Several natural products have been shown to have activity against H. pylori bacteria. One such product is bee propolis. Researchers have shown that bee propolis has some antibacterial effects, and a small handful of scientific papers have examined whether bee propolis can be used to treat H. pylori along with or instead of conventional triple therapy.
In one study, Platsko and colleagues showed that when 30-40 mg of bee propolis were taken three times daily along with standard triple therapy, H. pylori eradication rates and ulcer healing were improved compared with patients who used standard triple therapy alone. This particular study can be found in the 2002 issue of the medical journal Helicobacter).
In another scientific article, Boyanova et al investigated the effect of 30% ethanolic extract of bee propolis against ninety-four different strains of Helicobacter pylori. The scientists found that propolis showed strong antibacterial activity against H. pylori in a dose-dependent manner. In other words, the more propolis used, the stronger the effect). This study can be found in the 2003 issue of the medical journal Helicobacter.
The problem with the second study from 2003 is that the research was done in vitro, which basically means “outside the body.” So what is the problem?
Well, a test tube or petri dish containing culture medium for H. pylori in the laboratory is completely different from the environment in your stomach and intestine where H. pylori lives. As such, it is impossible to conclude that propolis can kill H. pylori in the body in the same way that it does in the laboratory.
However, propolis clearly offers some promise in the treatment of H. pylori.
The many doctors we’ve talked to around the world tend to choose other products to fight H. pylori infection. These include concentrated garlic capsules, potent forms of mastic gum, berberine, oregano oil, DGL and zinc-l-carnosine, lactoferrin, and probiotics.
In addition to the use of these nutritional and herbal products, we recommend several key dietary changes that can actually help reduce stomach and intestinal symptoms even before H. pylori is eradicated. Time and time again, our clients’ symptoms improve dramatically with these dietary changes alone.
The reason these improvements occur is quite counter-intuitive. Some people have H. pylori, but H. pylori itself is not causing any of their symptoms. Instead, common foods that trigger immune responses in the gut are responsible for your symptoms. These include cow’s milk, soy, gluten and sugar.
The problem, of course, is that once H. pylori is diagnosed, it’s assumed that the bacteria must be causing the symptoms, when in fact simple changes in diet are all that is needed for symptom resolution. These dietary changes also improve the eradication success of treatment regimens, whether pharmaceutical or herbal antibiotics.
