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Turmeric might help treat your indigestion, study shows
A good treatment option for indigestion may already be in your spice rack, 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 the two.
Omeprazole is a common medication used to treat certain heart and esophagus problems by reducing acid in the stomach, according to the Mayo Clinic.
At days 28 and 56 of treatment, the people in the study were evaluated for their symptoms — which can include stomach pain, bloating, nausea or an early feeling of fullness – using the Severity of Dyspepsia Assessment, a questionnaire that rates the severity of indigestion.
Researchers found no significant differences in the symptoms of the groups taking the drug, turmeric or the combination of the two, according to the study.
“In addition to anti-inflammatory and antioxidant purposes, curcumin/turmeric could be an option for treating 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.
Turmeric has been used by people in Southeast Asia to treat stomach discomfort and other inflammatory conditions, Pongpirul said. Its medicinal use dates back hundreds of years, according to a 2017 study.
In the United States, its primary medicinal use has been as an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant dietary supplement to relieve osteoarthritis and irritable bowel syndrome, he added.
But this is the first clinical trial that directly compares curcumin/turmeric to omeprazole in treating dyspepsia, Pongpirul said.
Questions about tumeric’s impact
It makes sense that research would investigate turmeric’s impact on indigestion, because its compound curcumin has been studied in a wide variety of inflammatory conditions, including inflammatory bowel disease and arthritis, said Dr. Yuying Luo, a gastroenterologist and assistant professor of gastroenterology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.
Some studies have shown that curcumin was helpful in conjunction with other medications, she added.
But there were some questions Luo had about the new study.
The scale that the researchers used to measure symptoms is not the most common one used for assessing improvement of indigestion, she said.
Luo would also like to see what the results would be if symptoms were measured more frequently.
“I don’t think this one study alone is enough for me to say, ‘I recommend this,’” she said. “Proceed with caution.”
But because there’s a lot of ongoing research investigating the compound’s impact on different inflammatory conditions, more insights could be close at hand, Luo added.
“Curcumin is not going away,” she said.
Should you start taking tumeric?
Should you up the turmeric in your diet for better digestion? Talk to your doctor first, Luo said.
There have been a few case studies of curcumin and liver injury, and it is important to make sure turmeric doesn’t interact poorly with any of the other medications you are on, she added.
“Consumers should be aware of side effects of curcumin extracts such as allergy and bleeding risk, especially for those who take anticoagulant or antiplatelet medications,” Pongpirul said.
That said, curcumin and turmeric is “generally considered safe when consumed in the amounts typically found in food,” he added.
Typically, turmeric spices contain around 3% curcumin, according to a 2009 study.
The dose of 2 grams given 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 works similarly to reduce risk of side effects, he said.
Although she needs to see more studies before she starts recommending turmeric as a treatment, Luo did say that she thinks it makes sense to talk with your doctor about if you should try it in addition to your medications.
She does add a caveat, however: People trying these alternatives should give them each two to four weeks to see what the full impact is.
“If it is helpful, that’s wonderful,” Luo added. “If not, that’s the tough part of treating disorders … not all patients are the same and have the same response to medication.”
