When you hear “Mediterranean diet,” you likely have a strong image of a diet that is good for heart and vascular health.
It is a diet that involves eating plenty of olive oil, vegetables, beans, and fish.
A somewhat surprising possibility has emerged regarding this Mediterranean diet.
Research has been reported suggesting that it may have the potential to alleviate symptoms such as abdominal pain in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). as well.
IBS is known for being quite difficult to manage through diet.
If the Mediterranean diet can be used as an option for that, this is an interesting development.
🫒 IBS symptoms improved with the Mediterranean diet
This study was a small-scale study conducted on people with IBS.
It was reported that when they adopted the Mediterranean diet, improvements in IBS symptoms, including abdominal pain, were confirmed. as well.
The Mediterranean diet might sound difficult, but the basics are:
・Vegetables and fruits
・Legumes
・Whole grains
・Nuts
・Fish
・Olive oil
and so on.
On the other hand, red meat and processed foods are kept to a minimum.
It is not a special diet where you only eat certain things.
The idea is to shift your overall daily diet toward plant-based foods and fish.
🤔 When it comes to IBS, the “low-FODMAP diet” is famous, but…
The “low-FODMAP diet” is well-known as a dietary therapy for IBS.
FODMAP is a collective term for carbohydrates and the like that are difficult to absorb in the small intestine and easily ferment in the gut.
This is a method of reducing bloating, abdominal pain, and diarrhea by temporarily restricting foods that contain high amounts of these.
In fact, it is used as a dietary therapy for IBS.
However, there are also problems.
There are quite a lot of restrictions on what you can eat.
Moreover, it is not a diet that you continue to restrict strictly forever; originally, after restricting for a certain period, you gradually reintroduce foods while searching for what you react to.
In other words, it is quite difficult if you try to do it properly.
🐟 So, the option of the “Mediterranean diet”
What is interesting about the Mediterranean diet is that,
it is easier to structure “what you usually eat” than “what you do not eat.”
Since it focuses on vegetables, beans, fish, olive oil, etc., it is relatively easy to incorporate into daily life.
Furthermore, the Mediterranean diet was not created solely for IBS, and its relationship with cardiovascular disease and metabolic health has been studied for a long time.
If there are benefits for IBS symptoms as well,
instead of “eating a special diet just for your stomach,” you can regulate your stomach within a diet that considers overall health.
This direction becomes visible.
I personally think this is quite attractive.
⚠️ However, it does not mean “If you have IBS, the Mediterranean diet will cure it”
This is important.
This study is a small-scale study, so we cannot say that the Mediterranean diet is the correct answer for IBS based on these results alone.
Also, among the foods often eaten in the Mediterranean diet, there are some that can easily cause symptoms depending on the person with IBS.
For example, beans and some vegetables and fruits.
It is not a matter of simply choosing either the Mediterranean diet or the low-FODMAP diet.
If symptoms are severe, it is safer to search for foods that suit you while consulting with a doctor or registered dietitian.
🍽️ There may be more ways to manage your stomach than just “restricting” foods
When you start thinking about what to eat with IBS,
it’s tough because it’s easy to end up thinking,
“I can’t have that either”
or “I can’t have this either.”
That is why what is interesting about this study is that it suggests that improving your overall healthy eating pattern could potentially reduce IBS symptoms.
Although it is still in the research stage,
the idea that there could be options beyond “having a sensitive stomach means strictly limiting foods”
makes me curious about future research.
If it were me, I wouldn’t change my entire diet all at once, but instead,
if I eat mostly meat, I’d switch to fish a few times a week. If I use oil, I’d switch to olive oil. If I eat a lot of processed foods, I’d add a few more vegetables and nuts.
I would start with something like that.
The Mediterranean diet has a grand name, but what you actually do is surprisingly normal.