Can Bael Fruit help treat Ulcerative Colitis?

Recently, however I was reading my weekly copy of the Pharmaceutical Journal and came across an article talking about the potential benefits of Bael Fruit in the treatment of Ulcerative Colitis and I must admit I was surprised to see it there.  I may be a pharmacist but I am constantly frustrated by the pharmaceutical companies’ inability to really cure anything, regardless of how much money they throw at ‘research’!  Most drugs just control the symptoms of the diseases, I cannot immediately think of any medication that cures diseases, apart from antibiotics which unsurprisingly (to me) are based on natural plants. 

I am also thoroughly irritated by their attempts to block any alternative remedies from gaining recognition as a potential source of help for people living with these diseases.  Why is it necessary to refute any anecdotal evidence of people being cured by anything that has not been created in a laboratory somewhere for a whole lot of money?

 Anyway, enough of my rantings and back to the matter at hand…

A case report was described in the article I mentioned of a 34 year old who seemed to have managed to control his ulcerative colitis symptoms by eating Bael fruit twice each day.  His drugs had been reduced or completely stopped so not a complete cure (yet).

So is it a cure or just a fluke for this one guy?

If you are like me (completely clueless!) then you will never have heard of Bael Fruit.  So this is what I discovered about it.

Bael Fruit is a member of the same family of fruit as the Orange but seems to taste nothing like it; It is definitely NOT taken for its sweet taste. The pulp on the inside is orange, the outside of the fruit is round and about the size of a baseball.  The fruit starts out a greenish color and then ripens to a yellow color.  It smells quite acrid so that may also put you off eating it.  The flower of the tree however, smells pretty cool and is used in perfumes – Pity, that is not the part you need to eat to get the hoped-for effect.

Bael fruit is obtained from a Bael fruit tree that grows to about 18meters.  The tree is cultivated in India and is valued for its medicinal qualities.  It is used in ayurvedic medicine for digestive conditions.

 So, the case study patient used this fruit to reduce his symptoms.  The problem is that no mention was made of whether his colon and rectum had recovered.  The only way to check if mucosal healing has occurred is by endoscopy and unfortunately the case report made no mention of this so we are uncertain whether this actually brings about healing or temporary symptom control, same as all the other medicines available.

The difference with using Bael Fruit is that even if it only brings about symptom control, it does it without any horrid side effects.  That surely makes it worth a try.

In the regular pharmaceutical/drug world however, this is not enough evidence to recommend it to a patient and not enough people are doing research on the Bael fruit so it is unlikely at present that it will ever be completely accepted into the conventional medical arena.

It might be but the jury is still out on that.  

Will it hurt you to try? Pretty Unlikely…  

Should you stop taking your medicine while trying this?  Definitely not!

Ulcerative Colitis - NHS
Great insight into the condition and how to manage it