Efficiency of diet change in irritable bowel syndrome

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a chronic gastrointestinal disorder characterized by symptoms of abdominal pain, bloating, and altered bowel habit such as constipation, diarrhea, or both. Food is one of the most commonly reported triggers of IBS symptoms. we aim to assess the effect of diet change in improving IBS.

This study was a cross-sectional study. A questionnaire was developed for data collection in the present study. The survey was distributed online in Arabic language.

A total of 1202 subjects participated in our study. Of these, 685 (57%) were female patients and 517 (43%) were male patients. The age of patients ranged from 15 to 55 years, more than one-third of them located in the age range between 15 and 25. The statistical analysis reported a significant correlations between having IBS for three successive days for 3 months regarding age and duration of IBS (P value <0.001), having depression or anxiety before, and if the depression affects IBS symptoms or not (P value = 0.013 and <0.001, respectively). Having dietary regimen, advising to increase fibers, thinking about changing diet improves IBS symptoms (P value = 0.001, 0.005, and < 0.001, respectively) and having treatment (P value = 0.006).

According to our results, the prevalence of IBS was higher among females. Some diets, especially onions, garlic, and coffee, were reported to increase the IBS symptoms. Decreasing carbohydrate diets and increasing fiber diet would enhance the patient health where the symptoms where decreased.