November 24, 2014
1 min read
Save

Low-FODMAP diet not superior to traditional diet for reducing GI symptoms of IBS

You've successfully added to your alerts. You will receive an email when new content is published.

Click Here to Manage Email Alerts

We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com.

Traditional dietary advice for irritable bowel syndrome had comparable efficacy to a diet low in fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols — or FODMAP — in improving gastrointestinal symptoms, according to data presented at UEG Week.

“The aim of the study was to perform a randomized controlled trial to compare the effect on IBS symptoms of a low-FODMAP diet compared with traditional dietary advice in outpatients with IBS in a setting resembling standard clinical practice, and to perform this study in a single-blinded design,” Lena Böhn, PhD student in the department of internal medicine and clinical nutrition, Center for Person-Centered Care at Sahlgrenska Academy, Sweden, told Healio Gastroenterology.

Lena Böhn

Lena Böhn

Sixty-five patients with IBS (54 women; median age, 43 years [range, 19-68]) from three hospitals in Sweden were assigned to traditional dietary advice for IBS (n=33) or low-FODMAP dietary instructions (n=32), to which they were masked. Symptom intensity was measured using the IBS Severity Scoring System (IBS-SSS) at baseline and at the end of the 4-week treatment period.

At the end of the treatment period, 56% of the low-FODMAP group responded to treatment compared with 52% of the traditional diet group, and comparable response was consistent in analysis of patients with moderate and severe IBS. Both low-FODMAP (P=.001) and traditional diet (P<.001) reduced IBS-SSS scores with comparable efficacy overall, and in abdominal pain severity and frequency, dissatisfaction with bowel habits and quality of life. However, there was a trend for greater reduction in abdominal distension with traditional diet (P=.08).

“Providing dietary advice to patients with IBS is efficient in reducing gastrointestinal symptoms,” Böhn said. “However, both a low-FODMAP diet and traditional IBS diet improved IBS symptoms, without any clear differences between the two strategies. This means that a combination of the two diets is [preferable], on an individual basis.”

 

For more information:

Böhn L. Abstract OP007. Presented at: UEG Week; Oct. 18-22, 2014; Vienna.

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.