Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals in Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Abstract

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common disorder of gut–brain interaction, with a multifactorial pathophysiology involving gut–brain axis dysregulation, visceral hypersensitivity, microbiota imbalance, and immune dysfunction. Traditional IBS management emphasizes dietary modifications and pharmacologic therapies. However, increasing attention has been directed toward functional foods, nutraceuticals, and herbal remedies due to their potential to target IBS pathophysiological mechanisms with favorable safety profiles. This clinical review explores the role of these adjunctive therapies, evaluating evidence from preclinical and clinical studies. Functional foods such as kiwifruit, prunes, and rye bread demonstrate benefits in bowel habit regulation through fiber content and microbiota modulation. Nutraceuticals like peppermint oil, palmitoylethanolamide, and herbal mixtures exhibit anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, and analgesic effects. Prebiotics provide substrate-driven microbiota changes, although dosage is key, as given their fermentative properties, when used at high dosages, they can exacerbate symptoms in some individuals. Probiotics and postbiotics offer microbiota-based interventions with promising symptom relief in IBS subtypes, although factors for personalized treatment still need to be further elucidated. These strategies highlight a paradigm shift in IBS management, integrating diet-based therapies with evolving nutraceutical options to improve patient outcomes. Despite promising findings, challenges in standardizing definitions, mechanisms, and safety profiles still remain. Rigorous, large-scale trials to validate the therapeutic potential of these interventions are needed, to enhance the benefits of these compounds with an individualized treatment approach.