People who eat high fiber diets are more likely to experience bloating if their high fiber diet is protein-rich as compared to carbohydrate-rich, according to a study.
The researchers, whose findings were published online January 15 in the journal Clinical and Translational Gastroenterology, analyzed data from a clinical trial of high fiber diets. They determined that when the 164 trial participants ate versions of a heart-healthy, high-fiber diet that was relatively rich in plant protein, they were about 40 percent more likely to report bloating symptoms than when eating a carbohydrate-rich version of the same high fiber diet.
The study suggests that people who want to eat a high fiber diet would be less likely to experience bloating if the diet were relatively carb-rich versus protein-rich.
High-fiber diets are believed to cause bloating by boosting certain populations of healthful fiber-digesting gut bacteria species, which produce gas as a byproduct. The findings thus also hint at a role for «macronutrients» such as carbs and proteins in modifying the gut bacteria population — the microbiome.
«It’s possible that in this study, the protein-rich version of the diet caused more bloating because it caused more of a healthy shift in the composition of the microbiome,» says study co-senior author Noel Mueller, PhD, an assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Bloomberg School. «Notably, the protein in these diets was mostly from vegetable sources such as beans, legumes, and nuts.»
Bloating affects about 20 percent of the U.S. adult population, and is so common as a side effect of high fiber diets that it deters many people from adopting such diets. Mueller and colleagues in recent years have been re-examining data from past, high quality clinical trials to find dietary factors that might modify bloating frequency in the context of a high fiber diet. Last year, Mueller and colleagues reported that salt appeared to be one such factor. It was associated with more bloating in a trial of a heart-healthy, high-fiber diet, suggesting that cutting back on salt could be one easy way to reduce bloating.
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Materials provided by Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.