"A change in diet can improve the lives of those diagnosed with a common but hardtotreat gut disorder.  Thats the result of research by the University of Michigan Health System presented at Digestive DiseaseWeek that studied for the first time in the United States the result of following a carefully controlled diet to improve the symptoms and quality of life for those with irritable bowel syndrome.  This is the only methodically rigorous clinical trial to show that dietbased therapy can not only improve symptoms but also quality of life in patients with IBS says UM assistant clinical professor and gastroenterologist Shanti Eswaran M.D. who researches the role of diet and food in functional bowel diseases such as IBS. Irritable bowel syndrome can be highly debilitating if not virtually paralyzing and affect work sleep and personal and family relationships. Most treatments initially rely on medications that are often expensive usually ineffective and frequently cause unwelcome side effects. And unfortunately there is no cure. Many practitioners and patients have turned to diet as a possible treatment but many of the dietary recommendations have not been backed by clinical trials.The study the largest of its kind measured the degree of relief from low FODMAP a frequently recommended diet which stands for Fermentable OligoDiMonosaccharides and Polyols. This diet excludes many compounds found in wheat certain fruits and vegetables garlic onions and sugar substitutes.  Over a sixweek process registered dietitians educated and monitored the progress of more than  IBS patients. Roughly half followed a prescribed low FODMAP diet and half were a control group that used a commonsense regimen cutting down on large meals binges and known irritants such as caffeine and alcohol. The results were impressive More than  percent of the patients on the low FODMAP diet had major improvement of their abdominal pain compared with  percent of the control group.  There was also more improvement of other bothersome symptoms compared to the control group bloating diarrhea and stool urgency.  Eswaran collaborated with William Chey M.D. professor of internal medicine Kenya Jackson Sivaram G. Pillai Samuel W. Chey and Theresa HanMarkey M.S. R.D. at the University of Michigan on the study abstract published in Gastroenterology. At four weeks the proportion of patients with a meaningful improvement in IBS quality of life was significantly higher in the low FODMAP group compared to the control group   percent versus  percent.  While the results are highly encouraging for IBS sufferers there are a few important caveats Eswaran says.  Because of the many unknowns about the chemical causes and triggers of IBS the list of bad foods is exhaustive and elusive and help from a dietician is highly recommended. LowFODMAP is not a new treatment but we are now convinced that it really works she says. Our next step will be to more precisely determine the underlying chemistry of how and why particular foods can yield dramatically different results for different people. Meanwhile we strongly recommend that IBS patients work with their physician and a registered dietitian to navigate the LowFODMAP diet to take control of their IBS symptoms. Eswaran received funding to conduct the research from the University of Michigan Nutritional and Obesity Center and Prometheus Diagnostics."