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Peppermint Helps to Relieve Irritable Bowel Syndrome

February 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment

University of Adelaide researchers have shown how peppermint helps to relieve Irritable Bowel Syndrome, which affects up to 20% of the population.

In a paper published in the international journal Pain in 2011, researchers from the University’s Nerve-Gut Research Laboratory explain how peppermint activates an “anti-pain” channel in the colon, soothing inflammatory pain in the gastrointestinal tract.

Dr Stuart Brierley says while peppermint has been commonly prescribed by naturopaths for many years, there has been no clinical evidence until now to demonstrate why it is so effective in relieving pain.

“Our research shows that peppermint acts through a specific anti-pain channel called TRPM8 to reduce pain sensing fibres, particularly those activated by mustard and chilli. This is potentially the first step in determining a new type of mainstream clinical treatment for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS),” he says.

IBS is a gastrointestinal disorder, causing abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhoea and/or constipation. It affects about 20% of Australians and costs millions of dollars each year in lost productivity, work absenteeism and health care.

“This is a debilitating condition and affects many people on a daily basis, particularly women who are twice as likely to experience Irritable Bowel Syndrome,” Dr Brierley says.

“Some people find their symptoms appear after consuming fatty and spicy foods, coffee and alcohol, but it is more complex than that. There appears to be a definite link between IBS and a former bout of gastroenteritis, which leaves nerve pain fibres in a heightened state, altering mechanisms in the gut wall and resulting in ongoing pain.”

Dr Brierley says the recent floods in Queensland and Victoria could result in a spike of gastroenteritis cases in Australia due to the contamination of some water supplies in affected regions.

He said case studies in Europe and Canada showed that many people who contracted gastroenteritis from contaminated water supplies went on to experience IBS symptoms that persisted for at least eight years.

There is no cure for IBS and it often comes and goes over a person’s lifetime.

Apart from gastroenteritis and food intolerance, IBS can be brought on by food poisoning, stress, a reaction to antibiotics, and in some cases is genetic.

Dr Brierley is one of 25 researchers who work at the University of Adelaide’s Nerve-Gut Research Laboratory, hoping to find cures and treatments for a range of intestinal diseases.

 

Reference

Harrington AM, Hughes PA, Martin CM, Yang J, Castro J, Isaacs NJ, Blackshaw LA, Brierley SM. A novel role for TRPM8 in visceral afferent function. Pain 2011; 152 (7): 1459-1468.

 

Filed Under: Inflammation, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Peppermint Tagged With: , ,

Research Shows Heat In Chili Peppers Can Ease Sinus Problems

August 26, 2011 By 1 Comment

Hot chili peppers are known to make people “tear up,” but a new study led by University of Cincinnati allergy researcher Jonathan Bernstein, MD, found that a nasal spray containing an ingredient derived from hot chili peppers (Capsicum annum) may help people “clear up” certain types of sinus inflammation.

The study, which appears in the August 2011 edition of Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, compares the use of the Capsicum annumnasal spray to a placebo nasal spray in 44 subjects with a significant component of no nallergic rhinitis (i.e., nasal congestion, sinus pain, sinus pressure) for a period of two weeks.

Capsicum annum contains capsaicin, which is the main component of chili peppers and produces a hot sensation. Capsaicin is also the active ingredient in several topical medications used for temporary pain relief. It is approved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is available over the counter.

“Basically, we concluded that the spray was safe and effective on non-allergic rhinitis,” Bernstein says of the study which showed that participants who used a nasal spray with Capsicum reported a faster onset of action or relief, on average within a minute of using the spray, than the control group.

Non-allergic rhinitis is an upper respiratory condition not caused by allergies but instead caused by environmental factors such as weather, household chemicals or perfumes; however, there are some people who have no triggers or don’t know what triggers are causing the inflammation, Bernstein says.

This is the first controlled trial where capsaicin was able to be used on a continuous basis to control symptoms. It is considered a significant advance, “because we don’t really have good therapies for non-allergic rhinitis,” says Bernstein, adding that in previous trials the ingredient was too hot to administer without anesthesia.

 

Reference 

Bernstein JA, Davis BP, Picard JK, Cooper JP, Zheng S, Levin LS. A randomized, double-blind, parallel trial comparing capsaicin nasal spray with placebo in subjects with a significant component of nonallergic rhinitis. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol 2011; 107 (2): 171-8.

 

Filed Under: Chili Pepper, Ear, Nose and Throat, Functional Foods, Health Conditions Tagged With: ,

Coriander Oil Could Tackle Food Poisoning And Drug-Resistant Infections

August 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Coriander oil has been shown to be toxic to a broad range of harmful bacteria. Its use in foods and in clinical agents could prevent food-borne illnesses and even treat antibiotic-resistant infections, according to the authors of a study published in the Journal of Medical Microbiology.

The researchers from the University of Beira Interior in Portugal tested coriander oil against 12 bacterial strains, including Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica, Bacillus cereus and meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Of the tested strains, all showed reduced growth, and most were killed, by solutions containing 1.6% coriander oil or less.

Coriander is an aromatic plant widely used in Mediterranean cuisine. Coriander oil is one of the 20 most-used essential oils in the world and is already used as a food additive. Coriander oil is produced from the seeds of the coriander plant and numerous health benefits have been associated with using this herb over the centuries. These include pain relief, ease of cramps and convulsions, cure of nausea, aid of digestion and treatment of fungal infections.

This study not only shows that coriander oil also has an antibacterial effect, but provides an explanation for how it works, which was not previously understood. “The results indicate that coriander oil damages the membrane surrounding the bacterial cell. This disrupts the barrier between the cell and its environment and inhibits essential processes including respiration, which ultimately leads to death of the bacterial cell,” explained Dr Fernanda Domingues who led the study.

The researchers suggest that coriander oil could have important applications in the food and medical industries. “In developed countries, up to 30% of the population suffers from food-borne illness each year. This research encourages the design of new food additives containing coriander oil that would combat food-borne pathogens and prevent bacterial spoilage,” said Dr Domingues. “Coriander oil could also become a natural alternative to common antibiotics. We envisage the use of coriander in clinical drugs in the form of lotions, mouth rinses and even pills; to fight multidrug-resistant bacterial infections that otherwise could not be treated. This would significantly improve people’s quality of life.”

 

Reference

Silva F, Ferreira S, Duarte A, Mendonça DI, Domingues FC. Antifungal activity of Coriandrum sativum essential oil, its mode of action against Candida species and potential synergism with amphotericin B. Phytomedicine. 2011 Jul 23. [Epub ahead of print].

 

Filed Under: Coriander, Fats & Oils, Functional Foods Tagged With: , ,