About a third of patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) develop disorderly eating habits and perceptions about food that can cause digestive symptoms and even an unhealthy preoccupation with healthy eating. In particular, many people believe with the condition Eating gluten or wheat is the most important culprit that causes their symptoms. This asks them to exclude these foods from their diet without consulting a dietician, which in turn Can lead to more serious IBS symptoms and a changed fecal microbiota composition.
A new Randomized, double-blind, false-controlled crossover test found Gluten and wheat can be safe to eat for many people with IBS, despite their self-evalued sensitivities for these ingredients.
To understand whether gluten and wheat are common triggers, Premysl Bercik recruited at McMaster University in Canada and his colleagues recruited 28 people with IBS who experienced improvement compared to a gluten -free diet. Patients were instructed to end a treatment that they considered effective. They were then randomly assigned to consume one of the three types of cereal bars, which had the same appearance and taste every day.
One of the bars contained whole -grain (wheat flour was selected for the highest content of amylase -trypsin inhibitors, which is thought that they are synergies to trigger intestinal inflammation with gluten), the second contained purified gluten and the third was free of both ingredients (Sham Challenge). Patients were told that one of the bars could provoke or worsen their symptoms.
At the end of each intervention, neither the participants knew nor the researchers who was consumed. Participants reported their symptoms and gave relief samples to objectively measure the gluten intake through the detection of glutenimmunogenic peptides.
The authors have found that All three challenges (wheat, gluten and sham) Induced symptoms -Sessed as a deterioration of 50 points in IBS symptoms- In a similar part of the participants: 11 of the 28 participants who eat the wheat bars, 10 of the 28 participants who only eat gluten bars and 8 out of 28 participants who eat the false bears. The negative expectations (ie nocebo effects), on the other hand, do not aggravate any symptoms in some patients (non-response) despite the holding of beliefs about gluten or wheat. These findings suggest that expectations and beliefs, instead of gluten or wheat, can stimulate symptoms in many patients with IBS.
These findings complement earlier studies in patients with functional dyspepsia and non-Coeliakie wheat sensitivity. In patients with functional dyspepsia, fullness and bloating were not just worse By taking a meal with a lot of fat but also by a meal that the patient considered high in fat. Another study recognized the importance of intestinal brain interactions in people who have reported self-sensitivity themselves. It turned out that patients with reported gluten sensitivity who ate gluten and were also told that they were eating gluten had considerably worse symptoms.
The NOCEBO effects not only influenced generating the symptom, but also the compliance. Although most grain rods themselves were reported as consumed for every challenge, stools gluten immunogenic peptides revealed that that Only a third of the participants (9/28) actually ate the bars such as the dietician’s assignment. Although patients were later informed which bars caused symptoms, most did not change their beliefs or diets.
While the false-controlled crossover design offers a robust method for investigating the role of food triggers in patients with IBS, Sigrid Elsenbruch at the University of Duisburg-Essed in Germany recognized in one corresponding That the fact that the participants were told that one of the bars could worsen their symptoms may have improved the NOCEBO effect compared to a real clinical practical environment. The absence of a control group without negative framing (selected participants also had strong beliefs about food triggers) a challenge to investigate the convergence of food ingredients and expectation effects on generating symptoms.
In summary, although some people with IBS may have a gluten sensitivity, these findings suggest that for others it is the belief that stimulates their symptoms and subsequent food choices to prevent gluten or wheat. Integrating expectations into the current management strategies for disorders of the interaction between abdominal brain is the next step, as well as Promotion of cooperation between gastro -centerologists, dietitians and psychologists to transform future research and to personalize patient careIn particular, improving the communication of the patient provider to adjust the patient’s beliefs to food triggers.
References:
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Lenhart A, Dong T, Joshi S, et al. Effect of exclusion diets on the severity of symptoms and intestinal microbiota in patients with irritable bowel syndrome. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2022; 20 (3): E465-E483. DOI: 10.1016/J.CGH.2021.05.027.
Larissa Seiler C, Horacio Rueda G, Miguel Miranda P, et al. Effect of gluten and wheat on symptoms and behavior in adults with irritable bowel syndrome: a single center, randomized, double-blind, false-controlled crossover study. Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2025; 10 (9): 794-805. Two: 10.1016/S2468-1253 (25) 00090-1.
Feinle bisset C, Meier B, Fried M, et al. Role of cognitive factors in symptom induction after high and low -fat meals in patients with functional dyspepsia. Gut. 2003; 52 (10): 1414-1418. DOI: 10.1136/intestine. 52.10.1414.
CG de Graph M, Lawton CL, Croden f, et al. The effect of expectation versus actual gluten intake on gastrointestinal and extra-intestinal symptoms in non-CO-Koeliac Gluten sensitivity: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, international, multicentre study. Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2024; 9 (2): 110-123. Two: 10.1016/S2468-1253 (23) 00317-5.
Elsenbruch S. Unraveling the power of NOCEBO in the symptom response on food challenge in irritable bowel syndrome. Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2025; 10 (9): 780-781. Two: 10.1016/S2468-1253 (25) 00126-8.
Winning L, Heathcote LC, Van Oudenhove L, et al. The psychobiological model of disorders of the interaction between abdominal brain: introduction of a new, integrated and testable model. Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2025. Two: 10.1016/S2468-1253 (25) 00205-5.
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