Benefits
Traditional use as a digestive and carminative herb
In Ayurvedic, Siddha and other folk systems the dried rhizome has long been used to ease everyday digestive complaints such as an upset stomach, cramping and loose stools, usually as a powder or a simple decoction. This is a record of traditional practice and laboratory signals, not evidence from human trials, so it is best read as background rather than proof.
Relaxes isolated intestinal muscle in laboratory tests
In test-tube work using isolated animal intestine, a crude rhizome extract reduced spontaneous and triggered contractions in a pattern similar to a known antispasmodic, appearing to act through calcium channels. This fits the herb's folk use for cramping and loose stools but has not been confirmed in people.
Fiber-rich tuber traditionally eaten as a food
Food-science analysis of the tuber found it is high in dietary fiber, mostly the insoluble kind, along with starch and smaller amounts of protein and minerals. The tuber has been eaten as a famine food in several regions. Fiber from whole foods supports normal bowel regularity, though this analysis measured composition rather than any effect in people.
Body weight and waist measures in two maker-funded trials
Two small placebo-controlled studies in adults with a high body mass index, both paid for by the extract's maker, tested a standardized rhizome extract alongside diet and exercise for 90 days. The groups taking the extract showed larger reductions in body weight, waist size and blood fats than placebo. The trials were short and industry funded.
Protected the stomach lining in animal studies
In rats given a painkiller known to irritate the stomach, an oral rhizome extract lowered the amount of visible stomach-lining damage and raised the animals' natural antioxidant defenses in the tissue. These are animal findings that match the herb's traditional use for the stomach; they do not show the same effect in people.
Mechanism of action
May calm gut muscle through calcium channels
Laboratory studies on isolated animal intestine suggest a crude extract blocks the calcium entry that drives smooth-muscle contraction, which would relax the gut wall. This is one proposed explanation for the traditional antispasmodic use and comes from test-tube work, not from people.
Stilbenes may limit fat-cell formation
The standardized extract is concentrated in stilbenes such as piceatannol and the scirpusins. In cultured fat cells and in diet-fed mice these compounds reduced the build-up of new fat cells and lowered markers tied to fat storage. These are cell and animal findings, not human mechanisms.
Slows digestive enzymes in the test tube
Extracts of the rhizome inhibited digestive enzymes including pancreatic lipase and alpha-amylase, and the enzyme DPP-4, in laboratory assays. Slowing these enzymes could in theory reduce how quickly fat and starch are absorbed, but this has been shown only in test tubes and animals.
Clinical trials
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 1,000 mg/day of a standardized Cyperus rotundus extract with piperine, added to diet and exercise, funded by the extract's maker. (Majeed et al. 2025, Medicine)
96 adults with obesity in India, taking 500 mg extract plus 5 mg piperine twice daily or placebo for 90 days.
The extract group had significantly greater reductions in body weight, body mass index, waist and hip circumference than placebo, along with improvements in blood fats and apolipoprotein B. No adverse events were reported. The trial was short and funded by the extract's manufacturer, and all participants also dieted and exercised.
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot in overweight adults of a stilbene-standardized rhizome extract, with supporting fat-cell and mouse work, funded by the extract's maker. (Majeed et al. 2022, Diabetes Metab Syndr Obes)
30 adults with a body mass index of 30 to 40 took the extract or placebo for 90 days; the rest of the paper used cultured fat cells and high-fat-diet mice.
The small human group lost more weight and showed lower waist size, body mass index and blood fats than placebo, with no reported side effects. In the laboratory the extract reduced fat-cell build-up, and in mice it lowered weight gain, leptin and blood fats. The human part was a pilot and was manufacturer funded.
Laboratory and animal study of a crude rhizome extract on isolated gut, airway and blood-vessel tissue to probe its folk uses. (Hussain et al. 2018, Pak J Pharm Sci)
Isolated rabbit intestine and other animal tissue preparations; no human participants.
The extract relaxed spontaneous and triggered contractions of isolated intestine in a way similar to a reference antispasmodic, appearing to act through calcium-channel blockade, and also relaxed airway and vessel tissue. The authors read this as support for traditional use in cramping and loose stools. These are tissue and animal results only.
Animal study of an oral rhizome extract against aspirin-induced stomach-lining damage in rats. (Thomas et al. 2015, J Basic Clin Physiol Pharmacol)
Rats given aspirin to injure the stomach lining, pretreated with 250 or 500 mg/kg of a rhizome extract; no human participants.
The extract lowered the visible stomach-lining damage score by about half in a dose-related way, comparable to a standard ulcer drug tested in the same experiment, and raised antioxidant enzyme and glutathione levels in the stomach tissue. This is an animal model of stomach injury, not a study in people.
Laboratory and animal study of a rhizome extract on digestive enzymes and on diabetic rats. (Abdella et al. 2024, Heliyon)
Enzyme assays in the test tube plus diabetic rats given the extract; no human participants.
In test tubes the extract inhibited the digestive enzymes lipase and alpha-amylase and the enzyme DPP-4, and in diabetic rats it lowered inflammation and oxidative markers while supporting antioxidant defenses. These are laboratory and animal findings and were not tested in people.