Taking high-dose vitamin D3 supplements or getting more sun during the summer months can dramatically improve symptoms, say researchers at the University of Sheffield.
They tested 51 IBS patients and found that 42 of them were deficient in the vitamin, and those with the lowest levels also complained that the problem affected their daily life the most significantly.
IBS is a chronic disorder of the gut that affects up to 15 per cent of the population in the West, and accounts for 10 per cent of all visits to a doctor’s surgery.
Low levels of the vitamin have also been associated with other problems of the gastro-intestinal (GI) tract, including inflammatory bowel disease, and also raised blood pressure (hypertension), and heart and kidney disease.
(Source: BMJ Open Gastroenterology, 2015; e000052)
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