Tag Archives: galactooligosaccharides

Does a Less Restrictive Low FODMAP Diet Work?

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In the movie There’s Something About Mary, there is a scene (YouTube: 7-minute abs) where the main character picks up a hitchhiker. The hitchhiker reveals his brilliant idea for the 7-minute ab workout to replace the 8-minute ab workout. Of course, he becomes upset when the lead character suggests that someone else could invent the 6-minute ab workout.

This is what I was thinking of when I read a recent article describing a simplified, less restrictive low FODMAP diet.

P Singh et al. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 2025; 23: 362-364. Is a Simplified, Less Restrictive Low FODMAP Diet Possible? Results From a Double-Blind, Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

This pilot study with 35 subjects with IBS-D were randomized to a standard low FODMAP diet (LFD) or to a simplified FODMAP diet which eliminated solely fructans and galactooligosaccharides. The primary endpoint was the proportion of subjects meeting the FDA responder definition for abdominal pain intensity (ie. a >/= 30% reduction in weekly average of daily abdominal pain scores for 2 of the 4-week treatment period).

Key findings:

  • There was a similar reduction in key symptoms (see below)
  • Fewer individuals in the simplified diet dropped out due to side effects or difficulty with adherence (12.5% vs 26.3%)
Blue columns indicate response to traditional low FODMAP diet (n=19)
and orange represents response to simplified low FODMAP diet (n=16)

My take: Larger trials are needed. This study suggests that a simplified version of a low FODMAP diet would improve symptoms in most patients with IBS-D.

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