thin data is not the same as being safe.

Carob is widely eaten as a food and is generally considered safe in normal food amounts. That said, this is a concentrated supplement dose, and there isn't much safety data on medicinal or supplement doses, so use caution.

Infants are an exception — carob-containing formulas have been linked to serious intestinal problems in some cases, including necrotizing enterocolitis (a life-threatening inflammation of the gut) in premature infants. Do not give this product to infants.

A few people have also had allergic reactions — rash, hives, vomiting — to carob in formula.

Side effects, ingredient by ingredient Carob

Meds to double-check

Minor interactions only
Known Interaction Concern · database check
Minor only

Only Minor-severity interactions are documented for these ingredients.

Why this rating?
  • 1 of the 1 matched ingredient can interact with medications — Carob.
  • The most serious interaction on file is rated Minor.
  • For scale: 2,023 individual medications appear in the full list. A big number alone doesn't make a product dangerous — what matters is whether YOUR medication is on it, so run yours through the interaction checker on this page.

If you take any oral medications — whether prescriptions, over-the-counter drugs, or other supplements — take them 30–60 minutes away from this carob liquid. Because the interaction spans thousands of medications, the safest move is to check your exact list with your doctor or pharmacist before you begin.

Check your own medication Run your meds through the checker above

The bottom line

Scorecard at a glanceFully disclosed formula with some supporting evidence behind its ingredients' uses. Only minor medication interactions are documented, and safety information is well characterized.

St. John's Bread may help with diarrhea if you're looking for a plant-based option, but the evidence for other uses isn't there yet.

The main thing to watch is that carob can interfere with how your body absorbs oral medications, so timing them apart is important. Never use this product with infants.

Before you start, check your medications with your doctor or pharmacist — especially any you take daily — to make sure spacing them an hour apart from this liquid will work with your schedule.

Educational only — not medical advice; always confirm with your pharmacist. Our editorial policy · How we use AI

Assessment coverage: 1 of 1 active ingredient matched to our full ingredient reviews (monographs). Based on the product label dated Dec 13, 2022.

This Scorecard evaluates available label information, ingredient evidence, and known medication-safety considerations. It does not independently verify product identity, purity, potency, contamination, or manufacturing quality. How these ratings are computed

At a glance

General information

Key facts about St. John's Bread, straight from the product label.

Brand TerraVita
Barcode (UPC) 064435234010
Net contents 1 Fluid Ounce(s); 30 mL
Market status On market
Date entered into DSLD Dec 13, 2022
DSLD ID 279396
Product type Botanical
Supplement form Liquid
Dietary claims / uses All Other
Intended target group(s) Adult (18 - 50 Years)
From the label
Everything in this section is reproduced from the manufacturer’s own product label — it’s the label speaking, not HelloPharmacist. We show it so you can see exactly what the maker states; we don’t verify or endorse those statements.

Supplement Facts

The label details for St. John's Bread by TerraVita, sourced from the NIH Dietary Supplement Label Database.

Supplement Facts

Daily Value (DV) Target Group(s):
Adults and children 4 or more years of age
Minimum serving Sizes:
25 Drop(s)
Maximum serving Sizes:
40 Drop(s)
Servings per container
227
UPC/BARCODE
064435234010
IngredientAmount% DV
St. John's Bread Bean Pod Glycerite Liquid Extract0.13 mL--

Other ingredients: Glycerin, Strawberry flavor

Tap any ingredient to jump to its full detail below.

Label statements
These statements are the manufacturer’s wording, reproduced from the product label — the label is saying it, not HelloPharmacist. We don’t verify or endorse them.
Brand IP Statement(s)

Copyright 2018 TerraVita - Distributed by ZooScape LLC, All Rights Reserved.

Formula

Glycerite liquid extract (1:5)

Formulation

Alcohol free

No flavor

Suggested/Recommended/Usage/Directions

Suggested Use: Take 25-40 drops of extract in a small amount of warm water 3-4 times daily. Shake well before using.

Precautions

Keep away from children.

Do not use if safety seal around cap is broken or missing.

See for yourself

St. John's Bread by TerraVita label

The label scan from the NIH Dietary Supplement Label Database. Tap to enlarge.

What’s inside

The Ingredients in St. John's Bread by TerraVita

This is the 1 active ingredient this product is made of. Select it to open its full monograph.

Serving size25 Drop(s) Dosage formLiquid Servings per container227 Amounts shown are per serving.

0.13 mL per serving

Carob is a Mediterranean tree whose pods are widely used as a caffeine-free, naturally sweet cocoa alternative and as a thickener (carob gum). It is m...

St. John's Bread Bean Pod Glycerite Liquid Extract monograph & interactions

Other (inactive) ingredients: Glycerin, Strawberry flavor. These complete the product’s ingredient list but are not active constituents.

Interaction report

St. John's Bread by TerraVita Drug Interactions

Want to check YOUR meds against St. John's Bread?

Ask about interactions with your drugs in plain English — “Can I take it with lisinopril?” — and we find you the answer in seconds, ingredient by ingredient.

Go to the checker
2,022Drugs
2,022 Minor

Ingredients driving the most interactions

Each ingredient & the kinds of drugs it affects

For each ingredient in St. John's Bread with known interactions, here are the types of medications it can affect. Open any type for the detail — or search your exact drug in the checker above.

St. John's Bread Bean Pod Glycerite Liquid Extract1 drug type · 2,022 drugs

Oral Drugs

Theoretically, carob might also impair the absorption of oral drugs.
Laboratory research shows that carob, when consumed as part of the diet or used as a thickening agent in infant formula, reduces the absorption of certain minerals. Take carob 30-60 minutes after oral medications.

Likelihood Possible Evidence D
The maker

Brand information

Manufacturer and brand details for St. John's Bread, from the product label.

