Dr Ray O\u2019Connor takes a look at recent clinical articles on Diet and GI Issues, including the effects of caffeine, ultra-processed foods, and IBS on human health<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
The effect of caffeine in coffee, a popular beverage, on gastrointestinal symptoms has been the subject of ongoing debate worldwide. This cross-sectional study1<\/span> used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) spanning 2005\u20132010. The study explored the association between caffeine intake and bowel habits and Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).<\/p>\n Dr Ray O\u2019Connor<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The study included a total of 12,759 adults. It was found that caffeine intake was negatively associated with chronic diarrhoea. There was a U-shaped nonlinear relationship between caffeine intake and chronic constipation. In addition, no significant association was found between caffeine intake and IBD.<\/p>\n Subgroup analyses and interaction tests showed that caffeine intake was simply negatively associated with chronic constipation in older adults. The conclusion was that moderate caffeine intake may help with bowel movements, but excessive caffeine intake may cause chronic constipation. <\/strong><\/p>\n Another dietary related study2<\/span> looked to determine the effect of a pre-pregnancy lifestyle intervention on glucose tolerance in people at higher risk of gestational diabetes mellitus.<\/p>\n The participants were 167 participants with at least one risk factor for gestational diabetes mellitus who contemplated pregnancy. These participants were randomly allocated (1:1) to a lifestyle intervention or a standard care control group. The intervention consisted of exercise training and time-restricted eating, started before pregnancy and continued throughout pregnancy. Exercise volume was set using a physical activity metric with the goal of \u2265100 weekly personal activity points.<\/p>\n Time-restricted eating involved consuming all energy within \u226410 hours\/day for at least five days a week. The main outcome measure was two hour plasma glucose level in an oral glucose tolerance test at gestational week 28. The results were that 111 became pregnant (56 in intervention group and 55 in control group).<\/p>\n The intervention had no significant effect on two hour plasma glucose level in an oral glucose tolerance test at gestational week 28. The authors concluded that a combination of time restricted eating and exercise training started before and continued throughout pregnancy had no significant effect on glycaemic control in late pregnancy.<\/strong><\/p>\n The whole concept of Ultra-processed Foods (UPF) and their damaging effect on human health is explored in detail in a new Lancet<\/em> series.3<\/span> This series combines narrative and systematic reviews with original analyses and meta-analyses to assess three hypotheses concerning a dietary pattern based on ultra-processed foods.<\/p>\n There is a helpful summary in the first paper.3<\/span> The first hypothesis \u2014 that this pattern is globally displacing long-established diets centred on whole foods and their culinary preparation as dishes and meals\u2014is supported by decades of national food intake and purchase surveys, and recent global sales data.<\/p>\n The second \u2014 that this pattern results in deterioration of diet quality, especially in relation to chronic disease prevention\u2014is confirmed by national food intake surveys, large cohorts, and interventional studies showing gross nutrient imbalances; overeating driven by high energy density, hyper-palatability, soft texture, and disrupted food matrices; reduced intake of health-protective phytochemicals; and increased intake of toxic compounds, endocrine disruptors, and potentially harmful classes and mixtures of food additives.<\/p>\n The third and final hypothesis \u2014 that this pattern increases the risk of multiple diet-related chronic diseases through various mechanisms\u2014is substantiated by more than 100 prospective studies, meta-analyses, randomised controlled trials, and mechanistic studies, covering adverse outcomes across nearly all organ systems. The totality of the evidence supports the thesis that displacement of long-established dietary patterns by ultra-processed foods is a key driver of the escalating global burden of multiple diet-related chronic diseases<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common condition of the gut\u2013brain axis with a population prevalence of five per cent. It follows a chronic fluctuating course. IBS has significant morbidity and socioeconomic impact. Most patients are seen and managed in primary care. Current guideline-recommended treatments improve symptoms in only 30\u201340 per cent of patients.<\/p>\n First line treatment includes empowering patients to feel more control over their IBS. Patient education and support helps to develop a greater understanding of their IBS<\/strong> including understanding of personal triggers such as diet or stress and explaining the pathophysiology of IBS in terms of the gut\u2013brain axis. Dietary advice (including discussion of available diets with known effectiveness), reduction of stress, regular exercise, and relaxation activities<\/strong> are recommended<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Second line includes discussing the potential benefits of a low FODMAP<\/strong> (fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols) diet with patients. Drugs and other treatments include tricyclic antidepressants (TCA) or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs),<\/strong> which may act as gut\u2013brain neuromodulators in IBS. Also psychological therapies such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) or hypnotherapy<\/strong> have been shown to be helpful.<\/p>\n Finally, new evidence shows that IBS-specific CBT delivered by telephone or internet is effective. Also, low-dose patient self-titrated amitriptyline was effective, well-tolerated, and acceptable to patients and GPs, irrespective of IBS sub-type. Previously rarely prescribed for IBS in primary care, amitriptyline now has evidence to support more widespread use in IBS.<\/p>\n References:<\/strong><\/p>\n Dr Ray O\u2019Connor takes a look at recent clinical articles on Diet and GI Issues, including the effects of caffeine, ultra-processed foods, and IBS on human health The effect of caffeine in coffee, a popular beverage, on gastrointestinal symptoms has been the subject of ongoing debate worldwide. This cross-sectional study1 used data from the National […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_daextam_enable_autolinks":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-1301830934-GI-620.webp.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1812\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Dr](\"https:\/\/d1l0gza1nowsqe.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2022\/03\/Dr_ray_o_Connor_100.jpg\")
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Thus, many people live with ongoing troublesome IBS symptoms impacting their quality of life, leading to repeated consultations. The authors of this helpful review paper4<\/span> look at evidence from recently published trials, which have identified effective management options in primary care. It summarises diagnosis of the condition followed by first line, second line as well as new and emerging treatment options.<\/p>\n\n
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