Feasibility of Low Fermentable Oligosaccharide, Disaccharide, Monosaccharide, and Polyol Diet and Its Effects on Quality of Life in an Italian Cohort.

The low Fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols (FODMAP) diet has demonstrated excellent results in terms of symptom control and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) sufferers, but patients have complained about unsatisfying taste, difficulty in following the diet, and time consumption. To investigate the feasibility of the low FODMAP diet in an Italian (Sardinian) cohort, sixty consecutive eligible outpatients (11 men and 49 women) with IBS were enrolled and followed a low FODMAP diet (gluten allowed, restriction phase of four weeks, reintroduction phase of four weeks). Food habits were assessed using 24-hour dietary recall, Bristol Stool Scale for stool consistency, Visual Analogue Scale for abdominal bloating, VAS (Visual Analogue Scale) for abdominal pain, IBS Severity Scoring System for perceived disease severity, and a 12-item Short Form Survey for HRQoL (psychological component summary + mental component summary) were applied at baseline (T0) and at the end of each phase (T1-four weeks and T2-eight weeks).