Swollen belly, bloating, fullness and tension. How many of us experienced these conditions in everyday life? Lifestyle and nutrition can help, but they don't always solve it. Instead, we now know that the combination of turmeric and Boswellia serrata, or frankincense tree, can bring significant improvements if not completely resolve this condition. This emerges from a very recent scientific research that appeared in the Nutrients magazine thanks to the work of an Italian team from the University of Pavia (Giacosa et al, Nutrients, 2022).
Abdominal bloating, causes and remedies
Bloating, accompanied by fermentations, fullness and pain is a condition that affects at least 30% of the entire world population and almost all of those suffering from irritable bowel syndrome. Abdominal bloating is clearly not a disease but it can worsen the quality of life and cause psychological stress. The treatments for bloating involve interventions on nutrition, the intake of probiotics and prebiotics. In particular, a type of diet called Low Fodmap has been shown to be beneficial in these cases. The Low Fodmap diet is based on the limitation of certain foods considered capable of promoting bloating and irritable bowel syndrome in general. These foods are milk and dairy products, but also apples, mangoes, pears, canned fruit, watermelon, onion, broccoli, cabbage, legumes. The idea of the Low Fodmap diet consists in limiting all these foods until the symptoms improve and then gradually reintroducing them. This is an approach that must be followed with the help of a specialist, not easy to apply and with results that are not always certain. That's why science is constantly looking for other remedies to counteract bloating and associated symptoms.
Curcuma and Boswellia against abdominal bloating, the study
Italian scientists have explored the effectiveness of a supplement prepared with turmeric and Boswellia serrata in the case of abdominal bloating and irritable bowel syndrome. 67 people were then recruited, all with bloating and irritable bowel syndrome. All the volunteers were asked to follow a Low Fodmap diet while only 33 to take in addition a supplement prepared with extracts of turmeric and Boswellia serrata, 500 mg twice a day for 30 days. At the end of the experiment, all those who had taken the supplement no longer had bloating, or at least a very mild form, pain and a sense of tension. In contrast, in the group that only followed the recommended diet, only ten people showed improvement. What has been observed is due to the anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial action of turmeric and Boswellia.
Conclusions
Turmeric and Boswellia supplements can be found in chemist's, herbalist's shops and online. Avoid during pregnancy and breastfeeding and ask your doctor for advice if you are taking any medications and intend to start treatment.
