Natural Treatment for Stomach Ulcers
Natural remedies and treatments have become increasingly popular over the years for all sorts of conditions, including ulcers. In this article, I will be taking a hard look at scientific research on the most popular natural remedies for stomach ulcers and giving you real answers on their effectiveness.
Natural Remedy #1: Manuka Honey
If you are unfamiliar with manuka honey, this honey is made by a bee native to New Zealand which feeds on the Manuka bush. We did a full investigative report on this dubious product in our article on manuka honey benefits.
If you did not know, most ulcers in humans are caused by the bacterium H pylori. There is some evidence which demonstrates that manuka honey has antimicrobial properties. The idea behind this natural remedy for stomach ulcers is that this honey’s antimicrobial properties will battle H pylori infections in the stomach and intestine.
After looking at the research, there is no significant evidence that suggests that manuka honey is a viable treatment for stomach ulcers. Most of the research portraying manuka honey in a positive light is funded by the New Zealand government. Given that manuka honey is a product of New Zealand and New Zealand is eager to export this product, to say that this research has potential for bias is a bit of an understatement.
It is possible that the studies were well done, but when funding sources are interested in a particular outcome (i.e. a positive one), then the odds of the research being tampered with become much higher.
Could manuka honey reduce ulcer discomfort and aide treatment? Perhaps. Is it a replacement for traditional ulcer therapies? Absolutely not.
2. Natural Remedy #2: Diet and Stress
It was once thought that a diet that was rich in spicy foods, coffee, citrus, and alcohol could cause ulcers. Later, it was found that this was not the case. Almost all ulcers are caused by the bacterium H pylori. Of the remaining ulcer cases, these are linked to regular usage of NSAIDs (aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, etc.).
Nearly all ulcers are caused by H pylori infections. This is independent of stress and diet. You will be hard-pressed to find an individual who has an ulcer in the absence of H pylori infection of NSAID usage, regardless of what popular authors may state.
As a result, removing alcohol, spicy food, coffee, acidic foods, and reducing stress are not a viable natural remedies for stomach ulcers. However, these are irritating factors and removing these them can improve healing times and reduce stomach ulcer symptoms, but only when combined with a traditional medical approach that actually battles the H pylori infection.
Are there any natural remedies that work?
The fact is that if you have an H pylori infection, you will need medical treatment or your ulcer will never go away. Even if it does go away or you are able to mask the pain, it will come back or more will develop as long as H pylori is present. The only option that research supports is the treatment of H pylori via medical avenues (i.e. triple therapy).
There is significant evidence that diet and probiotics can influence healing times and actually improve treatment success rates (see our H pylori diet article for specifics and supporting research), however, this is only in conjunction with a doctor-approved H pylori treatment.
Related posts: