Posted on 06/20/2025 9:51:17 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
A pilot study found that the Mediterranean diet may provide symptom relief for people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Study participants were randomized into two groups, one following the Mediterranean diet and the other following the low FODMAP diet, a common restrictive diet for IBS.
In the Mediterranean diet group, 73% of the patients met the primary endpoint for symptom improvement, versus 81.8% in the low FODMAP group.
Irritable bowel syndrome affects an estimated 4–11% of all people, and a majority of patients prefer dietary interventions to medication.
The low FODMAP diet leads to symptom improvement in more than half of patients, but is restrictive and hard to follow.
Previous investigations from Michigan Medicine researchers into more accessible alternative diets led to a proposed "FODMAP simple," which attempted to only restrict the food groups in the FODMAP acronym that are most likely to cause symptoms.
"Restrictive diets, such as low FODMAP, can be difficult for patients to adopt," said Prashant Singh, MBBS.
The Mediterranean diet is already popular among physicians for its benefits to cardiovascular, cognitive, and general health. Previous research on the effect of the Mediterranean diet on IBS, however, had yielded conflicting results.
In this pilot study, two groups of patients were provided with either a Mediterranean diet or the restriction phase of a low FODMAP diet for four weeks.
The primary endpoint was an FDA-standard 30% reduction in abdominal pain intensity after four weeks.
All the patients included in the study were diagnosed with either IBS-D (diarrhea) or IBS-M (mixed symptoms of constipation or diarrhea).
While the Mediterranean diet did provide symptom relief, the low FODMAP group experienced a greater improvement measured by both abdominal pain intensity and IBS symptom severity score.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
I hadn’t heard of the FOTAD diet. If anyone else is curious, there’s a description at the link:
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/fodmap-diet-what-you-need-to-know
Mediterranean diet is delish and wonderful for your weight and health. If I needed to lose weight, that’s what I’d eat. Not surprised it has other benefits too.
Looks like a good diet for democrats with bowels in an uproar.
“Mediterranean diet is delish and wonderful for your weight and health. If I needed to lose weight, that’s what I’d eat. Not surprised it has other benefits too.”
I think it is one of the healthiest period, despite myths and misconceptions. I think a lot has to do with the predominant presence of Olive Oil. If you stay away from too many Cannolis of course... :)
IBS...another 3 letter made up disease big pharma has a drug for.
We learned that when you’re writing an acronym you’re supposed to spell out every word at the beginning. FODMAP...
Gee, I thought everyone on earth knew that FODMAP stands for “fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols”. :-)
Yes, of course I had to look it up, and I’ve forgotten it already. I completely agree with you that acronyms should be defined on first use.
“Mediterranean diet”
That’s the proper diet to tell your doctor you’re on if you’re actually low carb, Keto, or Carnivore...assuming you want to not have arguments with your doctor.
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