Coconut water may help reverse symptoms of mild and moderate ulcerative colitis, Indian doctors have said, announcing the results of the first clinical study to determine its effect on this inflammatory bowel disorder.

The study by doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), New Delhi, has documented clinical and biochemical improvements in patients with mild and moderate ulcerative colitis who agreed to drink coconut water every day for eight weeks.

The findings suggest that coconut water may be added to standard medical treatment, Vineet Ahuja, professor of gastroenterology at the AIIMS, and his colleagues said, describing the results of the study in the peer-reviewed medical journal, Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory disorder marked by ulcers — sores — in the intestine with symptoms such as diarrhoea, bloody stools and bowel urgency, triggered by an aberrant immune reaction against intestinal tissues. The standard treatment involves anti-inflammatory compounds called aminosalicylates, among other drugs. The treatment goal is to reduce the inflammation, allowing the tissue to heal.

Earlier studies have shown that the course of ulcerative colitis can be influenced by both diet and the gut environment, especially by changes in the populations of friendly bacteria that normally live in the human gut.

Ahuja and his colleagues decided to pitch coconut water against ulcerative colitis because earlier research has shown that coconut water has anti-inflammatory action and compounds that might help alter gut microbial populations.

The AIIMS team conducted a randomised double-blinded placebo-controlled trial — the most rigorous way of testing a medical intervention — in which neither doctors nor patients knew who drank coconut water and the ones who drank coconut-flavoured water were designed to serve as the placebo. The Indian Council of Medical Research funded the AIIMS study.

In the study, 49 patients with mild or moderate ulcerative colitis received 200ml coconut water twice a day, 46 received the placebo. After eight weeks, 28 (57 per cent) of the 49 patients were clinically better, compared with 13 (28 per cent) of the 46 patients. And 26 (53 per cent) of the 49 patients moved into remission (symptom-free) compared with 13 (38 per cent) of the 46 patients.

The differences are statistically significant, the AIIMS doctors said, calling for multi-city studies with larger numbers of patients to validate the findings.

The study also revealed biochemical changes indicative of reduced inflammation as well as positive changes in the populations of friendly gut bacteria. “The reduced symptoms and the lower levels of inflammatory biomarkers are both encouraging observations,” Ahuja said.