Daily Health News Blog

Adding soluble fiber to the diet may improve symptoms associated with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), but insoluble fiber may worsen the effects, according to a new study. Sufferers of IBS assigned to receive a soluble fiber supplement (psyllium) experienced a 90-point reduction in the severity of their symptoms, almost double the levels observed in the placebo group. Reductions of 58 points in the severity of symptoms in the group assigned bran were noted, but this group experienced a high level of early drop-out following a worsening of IBS. “In this randomized trial in primary care patients with irritable bowel syndrome, psyllium resulted in a significantly greater proportion of patients reporting adequate relief of symptoms compared with placebo supplementation,” researchers wrote in the British Medical Journal . The precise numbers of people living with IBS in the United States are not known, as many people with mild symptoms do not consult a physician, but it