Astaxanthin May Help Quell Reflux Syndrome
Dr. Lee Swanson
The pigment that gives salmon its pink color may reduce the symptoms of indigestion and heartburn, according to a new study.
A high dose (40 mg) of the carotenoid astaxanthin was found to significantly reduce heartburn, and the effects were mostly pronounced in people infected with the Helicobacter pylori bacterium that causes stomach ulcers, according to research published in the journal Phytomedicine.
"This is the first randomized, prospective, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of the antioxidant astaxanthin used for treatment of functional dyspepsia," wrote lead author Limas Kupcinskas from Kaunas University of Medicine in Lithuania.
"We can hypothesize that the stronger response in H. pylori positive patients is due to reduced oxidative stress in the stomach by the astaxanthin treatment and hence also less oxidative stress in the esophagus, resulting in ameliorated symptoms," Kupcinskas added.
Researchers recruited 132 people with indigestion (dyspepsia) and randomly assigned them to receive 15 or 40 mg per day of astaxanthin or placebo for four weeks. The study was a controlled, prospective, randomized and double-blind design. People were classified as positive or negative for H. pylori infection.
At the end of four weeks, Kupcinskas and co-workers found no significant differences between the three groups regarding overall measures of abdominal pain, indigestion and reflux syndromes. However, when they focused on only reflux syndrome, they found a significant benefit in the group receiving the high dose astaxanthin supplement, compared to the other groups. Moreover, the benefits were higher in the people who also tested positive for H. pylori.
Phytomedicine 15(6-7):391-399, 2008