Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) affects around 4 to 5% of French people. Although benign, this functional colopathy sometimes has a strong impact on the patient’s quality of life, especially if you make this mistake…
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is difficult for patients to manage: it is not an illness, but a sensitivity disorder whose severity of symptoms varies from one person to another. Without seriousness, this functional colopathy generates abdominal pain, bloating and intestinal transit disorders. “Irritable bowel syndrome can begin in adulthood, often after a viral infection such as gastroenteritis or a flu episode.explains Professor Jean-Christophe Saurin, hepato-gastroenterologist. The link with stress or life difficulties is strong. There is in fact a favorable psychological component: we can find this syndrome in people who have experienced trauma.“
The error, which would not come from the patient himself, would be to diagnose irritable bowel syndrome when it is not one. “The medical diagnosis requires above all a diagnosis of exclusion. The doctor must rule out celiac disease, which has the same symptoms as IBS, Crohn’s disease, inflammatory or metabolic diseases as well as digestive cancersdescribes the hepato-gastroenterologist. These diseases have symptoms that are similar to IBS. However, to diagnose irritable bowel syndrome, many tests are sometimes necessary if the presentation is not typical..” Irritable bowel syndrome is caused by increased sensitivity to abdominal pain. The best treatments are therefore those which reduce the patients’ sensitivity threshold, allowing symptoms to be relieved. “The important thing, from the medical side, is not to miss something more serious on the one hand, and not to minimize the patients’ pain on the other hand.“
According to our specialist doctor, the worst mistake for patients suffering from IBS is to follow fashionable diets such as the gluten-free diet (excluding celiac disease) or the no-residue diet (without fiber). “Some people claim that fiber- and gluten-free diets make abdominal pain go away. It is sometimes true in part, but nevertheless harmful in the long term, explains Professor Saurin. Some patients no longer dare to eat while others no longer know what to put on their plate. These are exclusion diets which have no place in these patients, because in the long term, the consequences are deleterious for health; nutritional deficiencies, increased cardiovascular risk, weight gain… These diets should be avoided as much as possible.”
Our doctor therefore recommends paying attention to trigger foods, without being anxious about having pain, because sensitivity to these foods varies greatly from one person to another. In summary, certain foods must be limited, without excluding entire food groups. “In case of persistent abdominal pain, it is better to consult a gastroenterologist at least once rather than self-proclaimed therapists. Irritable bowel syndrome is not a serious illness or dangerous to your health. If we cannot cure it, we can improve the pain threshold and therefore the symptoms.” reassures the doctor.
Thanks to Professor Jean-Christophe Saurin, hepato-gastroenterologist. Comments collected in March 2026.