TerraVita

See all TerraVita products
Name
ZooScape LLC
Phone Number
844-449-0444
Web Address
www.ZooScape.com
Pharmacist Counseling Corner

St. John's Bread by TerraVita: Common Questions

Does St. John's Bread by TerraVita interact with any medications?
Yes. Based on its ingredients, St. John's Bread has a known interaction with 2,022 medications. Use the checker to see how it interacts with a specific drug.
How can one product interact with so many drugs?
St. John's Bread contains a single active ingredient, and that one ingredient can interact with many different medications on its own. We check it against each medication and show the mechanism responsible.
Where does this information come from?
The product label data comes from the NIH Dietary Supplement Label Database (DSLD); the interaction data is built on the Natural Medicines database and reviewed by HelloPharmacist pharmacists.
What is St. John's Bread, and what's it supposed to do?
St. John's Bread is carob, a plant that's been used for centuries as a food and thickener. This liquid extract is marketed mainly for diarrhea, where the evidence suggests it may help. For other uses like blood sugar or cholesterol control, there isn't enough reliable data yet.
Can I take this while I'm pregnant or breastfeeding?
The facts on file don't include pregnancy or breastfeeding safety data for carob in supplement form. Because this is a concentrated dose — not just food amounts — talk with your doctor or pharmacist for personalized advice.
Are there any side effects I should know about?
At normal food amounts, carob is safe for most adults. In concentrated supplement doses, there's limited safety data, so caution is warranted. Allergic reactions (rash, hives, vomiting) have occurred in some people, usually infants. This product should never be given to babies.
How do I take it with my other medications?
Take your oral medications 30–60 minutes before or after this carob liquid to avoid reducing how well your drugs are absorbed. If you're not sure whether that timing will work with your routine or your specific medications, check with your doctor or pharmacist first.
Why is this product risky for infants?
Carob-containing infant formulas have been linked to serious intestinal inflammation (necrotizing enterocolitis) in premature babies, sometimes with fatal outcomes. Do not use this product with infants under any circumstances.

Written and reviewed by the HelloPharmacist editorial staff. Our editorial policy

Not sure if St. John's Bread is safe with your meds?

Our pharmacists answer your medication & supplement questions — free.

Ask a pharmacist

Label information is sourced from the NIH Dietary Supplement Label Database and reflects the product version on file; always read your actual product label. This page is for education only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Confirm with your pharmacist or doctor before combining supplements and medications.

St. John's Bread label
Go deeper

The Full Monographs Behind St. John's Bread’s Ingredients

Every ingredient we hold a full HelloPharmacist monograph for — uses, evidence, safety, and the complete interaction list.

Sources

Sources & How We Checked

St. John's Bread's label data comes from the NIH Dietary Supplement Label Database; the ingredient interaction data is from the Natural Medicines database, reviewed by our pharmacists.

Content is written and reviewed by licensed HelloPharmacist pharmacists. See our data sources and editorial standards for how this information is built and checked.

The 9 references behind this product’s interaction data

Every citation that drives the interaction findings for this product’s ingredients, from the evidence-graded Natural Medicines (TRC Healthcare) database. Open an ingredient to browse its citations — links open the study on PubMed or the publisher’s site.

Carob 9 references
  1. Savino, F., Muratore, M. C., Silvestro, L., Oggero, R., and Mostert, M. Allergy to carob gum in an infant. J.Pediatr.Gastroenterol.Nutr. 1999;29(4):475-476. DOI
  2. Bosscher, D., Caillie-Bertrand, M., and Deelstra, H. Effect of thickening agents, based on soluble dietary fiber, on the availability of calcium, iron, and zinc from infant formulas. Nutrition 2001;17(7-8):614-618. PubMed
  3. van, der Brempt, X, Ledent, C., and Mairesse, M. Rhinitis and asthma caused by occupational exposure to carob bean flour. J.Allergy Clin.Immunol. 1992;90(6 Pt 1):1008-1010. PubMed
  4. Clarke, P. and Robinson, M. J. Thickening milk feeds may cause necrotising enterocolitis. Arch Dis.Child Fetal Neonatal Ed 2004;89(3):F280. PubMed
  5. Harmuth-Hoene, A. E. and Schelenz, R. Effect of dietary fiber on mineral absorption in growing rats. J Nutr 1980;110(9):1774-1784. PubMed
  6. Scoditti, A., Peluso, P., Pezzuto, R., Giordano, T., and Melica, A. Asthma to carob bean flour. Ann.Allergy Asthma Immunol. 1996;77(1):81. PubMed
  7. Komericki P, Kränke B. Immediate hypersensitivity to carob pods. Contact Dermatitis. 2009;61(4):239-40. PubMed
  8. Bosscher D, Van Caillie-Bertrand M, Van Cauwenbergh R, Deelstra H. Availabilities of calcium, iron, and zinc from dairy infant formulas is affected by soluble dietary fibers and modified starch fractions. Nutrition. 2003;19(7-8):641-5. PubMed
  9. Jedrzejczyk M, Bartnik K, Funkowicz M, Toporowska-Kowalska E. FPIES Induced by Locust Bean Gum in an Infant. J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol. 2020;30(3):197-199. PubMed

See these in context on the Carob monograph →

Parts of this content are provided by the Therapeutic Research Center, LLC.

DISCLAIMER: Currently this does not check for drug-drug interactions. This is not an all-inclusive comprehensive list of potential interactions and is for informational purposes only. Not all interactions are known or well-reported in the scientific literature, and new interactions are continually being reported. Input is needed from a qualified healthcare provider including a pharmacist before starting any therapy. Application of clinical judgment is necessary.

© 2021 Therapeutic Research Center, LLC

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