Research suggests that a combination of three healthy behaviors can reduce your risk of irritable bowel syndrome by 42%.
IBS affects the digestive system and symptoms include stomach cramps, bloating, diarrhea, and constipation. People can continue to suffer for days, weeks, or months at a time, and symptoms may come and go. IBS is thought to affect up to 1 in 10 people worldwide.
The exact cause of this condition is unknown, but research suggests that irritable nerves in the gut, stress, and a family history of IBS may play a role.
Previous studies have linked individual lifestyle factors to an increased risk of irritable bowel syndrome, and researchers wanted to see if a combination of measures could help avoid the condition. I was there.
The study, published in the journal Gut, found that living a healthy lifestyle was strongly associated with a lower chance of developing the disease.
All five healthy behaviors were examined: quitting smoking, getting good sleep, getting enough exercise, eating a healthy diet, and reducing alcohol consumption.
Three of these individually seem to have the greatest effect: quitting smoking, vigorous exercise, and getting at least seven hours of sleep each night.
When looking at a combination of healthy behaviors, those with three or more of the five were least likely to develop IBS.
Researchers looked at 64,286 people from the UK Biobank medical database, with an average age of 55 and just over half of them women. None had been diagnosed with IBS at the start of the study period, and all had completed at least two 24-hour dietary questionnaires.
Over 12.5 years, 961 cases of IBS were recorded (1.5% of the sample). Of all study participants, 7,604 (12%) reported not engaging in any of the five healthy lifestyle behaviors, 20,662 (32%) reported one, and 21,901 (34%) 2, and 14,101 (22%) reported 3 to 5.
The healthiest people had the lowest risk of developing IBS, after accounting for factors that could influence the results, such as family history of IBS.
They found that engaging in one healthy behavior reduced risk by 21%, engaging in two decreased risk by 36%, and engaging in 3 to 5 decreased risk by 42%.
Individually, quitting smoking was associated with a 14% reduction in risk, high levels of physical activity was associated with a 17% reduction in risk, and high quality sleep was associated with a 27% reduction in risk.
Researchers from the University of Hong Kong cautioned that due to the observational nature of the study, they could not prove cause and effect.
The results of this study are based on self-reporting and may not necessarily be accurate. Also, because the sample group was older, the findings may not be applicable to younger age groups. We also were unable to account for changes in lifestyle over time during the monitoring period.
The researchers concluded that “adherence to more of the five healthy lifestyle behaviors was significantly associated with lower incidence of IBS in middle-aged adults.” Our findings suggest that lifestyle modification may be a primary prevention strategy for IBS. ”