NutriPlant - Opportunities for Increasing Consumption of Local Fruits and Vegetables

Launched by NUTRITION INSTITUTE, SLOVENIA · Jan 14, 2025

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

The NutriPlant trial is studying how different foods can help improve bowel function in adults with functional constipation and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) that involves constipation. About 120 adults aged 18 to 70 years will be involved in the study. Participants will be randomly assigned to eat one of the test foods—fresh apples, dried apples, or sauerkraut—or a fiber supplement called psyllium for four weeks. Before joining the study, participants will need to stop taking any laxatives or anti-constipation medications.

To be eligible, participants must be willing to eat the assigned food daily and meet certain criteria, like having functional constipation or IBS. They should not have any known allergies to the test foods, be pregnant or breastfeeding, or have serious gastrointestinal diseases. Throughout the study, participants will be asked not to change their diet or exercise habits and to avoid using laxatives. This research aims to find out if these local fruits and vegetables can effectively help manage constipation and IBS symptoms.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• 1. Inclusion criteria:
• • Signed informed consent of the participant to participate in the study
• • Age between 18 and 70 years
• • Functional constipation or irritable bowel syndrome
• • Expressed willingness to eat the investigated food daily (sauerkraut, apples, dried apples or psyllium; period of four weeks)
• 2. Exclusion criteria:
• • Known allergy to the investigated foods (fresh apples, dried apples, sauerkraut or psyllium)
• • Pregnancy or breastfeeding
• • Previous gastrointestinal surgery with the exception of cholecystectomy and appendectomy
• • Other gastrointestinal diseases (chronic inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease, gastroparesis, etc.)
• • Serious chronic diseases
• • Introduction of extensive changes in diet or physical activity in the last 4 weeks before the inclusion examination
• • Regular use of laxatives or inability to stop using laxatives for the duration of the study
• • Concurrent participation in another study