Dietary intake of phytochemicals in association with irritable bowel syndrome in adults

Abolfazl Lari; Farzad Shidfar; Azadeh Aminianfar; Ammar Hassanzadeh Keshteli; Ahmad Esmaillzadeh; Peyman Adibi; Fatemeh Mehravar

doi:10.1016/j.clnesp.2023.06.013

Dietary intake of phytochemicals in association with irritable bowel syndrome in adults

Clin Nutr ESPEN. 2023 Oct:57:158-165. doi: 10.1016/j.clnesp.2023.06.013. Epub 2023 Jun 21.

Authors

Abolfazl Lari¹, Farzad Shidfar², Azadeh Aminianfar³, Ammar Hassanzadeh Keshteli⁴, Ahmad Esmaillzadeh⁵, Peyman Adibi⁶, Fatemeh Mehravar⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
² Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: shidfar.f@iums.ac.ir.
³ Research Center for Biochemistry and Nutrition in Metabolic Diseases, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran.
⁴ Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
⁵ Department of Community Nutrition, School of Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Obesity and Eating Habits Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Molecular-Cellular Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Department of Community Nutrition, School of Nutrition and Food Science, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran. Electronic address: a-esmaillzadeh@tums.ac.ir.
⁶ Integrative Functional Gastroenterology Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
⁷ Department of Psychiatry and Community Health Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Golestan University of Medical Sciences (GOUMS), Iran.

PMID: 37739651
DOI: 10.1016/j.clnesp.2023.06.013

Abstract

Background & aim: There is limited data regarding the association between phytochemical-rich diets and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The current study aimed to cross-sectionally evaluate the association of dietary phytochemical index (DPI) with the odds and severity of IBS.

Methods: In this study, which included 3362 Iranian healthcare staffs, a dish-based semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (DS-FFQ) was utilized to collect dietary information. The DPI was defined as the daily percentage of calories consumed from phytochemical-rich foods. The IBS assessment was performed using a revised Iranian version of the Rome III questionnaire. We applied the restricted cubic spline (RCS) to detect the possible non-linear dependency of the relationship between DPI and the odds of IBS.

Results: The mean age, Body Mass Index (BMI), and DPI scores of the participants were 36.29 ± 7.8 years, 24.90 ± 3.8 kg/m², and 16.07 ± 9.01, respectively. After adjusting for possible confounders, no significant association was observed between DPI and odds of IBS in the whole study population or in gender- and BMI-stratified analyses. We found a significant inverse association between DPI and IBS severity in the study population (OR: 0.70; 95% CI: 0.51-0.98). Concerning gender, such an association was only found in women (OR: 0.65; 95% CI: 0.44-0.96). However, there was no significant relationship between DPI and IBS severity in BMI subgroups. In addition, we found no meaningful relationship between DPI and IBS subtypes. The RCS model showed that there is no non-linear relationship between DPI classification and IBS (non-linear test, χ2 = 1.14, P_{non-linearity} = 0.513).

Conclusions: Higher phytochemical intake was associated with reduced IBS severity, particularly in women. Further prospective studies are required to confirm these findings.

Keywords: Dietary habits; Dietary phytochemical index; IBS severity; Irritable bowel syndrome.

MeSH terms

Adult
Eating
Energy Intake
Female
Humans
Iran / epidemiology
Irritable Bowel Syndrome*
Phytochemicals

Substances

Phytochemicals