Research indicates that turmeric might be as effective at treating a recurrent upset tummy of no known cause, as a drug regularly used to decrease excess stomach acid. — Filepic
A natural compound found in the culinary spice turmeric may be as effective as omeprazole – a drug used to curb excess stomach acid – for treating indigestion symptoms, suggests the first study of its kind, published online in the journal BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine.
Turmeric is derived from the root of the Curcuma longa plant.
It contains a naturally-active compound called curcumin, which is thought to have anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties, and has long been used as a medicinal remedy, including for the treatment of indigestion, in South-East Asia.
But it’s not clear how well it compares with conventional drugs for this indication, largely because there have been no head-to-head studies.
The researchers therefore randomly assigned 206 patients aged between 18 and 70 with recurrent upset stomach (functional dyspepsia) of unknown cause, recruited from hospitals in Thailand between 2019 and 2021, to one of three treatment groups for a period of 28 days.
These were:
- Turmeric (two large 250 milligrammes capsules of curcumin four times a day) and one small dummy capsule, taken by 69 patients
- Omeprazole (one small 20mg capsule daily) and two large dummy capsules four times a day, taken by 68 patients, and
- Turmeric plus omeprazole, taken by 69 patients.
Omeprazole is a proton pump inhibitor (PPI).
PPIs are used to treat functional dyspepsia, the symptoms of which include feeling excessively full after food (postprandial fullness), feeling full after only having a little food (early satiety), and pain and/or burning sensation in the stomach and/or food pipe (epigastric pain).
But the long-term use of PPIs has been linked to increased fracture risk, micronutrient deficiencies and a heightened risk of infections, note the researchers.
Of the 206 patients enrolled, 151 completed the study, with 20 in the curcumin group, 19 in the omeprazole group and 16 in the combined treatment group dropping out.
Patients in all three groups had similar clinical characteristics and indigestion scores, as assessed by the Severity of Dyspepsia Assessment score (SODA) at the start of the trial.
Patients were reassessed after 28 days, then again after 56 days.
SODA scores indicated significant reductions in symptom severity by day 28 for pain (-4.83, -5.46 and -6.22) and other symptoms (-2.22, -2.32 and -2.31) for those in the combined, curcumin alone, and omeprazole alone groups respectively.
These improvements were even stronger after 56 days for pain (-7.19, -8.07 and -8.85 respectively) and other symptoms (-4.09, -4.12 and -3.71 respectively).
SODA also captured satisfaction scores.
These scarcely changed over time among the curcumin users, which might possibly be related to its taste and/or smell, suggest the researchers.
No serious side effects were reported, although liver function tests indicated some level of deterioration among curcumin users carrying excess weight, note the researchers.
They acknowledge the small size of the study, as well as several other limitations, including the short intervention period and the lack of long-term monitoring data.
Further larger, long-term studies are needed, they say.
Nevertheless, they conclude: “This multicentre randomised controlled trial provides highly reliable evidence for the treatment of functional dyspepsia,” adding that “the new findings from our study may justify considering curcumin in clinical practice.”
