A recent study published in the Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology Journal is finally recognizing that food has something to do with IBS and that some people are reactive to some foods.

Unfortunately they misstate that there are no good tests to determine if a person is hypersensitive to a specific food. Their exact words: "No assays identify patients with FH with satisfactory levels of sensitivity".

Apparently they didn't look very hard.

We (at the IBS Treatment Center) use food allergy testing that is very accurate, highly repeatable, and has helped many hundreds of patients identify the foods to which they are allergic and which cause them to have symptoms. We have the experience and the data to know that some types of food sensitivity testing are very good. We also know that other types of testing are not so good.

This is the kind of crucial, practical insight that you can't get from looking at small studies.
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The study, from Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology:

Background & Aims

Some patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)-like symptoms suffer from food hypersensitivity (FH); their symptoms improve when they are placed on elimination diets. No assays identify patients with FH with satisfactory levels of sensitivity.

We determined the frequency of FH among patients with symptoms of IBS and the ability of fecal assays for tryptase, eosinophil cationic protein (ECP), or calprotectin to diagnose FH.

Methods

The study included 160 patients with IBS, 40 patients with other gastrointestinal diseases, and 50 healthy individuals (controls). At the start of the study, patients completed a symptom severity questionnaire, fecal samples were assayed, and levels of specific immunoglobulin E were measured. Patients were observed for 4 weeks, placed on an elimination diet (without cow's milk and derivatives, wheat, egg, tomato, and chocolate) for 4 weeks, and kept a diet diary.

Those who reported improvements after the elimination diet period were then diagnosed with FH, based on the results of a double-blind, placebo-controlled, oral food challenge (with cow's milk proteins and then with wheat proteins).

Results

Forty of the patients with IBS (25%) were found to have FH. Levels of fecal ECP and tryptase were significantly higher among patients with IBS and FH than those without FH. The ECP assay was the most accurate assay for diagnosis of FH, showing 65% sensitivity and 91% specificity.

Conclusions

Twenty-five percent of patients with IBS have FH. These patients had increased levels of fecal ECP and tryptase, indicating that they might cause inflammation in patients with IBS. Fecal assays for ECP could be used to identify FH in patients with IBS.

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Study published published online 12 August 2011.

Image thanks to annabelkarmel.com