A common spice used in cooking that costs around 23 pence could be just as effective for treating indigestion as conventional medicines, a study suggests.
Turmeric is known to many people as the ingredient in curries that gives them a distinctive yellow colour, but as well as providing plenty of taste, it appears to have medicinal value.
The spice contains a naturally active compound called curcumin which may be as effective as the drug omeprazole that is used to reduce stomach acid and tackle indigestion. Curcumin, which is thought to have anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties, has long been used to treat indigestion in south-east Asia, but a study for the first time has shown how it stacks up against conventional medicine.
In the study carried out by researchers at Chulalongkorn University Faculty of Medicine, Bangkok, 206 patients with recurrent stomach complaints took part at hospitals in Thailand. A third of the people received two large capsules of turmeric four times a day, a third received omeprazole, and the final third received both.
At the start of the study, all three groups had similar levels of indigestion. It was found that over the 56-day period, there were similar reductions in the severity of the conditions for all three groups.
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The advantage that turmeric has over omeprazole in treating indigestion is that it doesn’t have the possible side effects. Omeprazole is a proton pump inhibitor that treats conditions such as indigestion or the feeling of fullness after eating. But researchers said that using omeprazole over a long period could lead to an increased fracture risk, micronutrient deficiencies and a greater risk of infections.
The research team concluded: “This multicentre randomised controlled trial provides highly reliable evidence for the treatment of functional dyspepsia.” It added that “the new findings from our study may justify considering curcumin in clinical practice”.
Meanwhile, the NHS advised cutting down on “tea, coffee, cola or alcohol” to treat indigestion. Patients could also try losing weight if they're overweight, or even simply lying in bed with their head and shoulders raised slightly to stop stomach acid rising while asleep.
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