A new study by Michigan Medicine researchers in the United States has found that the Mediterranean diet can significantly alleviate symptoms in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), offering a less restrictive alternative to the commonly prescribed low FODMAP diet.
Published in the journal Neurogastroenterology & Motility, the study randomly assigned IBS patients to follow either the Mediterranean diet or the low FODMAP diet.
Researchers observed notable symptom improvements in both groups.
High Success Rates For Mediterranean Diet
In the Mediterranean diet group, 73% of participants met the primary endpoint for symptom relief.
Meanwhile, the low FODMAP group showed slightly higher success, with 81.8% of participants reporting improvement.
Dr Prashant Singh, a gastroenterologist at Michigan Medicine and the study’s lead author, highlighted the benefits of offering a more accessible dietary solution.
“Restrictive diets like low FODMAP can be difficult for patients to adopt,” he said. “They are often expensive, time-consuming, and raise concerns about nutritional deficiencies and disordered eating.”
Dr Singh and his team turned to the Mediterranean diet as a potential alternative that avoids food elimination.
Already favoured by physicians for its cardiovascular and cognitive health benefits, the Mediterranean diet showed promising results in the IBS patient group.
“While the Mediterranean diet is not as symptom-targeted as low FODMAP, it overcomes several practical barriers and still yields meaningful symptom relief,” Singh added.
Mixed Past Results Reconsidered
Although previous studies have produced conflicting data regarding the Mediterranean diet’s effect on IBS, this study suggests that it deserves a place in the array of dietary options for patients.
While participants on the low FODMAP diet experienced greater improvements in abdominal pain intensity and overall IBS severity, the Mediterranean diet still demonstrated significant effectiveness.
Dr William Chey, Chief of Gastroenterology at the University of Michigan, emphasised the value of these findings.
“This study adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting that the Mediterranean diet might be a useful addition to the menu of evidence-based dietary interventions for patients with IBS,” he said.
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