Irritable Bowel Syndrome is believed to affect around 40 million Americans.

And, for many, treatment options are difficult to find.

Enter a new, slow release version of peppermint oil (IBGard) which was shown to dramatically improve symptoms of IBS significantly over a placebo.

Researchers at the University of South Alabama reported in Digestive Disease Week they were able to demonstrate an average reduction in symptoms over the course of 4 weeks worth of treatment of around 79.4% . Those who were taking a placebo reported a 40.2% reduction in symptoms after 4 weeks.
The study’s author, Brooks Cash M.D., said the response to their treatments was positive.

“I have begun to prescribe this peppermint oil formula for my patients with irritable bowel syndrome,” Cash told MedPage Today. “We had no discontinuations in either the placebo or the active ingredient arm of the trial due to problems with the agents. In fact, we had some patients who, after completion of the trial, told me they wanted to continue the treatment. We had a lot of positive feedback from the patients.”

In fact he noted within just 24 hours of treatment the test subjects reported a 30% reduction in symptoms.

The unique properties of their slow release formula didn’t present many of the problems test subjects experienced when they used different forms of peppermint oil.

Cash noted  IBgard is “a unique formulation of ultra-purified peppermint oil.”

Cash went on to say:

“The peppermint oil that you can buy over-the-counter comes typically as capsules or gel caps that are subject to unpredictable dosing delivery,” Cash said. As a result, patients who have early release of peppermint oil can experience heartburn and dyspepsia, he explained, while patients who have later release can experience anal burning and lower gastrointestinal symptoms.

“It’s really the [IBgard] delivery system that is designed to get the peppermint oil out of the stomach and into the small intestine where it is PH-released and where, we believe, it is having its primary effect,” he said.

One of the most notable finds the study was able to provide? Almost instantaneous results.

Within just 1 hour of receiving IBGard, the participants saw a reduction in symptoms ranging from 30-50%.

28 days after the trail began the reduction in symptoms was 70-90%.

As Cash noted, it’s been known peppermint oil is beneficial at calming the gut, it’s just a matter of working around the side effects which might possibly present themselves when receiving peppermint oil as treatment.

It would appear IBGard is helping researchers move in the right direction when it comes to finding sustainable treatment options for IBS using peppermint oil.

IBGard will sell for about $30 for a package of 48 tablets. During the study, two tablets were taken 30 minutes to 90 minutes before a meal, three times a day.