Gluten-free diet in IBS

Joanna Dionne, MD, MSc, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Division of Critical Care and Division of Gastroenterology at McMaster University.

Is gluten-free diet beneficial in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)? Should we recommend this diet to patients with IBS? If yes, when?

Another great question. The research that’s been done... There were 2 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) done on gluten-free diet, which we wrote about in a systematic review published in 2018—though it did show a reduction in symptoms of patients with IBS, it was not a statistically significant finding and there’s limited evidence for that.

The most recent guidelines for the management of IBS actually support a diet with low fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols (low-FODMAP diet), and not a celiac diet.