注释：
spice rack: n
表示"放调味品的托架"，means "a rack for displaying containers filled with spices"，如：Two pairs of eyes followed its progress over the spice rack and breadboard until it was caught on a bottle of olive oil. 两双眼睛望着它越过调味料的架子和擀面板一直到它被一瓶橄榄油瓶栓住。
dyspepsia: n
表示" 消化不良"，means "a disorder of digestive function characterized by discomfort or heartburn or nausea"，如：Many people think they have religion when they are merely troubled with dyspepsia. 许多人，当他们只是在患消化不良之时，却以为自己有了宗教信仰。
omeprazole: n
表示" 奥美拉唑（抗溃疡药）"，means "antacid (trade name Prilosec) that suppresses acid secretion in the stomach"，如：Xinhua News Agency reports that the marketed Omeprazole Sodium for Injection presents many incompatibilities and severe adverse reactions. 据新华社报道目前，已上市的注射用奥美拉唑钠存在较多配伍禁忌及严重不良反应。
curcumin: n
表示"姜黄色素"，如：Another polyphenol, curcumin, has also been shown to have protective effects. 另外一种名叫姜黄素的多酚也具有保护作用。
esophagus: n
表示" 食道"，means "the passage between the pharynx and the stomach"，如：Stomach or can esophagus problem affect a heart? 胃或者食道问题会不会影响到心脏？
bloat: v
表示"使肿胀"，means "become bloated or swollen or puff up"，如：The planet's heated gases would have then expanded, causing the world to bloat. 这个星球上的热气体会随之扩大，最后导致世界的膨胀。
efficacy: n
表示" 功效"，means "capacity or power to produce a desired effect"，如：We are testing the efficacy of a new drug. 我们正在测试新药的功效.
gastroenterologist: n
表示" 胃肠病学家"，means "a physician who specializes in diseases of the gastrointestinal tract"，如：The gastroenterologist put me on a regimen of IV steroids for a couple of weeks to control the disease. 肠胃科医生开了IV类固醇激素让我服用几个星期，从而控制病情。
caveat: n
表示" 防止误解的说明；警告"，means "a warning against certain acts"，如：I would offer a caveat for those who want to join me in the dual calling. 为防止发生误解，我想对那些想要步我后尘的人提出警告。
中文简要说明：
最近才获得发表的一项泰国研究显示，常见香料姜黄中的姜黄素，能够缓解消化不良症状，效果甚至和服药差不多。
综合美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）、每日科学（Scitech Daily）网站报导，姜黄中的姜黄素（curcumin）被视为具有抗发炎、抗有害微生物、抗氧化的效果，长久以来，东南亚地区甚至用姜黄素来治疗消化不良相关疾病，不过学界至今仍不清楚，和传统药物相比，姜黄素的治疗效果如何。
由泰国多所大学医学院、医院、美国、英国研究人员组成的团队，于2019年至2021年间，邀请泰国不同医院中206名18至70岁因不明原因胃部反复不适的患者，将患者分为3组进行治疗。
这3组患者分别给予姜黄胶囊、传统上治疗胃食道逆流的奥美拉唑（Omeprazole）药物，第3组患者则是合并服用姜黄胶囊及奥美拉唑。研究人员分别在疗程的第28天、第56天评估患者的肠胃症状，包括胃痛、胀气、反胃，以及是否在进食一点点食物后就容易有饱足感。
最终只有151名患者完成研究，结果显示，3组患者在完成疗程后的症状都差不多。
报告总结：「这项实验对治疗功能性消化不良提供了高度可信的证据，研究新发现可能能证明在临床中考虑使用姜黄素是合理的。」
带领这项研究的泰国朱拉隆功大学（Chulalongkorn University）预防暨社会医学系副教授（Department of Preventive and Social Medicine）蓬皮鲁（Krit Pongpirul）表示：「除了抗发炎、抗氧化等目标，姜黄可能是治疗消化不良的另一个选项，功效和奥美拉唑相当。」
这份研究已于近日刊登于《英国医学期刊实证医学》（BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine）。 不过研究团队也坦承，参与研究的受试者较少，且研究也缺乏长期数据。
■我们应该开始吃姜黄吗？
美国西奈山医学院（Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai）胃肠病学系助理教授Yuying Luo表示，确实有一些姜黄素与肝损伤的研究案例，要确保姜黄素不会和任何民众正在服用的药物产生不良作用。
蓬皮鲁也提醒民众，要注意姜黄素萃取物的副作用，例如过敏及出血，尤其是那些正在服用抗凝血剂或抗血小板药物的民众。
蓬皮鲁，说传统食物中使用的姜黄或姜黄素的量通常是安全的，他说，和一般姜黄素补充剂相比，研究中给予受试者每天2公克的量相对较低。
2009年的一项研究显示，姜黄香料约含有3％的姜黄素。
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