The Relationship of Dietary Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load with Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Background and Objectives: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a chronic intestinal disorder, which is characterized by irritating pain during defecation or alteration of the bowel habits. In the curent study, the association of dietary glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL) with the risk of this syndrome, was investigated in a large population of Iranian adults.   Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 3363 adults in Isfahan. To assess GI and GL, a diet was used. The presence of IBS was evaluated using a modified Persian version of the ROME III questionnaire. General characteristics and dietary intakes of the participants across quintiles of dietary GI and GL, were investigated using one-way ANOVA, Chi square, and logistic regression in different models.   Results: In total, 748 subjects (22.2%) had IBS. The participants with the highest dietary GI had higher risk for IBS compared to those in the lowest category (OR: 1.34; 95% CI: 1.03-1.75). However, this association was not significant after adjusting for potential confounders (OR: 1.14; 95% CI: 0.81-1.61). A positive significant relationship was found between dietary GI and odds of IBS-constipation predominant (IBS-C) (OR: 1.96; 95% CI: 1.09-3.52), but was not observed for IBS-diarrhea predominant (IBS-D) (OR: 0.78; 95% CI: 0.43-1.40). There was no significant association between dietary GL and risk of total IBS or its subtypes. No significant association was found between dietary GI and GL and severity of IBS.   Conclusion: The results of this study showed a significant association between dietary GI and risk of IBS and IBS-D as well as severity of IBS. However, a significant positive association was found between dietary GI and IBS-C, and no significant association was found between dietary GL and risk of total IBS or its subtypes as well as IBS severity.