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Interventions and public health nutrition

Empirically derived dietary habits are associated with irritable bowel syndrome

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 72, pages 1537–1547 (2018)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/Objectives

The associations between empirically derived dietary habits and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) have not been investigated. This study aimed to assess the relationship between empirically derived dietary habits and IBS in a large population of Iranian adults.

Subjects/Methods

In a cross-sectional study, dietary habits of 4763 adults were assessed in three domains, “meal pattern”, “eating rate” and “intra-meal fluid intake”. We used latent class analysis to identify classes of dietary habits. IBS was defined based on ROME III criteria.

Results

IBS was prevalent in 20.3% (n = 966) of the study population. Two distinct classes of meal patterns: “regular” and “irregular”, three classes of eating rates: “moderate”, “moderate-to-slow” and “moderate-to-fast” and two classes of fluid ingestion with meals: “moderate” and “heavy intra-meal drinking” were identified. After adjustment for confounders, “heavy intra-meal fluid intake” was protectively associated with IBS (OR = 0.79; 95% CI:0.64–0.96). When potential confounders were considered, “meal pattern” and “eating rate” were not significantly associated with IBS in the whole population. After adjustment for confounders, women with “irregular meal pattern” had a 30% greater risk of having IBS, compared with those with “regular meal pattern” (OR = 1.30; 95% CI:1.02–1.67). Overweight participants with “fast eating rate” were 70% more likely to have IBS, compared to those with “moderate eating rate” (OR = 1.70; 95% CI:1.13–2.55). “Irregular meal pattern” was related to frequency and severity of abdominal pain.

Conclusions

We found a significant association between heavy intra-meal fluid intake” and IBS. More large-scale prospective studies are needed to affirm this association.

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Acknowledgements

We thank all staff of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences who kindly participated in our study. F.Z., A.H.K., A.E., P.S., A.F., H.D., C.F.B., and P.A. contributed in conception, design, data collection, statistical analysis, drafting and revising of the manuscript.

Funding

The study was supported by a grant from Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran. The financial support for the study comes from Food Security Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Food Security Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    Fatemeh Zaribaf, Ahmad Esmaillzadeh & Parvane Saneei

  2. Department of Community Nutrition, School of Nutrition and Food Science, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    Fatemeh Zaribaf, Ahmad Esmaillzadeh & Parvane Saneei

  3. Integrative Functional Gastroenterology Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    Ammar Hassanzadeh Keshteli, Awat Feizi, Hamed Daghaghzadeh & Peyman Adibi

  4. Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

    Ammar Hassanzadeh Keshteli

  5. Obesity and Eating Habits Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Molecular‑Cellular Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Ahmad Esmaillzadeh

  6. Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Clinical Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Ahmad Esmaillzadeh

  7. Department of Community Nutrition, School of Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Ahmad Esmaillzadeh

  8. Students’ Research Committee, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    Parvane Saneei

  9. Endocrine and Metabolism Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    Awat Feizi

  10. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    Awat Feizi

  11. University of Adelaide Discipline of Medicine, Adelaide, SA, Australia

    Christine Feinle-Bisset

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  1. Fatemeh Zaribaf
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Correspondence to Ahmad Esmaillzadeh.

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Zaribaf, F., Keshteli, A.H., Esmaillzadeh, A. et al. Empirically derived dietary habits are associated with irritable bowel syndrome. Eur J Clin Nutr 72, 1537–1547 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-018-0109-y

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