It is always great when leading research happens in your own country and Australia has been at the forefront of research in the area of IBS and the Low FODMAP Diet, with thanks to Sue Shepherd, Dr Peter Gibson and all the contributors to the team at Monash University in Melbourne.
Several weeks ago Professor Bill Chey, a leading US gastroenterologist from Michigan visited the Melbourne based FODMAP testing facility. I have been to this center and it is very interesting to see the process of testing the FODMAP sugars in individual foods. Professor Chey would like to set up a similar center in Michigan for calculating the FODMAP values of US foods.
Professor Chey led a large US study which showed significant improvements in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) when IBS patients followed a low FODMAP diet. The research was presented at Digestive Disease Week and an abstract has been published in the journal of Gastroenterology.
After many years of seeing the positive impact the Low FODMAP Diet has had for so many of my clients, friends and myself – I am very excited to hear that the diet is starting to spread to other parts of the world and showing great results in research.
Unfortunately, as all interventions, it doesn’t work for everyone. I hope if you suffer from IBS and you are reading this, the Low FODMAP Diet has worked for you! It certainly seems we are on the right track.
