REVIEW article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Clinical Nutrition
This article is part of the Research TopicFODMAPs: Advances in Research and Clinical PracticeView all 6 articles
An umbrella review of meta-analyses on low-FODMAP diet in IBS
Provisionally accepted
- Department of Gastroenterology and Internal Medicine, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland
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This umbrella review systematically evaluated the effects of low FODMAP diet in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) through 192 studies retrieved from PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library and Scopus up to January 2025. All meta-analyses and evaluation criteria adhered to PRISMA guidelines. The quality of included meta-analyses was evaluated by AMSTAR-2. The effect size was expressed as standardized mean difference, odds ratio or relative risk, as available. Pooled analysis was based on random-effects model. Sixteen meta-analyses qualified for the final statistical analysis (141 studies included, 9904 patients), all of which concerned patients with IBS. Analysis of evidence showed that the low FODMAP diet in IBS patients significantly reduced symptom scores on the IBS Symptom Severity Scale (IBS-SSS) (Standardized Mean Difference SMD = -0.599, 5 meta-analyses, 3761 patients) and improved quality of life (SMD = 0.259, p < 0.0001, 5 meta-analyses, 3576 patients). No significant effect was found on abdominal pain, stool consistency, stool frequency or microbiota. For bloating the pooled analysis was not possible due to different measures in source meta-analyses. The placebo effect was not taken into account in most of the meta-analysis included into umbrella review. A low FODMAP diet reduces symptoms and improves quality of life in patients with IBS. The results should be approached with caution, as they may be influenced by psychological factors related to the observation itself. As blinding or placebo-controlled conditions are inherently impossible in dietary interventions of this type it is impossible to decide whether symptom reduction is caused strictly by diet or by non-specific or expectancy-related effects. Further 1Department of Gastroenterology and Internal Medicine, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland 2Malinowska Studio Urszula Malinowska, Warsaw, Poland methodologically reliable studies on the effectiveness of the low FODMAP diet in IBS are still needed.
Keywords: Umbrella review, Low FODMAP Diet, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, IBS, FODMAP
Received: 27 Sep 2025; Accepted: 19 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Bogdanowska-Charkiewicz, Malinowska and Daniluk. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Dagmara Bogdanowska-Charkiewicz, dagmara.bogdanowska-charkiewicz@umb.edu.pl
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