Poster Presentation Gastrodiet 2015

Food intake in IBS patients versus healthy controls: A case-control study (#30)

Ettje F. Tigchelaar 1 2 , Zlatan Mujagic 2 3 , Sasha Zhernakova 1 2 , Saskia Meyboom 4 , Corine W.M. Perenboom 4 , Cisca Wijmenga 1 2 , Ad A.M. Masclee 2 3 , Edith J.M. Feskens 2 4 , Daisy M.A.E. Jonkers 2 3
  1. Department of genetics, University of Groningen, University Medical Centre Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
  2. Top Institute Food and Nutrition (TIFN), Wageningen, The Netherlands
  3. Division Gastroenterology-Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, NUTRIM School for Nutrition, and Translational Research in Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Center+, Maastricht, The Netherlands
  4. Division of Human Nutrition, Section Nutrition and Epidemiology, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands

Background

The majority of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) patients report their symptoms to be triggered by food and therefore exclude specific food items from their diet without professional guidance. However, evidence on inadequate food intake in IBS patients is limited. Moreover, little is known about habitual dietary intake in IBS patients.

Objective

We aimed to evaluate the habitual dietary intake in IBS patients and to compare it to the diet in controls.

Design

We collected data on participant characteristics, gastrointestinal symptoms and habitual dietary intake of IBS patients (Rome III criteria) and healthy controls. All participants completed the self-administered food frequency questionnaire, resulting in the generation of data on 21 nutrients and 146 food items based on the Dutch food composition table. Data analysis was corrected for energy intake, age and gender.

Outcomes

Data analysis of 195 IBS patients and 186 controls showed that the diet of IBS patients was significantly lower in total fat (p<0.05), fiber (p<0.001) and fructose (p<0.01) content. In addition, the intake of 11 specific food items or groups was found to be significantly different. IBS patients, for example, had a lower consumption of apples (p<0.001) and pasta (p<0.01), whereas the  consumption of processed meat (p<0.001) was higher compared to controls. Moreover, analysis of users versus non-users showed that the use of certain food products such as onion (58% versus 74% (p<0.01)) and nuts (77% versus 90% (p<0.001)) was significantly lower in cases than controls.

Conclusion

We showed that the habitual diet of IBS patients differs from the diet of controls in specific nutrient content as well as in specific food items. These findings support the idea that IBS patients tend to alter their food intake. Analysis to further investigate the associations between food intake and IBS subtypes as well as gastrointestinal complaints, is currently ongoing.