A soluble¹ fibre supplement should be the first line of attack in treating irritable² bowel³ syndrome⁴, experts say.

专家称，过敏性肠综合症首要的对付方法应该是一种可溶性纤维补充物。

Irritable bowel syndrome is a common condition

Researchers from Utrecht University in the Netherlands compared adding bran（糠，麸子）, a soluble（可溶解的） supplement called psyllium and a dummy⁵（傀儡，哑巴） supplement to sufferers' diets.

They found psyllium was the most effective, warning that bran may even worsen the symptoms of the condition, the British Medical Journal reported.

As many as one in 10 people is estimated to have the condition.

It is characterised by abdominal⁶ pain（腹痛） and an irregular bowel（肠） habit.

Its exact cause is unknown and recommendations for treatment include dietary advice, antidepressants（抗抑郁药） and drug treatments.

Many relying on dietary adjustments still turn to bran in a bid to help improve the way the intestines⁷（肠） work.

But the Dutch study of 275 patients questions the wisdom of this approach.

The team gave patients 10g of either psyllium, bran or rice flour twice a day for 12 weeks.

Symptom severity

At the end of the study, those on psyllium, a naturally occurring vegetable fibre, reported symptom severity had been reduced by 90 points using a standard scale of rating problems.

For bran it was 58 points and for the placebo⁸（安慰剂） group, 49.

The report also showed that patients seemed less tolerant of bran, with more than half of the group dropping out during the trial, mostly because their symptoms worsened.

Soluble fibre can also be found in fruit such as apples and strawberries, as well as barley⁹（大麦） and oats（燕麦）.

But Dr Niek de Wit, one of the researchers, said: "It is unlikely that people with IBS would get enough from fruit and other foods to help them.

"I think adding psyllium to the diet is the best treatment option to start with. In the study, people did this by adding it to things such as yoghurt（酸乳酪） and it had a real effect."