MONDAY, Oct. 7, 2019 (HealthDay News) — More patients with inflammatory bowel disease following a diet low in fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols (FODMAPs) report adequate relief of gut symptoms, according to a study published online Oct. 2 in Gastroenterology.
Selina R. Cox, Ph.D., from King’s College London, and colleagues randomly assigned 52 patients with quiescent Crohn disease or ulcerative colitis and persistent gut symptoms to follow either a diet low in FODMAPs or a control diet (27 and 25 patients, respectively) with dietary advice for four weeks.
The researchers found that adequate relief of gut symptoms was reported by a larger proportion of patients following the low-FODMAP diet versus the control diet (52 versus 16 percent; P = 0.007). A greater reduction in irritable bowel syndrome severity scores was reported by patients following the low-FODMAP diet versus the control diet (mean reduction, 67 versus 34; P = 0.75). Higher health-related quality-of-life scores were reported for patients following the low-FODMAP diet (81.9 ± 1.2 versus 78.3 ± 1.2; P = 0.42). In stool samples collected at the end of the study period, targeted analysis revealed that patients on the low-FODMAP diet had a significantly lower abundance of Bifidobacterium adolescentis, Bifidobacterium longum, and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii versus controls.
“We propose that a four-week low FODMAP diet with expert advice and intensive follow-up is safe and effective in the management of persistent gut symptoms,” the authors write.
Two authors are co-inventors of a mobile application to assist patients following a low-FODMAP diet.
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