A new small study from Michigan Medicine has found that the Mediterranean diet might help people who suffer from irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS. IBS is a common condition that affects the digestive system and can cause stomach pain, bloating, diarrhea, and constipation.
Experts believe that about 4% to 11% of people worldwide have IBS. Many people with this condition would rather change their diet than take medicine to feel better.
In this study, researchers wanted to see if the Mediterranean diet could be a good option for people with IBS. The Mediterranean diet is based on the traditional eating habits of people in countries near the Mediterranean Sea, such as Greece and Italy.
It includes lots of vegetables, fruits, nuts, whole grains, olive oil, and fish. It also limits red meat and processed foods. Doctors often recommend this diet because it helps the heart, brain, and general health.
Usually, one of the main diets suggested for people with IBS is called the low FODMAP diet. FODMAPs are certain types of carbohydrates that can be hard to digest. The low FODMAP diet removes many of these foods, such as onions, garlic, some fruits, dairy, and beans.
While this diet has been shown to help reduce IBS symptoms in many people, it can be difficult to follow. It often takes a lot of time, effort, and money. It can also lead to worries about not getting enough nutrients or developing an unhealthy relationship with food.
Because the low FODMAP diet is so strict, the researchers wanted to know if the Mediterranean diet—being less restrictive—might work just as well or at least help. They designed a small study with 20 people who had either diarrhea-predominant IBS (called IBS-D) or mixed-type IBS (IBS-M), which includes both diarrhea and constipation.
The participants were randomly placed into two groups. One group followed the Mediterranean diet for four weeks. The other group followed the first phase of the low FODMAP diet, which involves removing many types of high-FODMAP foods.
The main goal of the study was to see how many people in each group experienced a 30% drop in how much stomach pain they felt, which is the standard measure used by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
After four weeks, the researchers found that 73% of people in the Mediterranean diet group had less pain, while 81.8% of people in the low FODMAP group improved. So both diets helped, but the low FODMAP diet showed slightly better results.
Even though the low FODMAP diet group had a bit more improvement, the researchers were excited to see that the Mediterranean diet helped a lot of people too. This is especially promising because the Mediterranean diet is easier to stick with and doesn’t involve cutting out so many foods. It’s also better known for being healthy over the long term.
Dr. Prashant Singh, the lead author of the study, explained that the team was interested in the Mediterranean diet because it avoids many of the problems that come with restrictive diets. It’s more practical, nutritious, and suitable for everyday life.
Senior author Dr. William Chey also said that this study adds to growing research showing the Mediterranean diet could become one of the main diet options for people with IBS.
This was the first randomized controlled trial directly comparing the Mediterranean diet to another structured IBS diet. Earlier studies either weren’t randomized or just compared the Mediterranean diet to what people normally ate.
The researchers say that while their study was small, it gives them good reason to continue exploring the Mediterranean diet as a treatment for IBS. They hope to conduct larger studies in the future.
They also want to look at how the Mediterranean diet works over a longer period of time, and how it compares to the next phases of the low FODMAP diet, which involve slowly reintroducing foods and tailoring the diet to each person’s needs.
In short, this new study gives hope that a more flexible and balanced diet could be a helpful tool for people living with IBS.
If you care about gut health, please read studies about how probiotics can protect gut health, and Mycoprotein in diet may reduce risk of bowel cancer and improve gut health.
For more health information, please see recent studies about how food additives could affect gut health, and the best foods for gut health.
The research findings can be found in Neurogastroenterology & Motility.
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