Licorice treates peptic ulcers and H. Pylori infections

(NaturalNews) Deglycyrrhizinated licorice (DGL) is a natural treatment for ulcers and has been used with great success to treat gastric and duodenal ulcers. Licorice treats the cause of the ulcers and promotes healing of the digestive tissues. Peptic ulcers are created by sores in the lining of the stomach or intestines, which need the enzyme pepsin in order to form. One in every ten American has ulcers, mostly in the small intestines. Ulcer symptoms can alternate every few days, and occur a few hours after eating. They are often relieved by food.

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) bacteria are know to cause most peptic ulcers. Twenty percent of adults over the ages of 40 and half of those over 60 are thought to be infected with these bacteria. A simple blood test can detect presence of these H. pylori. A breath test, called a urea breath test, can be used after treatment to ascertain results.

Traditional treatment of peptic ulcers is with antibiotics, along with acid-suppressing drugs and stomach-lining protectors. The major concern in treatment is to prevent a perforation of the stomach lining, which would cause bleeding and infection. For this reason, proper diagnosis of this condition is advised.

As far back as 1982, researchers reported that licorice was as effective in curing gastric ulcers as cimetidine, marketed under the trade name Tagament. Zantac, Prolosec, Prevacid, and Pepcid are often prescribed as well. Another study published in the journal Lancet reported similar findings on the value of licorice in treating ulcers.

Licorice root extract's mode of action is to stimulate the release of a substance that protects stomach's mucus lining. This substance, called secretin, is released by the body and appears to be stimulated by DGL. The advantage of licorice therapy is that is does not have the side effects associated with other treatments. DGL does not neutralize stomach acids; therefore, it does not interfere with digestion. Licorice acts by stimulating the body's normal response of secreting secretins, to improve gastric mucosa.

Deglycyrrhizinated Licorice is processed in a manner that prevents the side effects that can be caused by natural licorice. Suggested usage is 750-1,500 mg taken twenty minutes before eating. Best results are seen when the licorice is chewed and swallowed on an empty stomach. Usage for eight to sixteen weeks has shown the best results in reducing ulcers and inflammation. DGL can be taken along with antibiotics and can improve the results of antibiotic therapy. DGL can also prevent a relapse of ulcers, as it treats the cause and not just the symptoms.

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Broccoli-efficient against H.Pylori

(NaturalNews) Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) are a type of bacteria believed to cause the majority of peptic ulcers. Even more importantly, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), there's substantial evidence that strongly links the germs to stomach cancer. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) classifies H. pylori as a carcinogen that afflicts several billion people across the globe.

Around 20 percent of people 40 and younger are infected with H. pylori and about half of those over age 60 have it, NIH statistics reveal -- so the bacteria obviously doesn't cause serious illness in everyone who has it. But what makes the difference? A new study raises the possibility that what you eat could play a protective role by reducing H. pylori colonization in the body.

In a new study just published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research, Johns Hopkins researcher Jed W. Fahey, M.S., Sc.D., and an international team of scientists conclude that eating a daily dose of broccoli sprouts reduced the level of HpSA (a highly specific measure of the presence of H. pylori) by 40 percent.

The scientists conducted their study in Japan, where there is high incidence of chronic H. pylori infection. The research team gave 25 H. pylori-infected research subjects two and a half ounces (70 grams) of broccoli sprouts daily for two months. At the start of the study and after four and eight weeks of treatment, the researchers used breath tests to assess colonization by H. pylori bacteria as well as blood tests to check for the severity of inflammation in the stomach lining. They also looked for antigens in stool samples to help measure the extent of the infections.

The scientists say it is natural compound, sulforaphane, found in broccoli that apparently lowers the level of H. pylori. When a control group of 25 infected people were given alfalfa sprouts which, although rich in phytochemicals, don't contain sulforaphane, their H. pylori status didn't change. Dr. Fahey and colleagues at Johns Hopkins first reported in 2002 that sulforaphane compounds are potent weapons against H. pylori.

Sulforaphane appears to fight the infection by triggering cells in the body, including in the gastrointestinal tract, to make enzymes that offer protection against free radicals, DNA-damaging chemicals, and inflammation. "We know that a dose of a couple ounces a day of broccoli sprouts is enough to elevate the body's protective enzymes," Dr. Fahey explained. "That is the mechanism by which we think a lot of the chemoprotective effects are occurring."

Sulforaphane does not eradicate the bacterium because after stopping consumption of broccoli sprouts, H. pylori levels in the research participants were found to rise again after eight weeks. However, the compound clearly had a dramatic impact on H. pylori when broccoli sprouts were consumed daily.

"The highlight of the study is that we identified a food that, if eaten regularly, might potentially have an effect on the cause of a lot of gastric problems and perhaps even ultimately help prevent stomach cancer," said Dr. Fahey, an author of the paper who is a nutritional biochemist in the Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Cancer Chemoprotection Center at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in the statement to the media.

For more information:
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Pres...
http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddis...