Turmeric may be as good for treating indigestion as omeprazole

Medical Xpress / British Medical Journal / BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine ^ | Sept. 13, 2023 | Pradermchai Kongkam et al

[ConservativeMind]

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.

The researchers randomly assigned 206 patients aged 18–70 with recurrent upset stomach (functional dyspepsia) of unknown cause to one of three treatment groups for a period of 28 days.

These were: turmeric (two large 250 mg capsules of curcumin four times a day) and one small dummy capsule (69 patients); omeprazole (one small 20 mg capsule daily and two large dummy capsules four times a day (68 patients); and turmeric plus omeprazole (69 patients).

Omeprazole is a proton pump inhibitor, or PPI for short. PPIs are used to treat functional dyspepsia.

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 or SODA. Patients were reassessed after 28 days and 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).

No serious side effects were reported, although liver function tests indicated some level of deterioration among curcumin users carrying excess weight.

Nevertheless, they conclude, "This multicenter randomized 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."

[ConservativeMind]

Curcumin is an extract from turmeric.

Buy it from reputable companies. ConsumerLab has shown Kirkland Signature Turmeric (Costco), Puritan’s Pride Curcuminoids from Turmeric, and Root2 are Top Picks, but others passed, as well.

[ConservativeMind]

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[Joe 6-pack]

I do turmeric daily, but your do have to watch because it’s also a blood thinner.

[moovova]

Orange gets everywhere.

[Faith65]

Thanks.
bfl

[nickcarraway]

But that won’t make a pharmaceutical company money, so it’s misinfo.

[sauropod]

.

[pollywog]

bkmrk

[telescope115]

I’m already on blood thinners. I do take one 20mg cap of omeprazole every day. I have for years. One bad thing about omeprazole is it can contribute to osteoporosis. I try to get enough calcium to offset it.

[Fractal Trader]

The dosage was mighty high. I don’t think I could take that many pills a day.

[e_castillo]

Lots of good info tonight.

[arthurus]

95% curcumin is better than just curcumin. You can eat a bucket of curry a day or a half cup of turmeric or a couple of ounces of Curcumin or a gram of 95%.

For reflux my medicare doc prescribed omeprazole but I found that an ounce of lemon juice in 6 ounces of one's preferred mixer before bed works better and has not the side effects.

[arthurus]

I have had two TIAs from blood clots, one of which caused me to wreck my motorcycle(I quit riding right then) and the other just made me suddenly totally lose balance for three days. I use 2 grams of cayenne caps as blood thinner and a tiny aspirin, too. I also eat a lot of Curcumin and ginger for arthritis which no longer troubles me. I am old enough that I have the crochets of old age and when the doc tells me I need statins or any other prescription I research and find natural or alternate remedies that work as well and don’t come with he superfast fine print you hear on the ads for the prescription remedies that tell you your life will be all sunshine and roses if they don’t kill you or give you explosive diarrhea.

[arthurus]

Have you tried lemon juice instead of the omeprazole? It is what I use and it works fine. Research it first, though.

[arthurus]

For my various maladies of old age I take about 26 different supplements a day, 19 as pills or caps or gel caps, and the rest as food additives. I eat a bit of 100% chocolate as my dessert and it is an anti inflammatory, too. I take all this in lieu of 7 or 8 prescriptions. I got serious about substituting when I started statins and it made me lethargic and averse to exercise. I thought there must be something better so I researched supplements and won’t mess with prescriptions again.

[Georgia Girl 2]

The stuff at Costco etc. Is costly and basically worthless. You can buy bulk organic turmeric at bulk herbs online. Its Super high quality and very reasonable. We buy 1 lb at a time and make our own capsules. We take it daily for arthritis and I couldn’t tell you the last time I took an advil. I guess it likely helps our acid reflux too.

[dennisw]

“Curcumin is an extract from turmeric.”

Inexpensive! https://www.amazon.com/BULKSUPPLEMENTS-COM-Turmeric-Extract-Powder-Supplements/dp/B00GHY364A.

Also used for anti-cancer

[Rusty0604]

I’ve been taking tumeric with curcumin for years for muscle/joint swelling. I also quit taking tagament daily, which I attributed to better probiotics. May be the tumeric!

Thanks.