Association of Dairy Consumption and Irritable Bowel Syndrome in Iranian Adults

Dietary intakes, especially dairy products, can be the cause of change or onset of the symptoms in functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). This study aimed to investigate the relationship between dairy consumption and prevalence of IBS in Iranian adults.
This cross-sectional study was based on SEPAHAN project that was done among 4763 of staffs of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran, during 2 phases. IBS and nutrient intake were assessed using ROME III criteria and validated food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), respectively. Completed questionnaires of the 2 phases which were of the subjects with lactose intolerance were excluded which resulted in 2849 questionnaires. Cases were devided to 3 consecutive groups of dairy consumption named dairy intake tertiles. The odds ratios (OR) were evaluated for IBS in dairy intake tertiles.
Findings: Prevalence of IBS was estimated 20.7%. There was no significant difference between odds ratio of IBS in crude models of low- and high-fat dairy consumption. Controlling for potential confounders did not change the results. However, there was a positive and negative association between consumption of average amount of high fat (OR: 1.11, Confidence interval of 95%: 0.87-1.41) and higher intake of low-fat dairy products (OR: 0.87, Confidence interval of 95%: 0.69-1.10) with higher prevalence of IBS. In addition, abdominal pain was related adversely to average amount of dairy consumption (OR: 0.79, Confidence interval of 95%: 0.64-0.98).
There was no significant association between IBS prevalence and dairy consumption; although, average intake of dairy products can be protective against abdominal pain.