Turmeric has been linked to numerous health benefits and is a popular home remedy for digestive problems. A current study now shows that the herbal active ingredient could also make a contribution to the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases and digestive disorders.
The new study evaluated the evidence on the effectiveness and safety of turmeric in the treatment of digestive disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, dyspepsia, gastroesophageal reflux disease and peptic ulcer disease. The results are in the specialist magazine “Phytotherpy Research”.
Effectiveness and safety verified
Turmeric is becoming increasingly popular as a treatment option for digestive disorders, but no comprehensive analysis of its effectiveness and safety has been carried out, the researchers explain. The team therefore carried out an evaluation of the available studies.
Randomized controlled trials and comparative observational studies that examined the use of turmeric in people of all ages with the above-mentioned digestive disorders were taken into account. In the end, 26 of these were included in the current research work.
Evidence of positive effects
The study evaluation showed that turmeric is safe and could be an effective treatment option, particularly for chronic intestinal inflammation and irritable bowel syndrome, the researchers report. However, the results for other diseases were inconsistent.
Overall, however, the effectiveness of turmeric for digestive disorders remains unclear due to the high risk of bias and the methodological limitations of the included studies.
Given the wide range of turmeric preparations available and the dosage forms, it is also difficult to name which variants would be best suited for gastrointestinal complaints.
Further studies required
Future studies should therefore be designed to include larger samples, employ rigorous statistical methods, use core outcome sets and adhere to guidelines for reporting randomized controlled trials of herbal interventions to enable more meaningful comparisons and solid conclusions, it said Conclusion of the research team. (fp)
