Feasibility Randomised Controlled Trial to Test The 8x5 Diet

This team of researchers is investigating how food, nutrition and diet can be helpful for the management of BAD in adults.

Currently, treatment is with medicine and needs to be taken daily and is lifelong. Long-term, one out of every two adults have ongoing symptoms. Many people living with bile acid diarrhoea (BAD) alter their diet to control their symptoms. However, dietary management, including a ‘low-fat diet’, has not been well or widely studied. We do not know what type of diet is safe and effective for managing BAD. Many people living with BAD are more likely to have other issues such as no gallbladder, IBS, anxiety, overweight and obesity. In BAD, we do not know to what extent peoples’ diets are nutritionally balanced because this has not yet been addressed. This is important to know, in particular amongst those who are continuing to find ways to feel better.

We have developed a healthy dietary pattern for adults living with BAD. Called The 8x5 Diet, it is based on eating whole foods and framed on the UK’s healthy eating recommendations. More specifically, it is defined by its fat intake, its daily eating pattern, keeping adequately hydrated, having a variety of whole grains, fruit and vegetables, and use of certain plant fibres. The purpose of this research is to assess whether this healthy dietary pattern can work under robust scientific conditions called a randomised controlled feasibility trial.

We need a total of 76 participants. At this stage of the research, we have chosen not to include the types of BAD that can be more complicated, such as when it develops after cancer treatment or in Crohn’s disease. To conduct this study as high-quality research we need to randomly allocate participants to either a control group or an intervention group for 8 weeks. If allocated to the Version 1; Date Ethics Ref: 19094 control group, you will continue to follow your usual diet. If allocated to the intervention group, you will be advised on how to follow The 8x5 Diet. You and the research team will know which diet group you were allocated to. By taking part you will provide important, new, scientific information to inform on nutrition in BAD and The 8x5 Diet for progressing to a future, larger research study for the dietary management of BAD. This research is to our knowledge a first in the world for BAD: no similar nutritional studies in BAD exist anywhere else. We believe the results of this study will help steer research towards making the lives better for people living with BAD.

For further information please click on the image below or email Yvonne: yvonne.mckenzie@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk