Lis DM, et al. - The consequence of low fermentable oligosaccharide, disaccharide, monosaccharide and polyols (FODMAP) (LFOD) diet was evaluated on gastrointestinal (GI) distress parameters, in runners with a history of non-clinical exercise-associated GI symptoms. It was disclosed that a short-term FODMAP reduction could possibly serve as a beneficial intervention to minimize daily GI symptoms, among runners with exercise-related GI distress.

Methods

• The recruitment comprised 11 recreationally competitive runners (5 males, 6 females; 5km personal best 23:00+/-4:02 min:sec).
• Runners were allocated to a randomized 6-day LFOD or high FODMAP (HFOD) diet separated by a 1-day wash-out in a controlled, single-blinded cross-over study.
• In each period, the enrollees completed two strenuous running sessions consisting of 5x1000m and a 7km threshold run.
• GI symptoms (during-exercise and daily) and the Daily Analysis of Life Demand for Athletes (DALDA) questionnaires were completed.
• An estimation was performed of the area under the curve (AUC), for daily GI symptoms across each dietary period.
• The multilevel mixed-effects linear regression carried out the assessment for comparison between the two diets.

Results

• A notably smaller AUC was noted for daily GI symptoms, 6-days-1 during the LFOD compared to HFOD (mean difference -13.4, 95% CI [-22, -4.60], P=0.003).
• The daily GI symptoms reported to be considerably lower during LFOD were flatulence (P<0.001), urge to defecate (P=0.04), loose stool (P=0.03) and diarrhea (P=0.004).
• There were no prominent variations in the during exercise symptoms or DALDA responses, between diets (p>0.05).