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This Easier-To-Follow Diet Might Help IBS Patients, Study Says

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on June 9, 2025.

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, June 9, 2025 — The Mediterranean diet might be a reasonable alternative for people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) who find it tough to stick with a strict prescription diet, a new small-scale pilot study says.

Nearly 3 in 4 (73%) IBS patients following a Mediterranean diet experienced less abdominal pain after a month, researchers report.

Only slightly more people (82%) assigned the low FODMAP diet — a common and much stricter diet prescribed for IBS — achieved similar or better symptom relief.

“Restrictive diets, such as low FODMAP, can be difficult for patients to adopt,” lead researcher Dr. Prashant Singh, a gastroenterologist at the University of Michigan, said in a news release.

“In addition to the issue of being costly and time-consuming, there are concerns about nutrient deficiencies and disordered eating when trying a low FODMAP diet,” Singh said. “The Mediterranean diet interested us as an alternative that is not an elimination diet and overcomes several of these limitations related to a low FODMAP diet.”

Irritable bowel syndrome affects as many as 11% of people worldwide, researchers said in background notes. Most patients prefer to try to control their IBS through diet rather than taking medications.

The Mediterranean diet is an eating pattern focused on plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains, seeds, nuts, legumes and olive oil. Fish, poultry and dairy are consumed a few times a week, and red meat and processed meat are eaten less frequently.

FODMAP is an acronym for a class of carbs that are more difficult for people to digest: Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides and Polyols, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

People on a low FODMAP diet are told to avoid many types of vegetables, fruits, dairy, legumes, breads and cereals, the Cleveland Clinic says. The diet is intended to give the digestive system a rest, but it can be tough to follow.

In this pilot study, researchers assigned 10 IBS patients to follow the Mediterranean diet and another 10 the low FODMAP diet. Meals were provided for both groups.

The goal was for patients to achieve at least at 30% reduction in the intensity of their abdominal pain.

The Mediterranean diet did provide symptom relief, but the low FODMAP group experienced greater improvement measured by both the intensity of their abdominal pain and a score of their overall IBS symptoms, researchers said.

They concluded that further investigation of the Mediterranean diet as a potential treatment for IBS is warranted.

“This study adds to a growing body of evidence which suggests that a Mediterranean diet might be a useful addition to the menu of evidence-based dietary interventions for patients with IBS,” senior researcher Dr. William Chey, chief of gastroenterology at the University of Michigan, said in a news release.

The pilot study appears in the journal Neurogastroenterology & Motility.

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Posted June 2025

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