Newsletter Monday
Hello Reader,
There’s a BBC news article this week suggesting that some supplements may be doing more harm than good.
That headline won’t surprise my regular readers.
I’m hardly known for my enthusiasm when it comes to expensive powders, miracle capsules or anything that claims to optimise your mitochondria while simultaneously detoxifying your liver and balancing your hormones.
But it did get me thinking.
The problem isn’t that all supplements are useless.
The problem is that many of them are trying to solve problems they were never capable of solving in the first place.
The timing was interesting because I’d recently finished reading a new book that’s out on gut health.
It’s good, I plan to have the author on the podcast in August because I have questions!
This book led to a discussion with some of my clients last week about IBS and the various things they’d tried over the years in search of relief.
As you’d expect, the list was long.
Different diets.
Food exclusions.
Probiotics.
Prebiotics.
Supplements.
One client mentioned she’d had surprisingly good results with hypnotherapy.
I’m not surprised that this helped. We’ve all had occasions when our gut has reacted to a situation, proof of the gut-brain connection being 100% real, but she sent me some evidence anyway, to support it and I went off down one of those internet rabbit holes that starts with a sensible question and somehow leaves you reading articles you hadn’t intended to read.
While looking at the evidence for hypnotherapy, a side panel recommendation caught my eye.
An article about peppermint oil.
ow, IBS is exactly the sort of condition that attracts endless supplement claims.
Spend five minutes online and you’ll find somebody promising to heal your gut, repair your microbiome, eliminate bloating and transform your digestive health.
Usually for the bargain price of £49.99 per month.
So I clicked on the article expecting another overhyped wellness story.
Instead, I found something rather refreshing.
Peppermint oil appears to have a reasonable evidence base for helping some people with IBS symptoms, particularly abdominal pain and cramping.
It has a natural anti-spasmodic effect that can bring relief.
Not a miracle.
Not a cure.
Not a complete solution.
Just a treatment that may help some people with a specific symptom.
Which, frankly, is how most medicine works.
What made me laugh was that I’d mentioned peppermint oil capsules on Instagram last year and was promptly informed by a small army of midwives and surgical nurses that they’d been using them with patients for years.
Years.
Apparently everybody knew about this except me.
After nearly twenty years as a GP, I had somehow missed the memo.
The irony is that I’ve been consuming peppermint in another form for ages.
My beloved TeaPigs peppermint tea is a permanent fixture in this house.
The capsules were new.
Mine aren’t even the fancy enteric-coated ones used in many of the studies.
They tend to produce minty burps.
I’ve decided I like this side effect.
It’s quite difficult to overeat when every burp tastes like you’ve just eaten a packet of Polo mints.
What I like about peppermint oil is that it knows its lane.
It isn’t claiming to improve every aspect of your health.
It isn’t promising longevity.
It isn’t reversing ageing.
It isn’t balancing mysterious bodily systems that nobody can adequately explain.
It’s saying something much simpler.
Your gut hurts.
This might help. This is very low risk of harm.
And there is some evidence that it does.
Last week I wrote about asking:
“What problem are you trying to solve?”
Peppermint oil is a useful example.
The problem is clear.
The proposed solution is clear.
The evidence is reasonably clear.
The expectations are realistic.
Nobody is pretending it will change your life.
In a world where every supplement seems to promise eternal youth and boundless energy, I find that honesty surprisingly appealing.
Sometimes a treatment doesn’t need to transform your life.
Sometimes helping your gut hurt a bit less is enough.
