GREECE

Your Upper Stomach Got Louder After Forty-Five.
A Greek Island Has Been Chewing the Answer Since Antiquity.

Mastic gum  ·  Mastiha / Pistacia lentiscus var. Chia  ·  Mechanism: mucosal anti-inflammation
 

The tradition.

On the southern half of Chios, a Greek island in the eastern Aegean, farmers score the bark of Pistacia lentiscus trees every summer and wait for the sap to bleed. The resin hardens in the heat into pale, translucent drops the Greeks call mastiha.

Dioscorides described mastiha in De Materia Medica in the first century as a remedy for stomach pain, indigestion, and chronic cough. Galen recorded its effects on inflammation of the stomach, intestine, and liver.

Mastic trees grow throughout the Mediterranean basin. But only in the Mastichochoria, a cluster of medieval fortified villages on the southern tip of Chios, does this specific cultivar produce resin in commercially meaningful quantities.

Each tree yields roughly sixty to two hundred fifty grams per year, beginning in its fifth year of life. In 1997, the European Union granted Chios mastiha Protected Designation of Origin status, and in 2015, the European Medicines Agency approved it as a traditional herbal medicine for mild digestive disorders.

The practice on Chios is old and uncomplicated. Chew a small piece of hardened resin after a meal, or dissolve the powdered form into food.
 

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The mechanism.

Functional dyspepsia is the clinical name for recurring upper stomach pain, burning, or early fullness when endoscopy finds no structural cause. It is common in adults and may increase with age.

The standard American response is a proton pump inhibitor, which suppresses acid production. Mastiha does not suppress acid.

The resin contains more than 120 identified compounds, but the ones that matter for the stomach are its triterpenic acids, primarily masticadienonic acid and isomasticadienonic acid. These terpenes are found almost exclusively in Pistacia species.

Laboratory research has shown mastic resin inhibits protein kinase C, an enzyme in the signaling cascade that drives oxidative damage in vascular cells. The effect is anti-inflammatory protection of the mucosa, not suppression of acid.

When mastic gum reached the American supplement shelf, it was marketed on in vitro antibacterial activity against H. pylori. The stronger human clinical evidence, a controlled dyspepsia trial, drew far less attention.

A 2010 double-blind, placebo-controlled trial published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology enrolled 148 patients with functional dyspepsia. Those who took 350 milligrams of Chios mastiha three times daily for three weeks reported significantly greater relief in upper abdominal pain, heartburn, and general stomach pain than the placebo group.

Separate in vitro research has confirmed activity against Helicobacter pylori, the bacterium implicated in most peptic ulcers. But human trials on eradication with mastic alone have been inconsistent, and standard antibiotics remain far more effective.
 

The how-to

The clinical trial dose is three capsules a day for three weeks. Authentic Chios mastiha is available in the United States without a prescription.

Look for Chios mastiha capsules at 350 mg per capsule from brands sourcing directly from Chios, such as Masticlife or Allergy Research Group. A 90-capsule bottle runs roughly thirty-five to forty-six dollars, enough for a full three-week course.
Take one capsule three times daily for three weeks. Raw mastiha tears are also available online and in Greek specialty stores if you prefer chewing the resin, typically fifteen to twenty-five dollars per jar.
Three weeks is the minimum before evaluating whether it helps. That was the trial duration.
Pistacia lentiscus is in the same botanical family as pistachios and cashews. If you have a tree nut allergy, particularly to pistachios, avoid it or clear it with an allergist first.
Do not stop a proton pump inhibitor to try mastiha without consulting your doctor. Persistent or worsening upper stomach symptoms warrant medical evaluation, not a supplement.

Tomorrow: South Korea and doenjang, a soybean paste fermented outdoors for a full year.
What that fermentation does to isoflavones is the part American soy products left behind.

See you then.