Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Food as a Friend or Foe?

Kimberly N Harer; Shanti L Eswaran

doi:10.1016/j.gtc.2020.10.002

Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Food as a Friend or Foe?

Gastroenterol Clin North Am. 2021 Mar;50(1):183-199. doi: 10.1016/j.gtc.2020.10.002. Epub 2020 Dec 27.

Authors

Kimberly N Harer¹, Shanti L Eswaran²

Affiliations

¹ Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, 1500 East Medical Center Drive, 3912 TC SPC 5362, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
² Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, 1500 East Medical Center Drive, 3912 TC SPC 5362, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. Electronic address: seswaran@med.umich.edu.

PMID: 33518164
DOI: 10.1016/j.gtc.2020.10.002

Abstract

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) affects 10% to 15% of the population and often is difficult to treat with available pharmacologic agents. Dietary therapies for IBS are of particular interest because up to 90% of IBS patients exclude certain foods to improve their gastrointestinal symptoms. Among the available dietary interventions for IBS, the low FODMAP diet has the greatest evidence for efficacy. Although dietary therapies rapidly are becoming first-line treatment of IBS, gastroenterologists need to be aware of the negative effects of prescribing restrictive diets and red flag symptoms of maladaptive eating patterns.

Keywords: Carbohydrate; Diet; Eating disorder; Fodmap; Fructose; Gluten; Lactose; Microbiome.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Diet, Carbohydrate-Restricted
Dietary Carbohydrates
Fermentation
Humans
Irritable Bowel Syndrome*

Substances

Dietary Carbohydrates