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According to experts, curcumin, a compound in turmeric, is said to be helpful for inflammation.
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A good indigestion treatment option may already be on your spice shelf, according to a new study.
The study, published Monday in the medical journal BMJ, compared how more than 150 people with dyspepsia or indigestion responded to either the drug omeprazole, turmeric – which contains the compound curcumin – or a combination of both.
According to the Mayo Clinic, omeprazole is a common medication used to treat certain heart and esophageal problems by reducing stomach acid.
On days 28 and 56 of treatment, people in the study were assessed for their symptoms—which may include abdominal pain, bloating, nausea, or early feeling of fullness—using the Severity of Dyspepsia Assessment, a questionnaire that assesses the severity of the digestive disorder.
According to the study, researchers found no significant differences in symptoms between the groups that took the drug, turmeric, or the combination of both.
“In addition to anti-inflammatory and antioxidant purposes, curcumin/turmeric may be an option for the treatment of dyspepsia with comparable efficacy to omeprazole,” said lead study author Dr. Krit Pongpirul, associate professor in the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand.
According to Pongpirul, turmeric is used by people in Southeast Asia to treat stomach ailments and other inflammatory diseases. According to a 2017 study, its medicinal use dates back hundreds of years.
In the United States, it is used primarily as an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant supplement to relieve osteoarthritis and irritable bowel syndrome, he added.
But this is the first clinical trial to directly compare curcumin/turmeric with omeprazole in the treatment of dyspepsia, Pongpirul said.
It makes sense that research is examining turmeric’s effects on digestive disorders because its compound curcumin has been studied in a variety of inflammatory diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease and arthritis, Dr. Yuying Luo, a gastroenterologist and assistant professor of gastroenterology at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.
Some studies have shown that curcumin is helpful in conjunction with other medications, she added.
However, there were some questions Luo had about the new study.
The scale the researchers used to measure symptoms was not the most common for assessing improvement in digestive disorders, she said.
Luo would also like to see what results there would be if symptoms were measured more frequently.
“I don’t think this one study alone is enough to say, ‘I recommend this,'” she said. “Proceed with caution.”
But since there is a lot of ongoing research examining the drug’s effects on various inflammatory conditions, further insights may be at hand, Luo added.
“Curcumin is not going away,” she said.
Should you increase turmeric in your diet to improve digestion? “Talk to your doctor first,” Luo said.
There are some case studies on curcumin and liver damage, and it’s important to make sure turmeric doesn’t interact negatively with other medications you’re taking, she added.
“Consumers should be aware of the side effects of curcumin extracts such as allergies and bleeding risk, especially for those taking anticoagulant or antiplatelet medications,” Pongpirul said.
However, curcumin and turmeric are “generally considered safe when consumed in the amounts normally found in foods,” he added.
According to a 2009 study, turmeric spices typically contain about 3% curcumin.
The 2-gram dose reported in this study is relatively low compared to extracts commonly found in curcumin supplements, Pongpirul said.
It may not be necessary to take both turmeric and omeprazole together if just taking one or the other drug similarly reduces the risk of side effects, he said.
Although she needs to see more studies before recommending turmeric as a treatment, Luo said she thinks it’s worth talking to your doctor about whether you should try it in addition to your medications.
However, she adds a caveat: Anyone trying these alternatives should give them two to four weeks each to see the full effect.
“If it’s helpful, that’s wonderful,” Luo added. “If not, that’s the hard part of treating disorders…not all patients are the same and respond the same to medications.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the source of the history of turmeric’s medicinal uses and the amount of curcumin in turmeric.