Dear Dr. Roach: I am a longtime GERD sufferer and have used omeprazole for years. I have tried everything else over 50 years, with limited success. I tried a product containing caraway oil and menthol three months ago, and have had no symptoms since. Just a food supplement? It’s hard to believe. How would you explain it? — P.M.
Answer: Since gastroesophageal reflux disease is so common, I try hard to stay current with new treatments, but had not read about using caraway oil and menthol.
Caraway oil is reported to relax the smooth muscle in the duodenum and menthol has anti-inflammatory effects. In a study from 2019, looking at the effectiveness in 95 people with functional dyspepsia, after 28 days treatment, 61% of the subjects taking caraway oil and menthol had improvement, but 49% of the control subjects did as well. Similarly, 7% to 10% of people taking medication improved their symptoms scores.
It seems you may be in the lucky group that improved with this product, although in any one person it is impossible to exclude a placebo effect.
There were fewer adverse events in the active medication group compared with the control group, and no serious adverse effects in any subjects. Other studies have shown that caraway oil may decrease blood sugar, so people with diabetes who try using caraway oil should monitor their blood sugar to be careful of dangerously low blood sugars — which is unlikely, and I am not recommending this product for treatment of diabetes.
There are other products containing caraway oil and peppermint oil that have also shown some benefit. The current studies cannot determine which product is better or which component might be most active, or whether a combination is best.
