Food allergies tied to irritable bowel syndrome

People with irritable bowel syndrome have high levels of antibodies that indicate they are allergic to common foods like wheat, beef, pork, and lamb. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a condition causing constipation or diarrhoea (or sometimes both, cyclically), cramping and generalised gut discomfort. Because no clear physical cause has been discovered, it has been thought that stress and mental disorders play a role. Food hypersensitivity is a common perception among IBS patients. The idea of food allergy as a cause is supported by studies that systematically eliminated certain dietary components and then reintroduced them to see how symptoms were affected but there are no well-established tests to identify food hypersensitivity. Researchers from the St. Georges Hospital Medical School in London, UK, compared levels of antibodies to common foods in 108 patients with irritable bowel syndrome and a comparison group of 43 unaffected control subjects. As well as the antibody measurements, the researchers also conducted skin prick testing to 16 common foods including milk, eggs, cheese, wheat, rice, potatoes, various meats, and soya beans. Antibody levels to wheat, beef, pork, lamb and soya beans were significantly higher in IBS patients, and tended to be higher for egg yolk and egg white. However, the researchers didn't see any significant correlation between symptom severity & frequency and antibody levels. Nonetheless, they note that elevated levels of food-specific antibodies have been seen in asthma, which suggests there could be a similar process going on in irritable bowel syndrome.