According to a study, peppermint oil, like placebo, appears to considerably relieve symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), with no significant differences between groups.
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| Image: Peppermint Oil | InStyleHealth |
At a single academic center in the United States, a
team of researchers conducted a 6-week randomized, double-blind,
placebo-controlled trial. Patients with IBS (Rome IV criteria) who had moderate
to severe symptoms on the IBS Severity Scoring System (IBS-SSS score of 175)
were randomized in a 1:2 ratio to enteric-coated peppermint oil 180 mg three
times day or placebo.
In a modified intent-to-treat analysis, both
peppermint oil (90.8; standard deviation [SD], 75.3) and placebo showed
significant mean improvements in IBS-SSS ratings from baseline to 6 weeks
(100.3; SD, 99.6).
Although the peppermint oil group showed less
improvement quantitatively than the placebo group, the impact magnitude was
minor (d, –0.11). Furthermore, there was no statistically significant
between-group difference (p=0.97). Secondary endpoints showed considerable
gains in both groups, although there were no statistically significant
differences between groups on any of the secondary measures.
Sensitivity tests employing multiple imputation to
replace missing data yielded similar results. Furthermore, there were no
significant changes in any outcome indicators between peppermint oil and
placebo.
The researchers concluded that "more large,
rigorous trials are needed to investigate the relevance of peppermint oil in
the treatment of IBS."
Source: Am J Gastroenterol 2021;116:2279-2285