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. 2025 Jun 30;24(1):98.
doi: 10.1186/s12937-025-01164-y.

Association between the dietary index for gut microbiota and constipation in American adults

Chunyan Song  1 , Zhulin Zhang  1 , Shanxiang Zhu  1 , Huacheng Tong  2
Affiliations

Association between the dietary index for gut microbiota and constipation in American adults

Chunyan Song et al. Nutr J. .

Abstract

Constipation, a common gastrointestinal disorder, significantly impacts quality of life.Its association with gut microbiota has garnered attention.Dietary factors play a crucial role in the development and management of constipation.The recently introduced dietary index for gut microbiota (DI-GM), a measure of gut microbiota diversity, offers insights into this connection.The association between dietary gut microbiota index and constipation is a critical public health issue.This study investigated the association between DI-GM and constipation prevalence in the American population using data from 11,819 individuals from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between 2005 and 2010.Constipation was defined using Bristol stool form scale types 1 and 2.Dietary recall information was used to determine the DI-GM score, indicating the dietary influence on the gut microbiome. Multivariate weighted logistic regression, adjusted for confounders, was performed to analyze the association between DI-GM scores and constipation prevalence.Further analyses included a subgroup analysis and restricted cubic splines to explore this association [restricted cubic spline(RCS)].An increased DI-GM index, indicating a healthier gut microbiome, was related to a decreased risk of constipation.A similar association was observed with a more favorable score for beneficial gut microbiota.Non-linear associations between DI-GM scores and constipation were identified through RCS analysis.Subgroup and interaction analyses confirmed the consistency of these findings across strata, suggesting no significant heterogeneity.These findings suggest that dietary adjustments may be an important method for preventing constipation.

Keywords: Constipation; Dietary index for gut microbiota (DI-GM); General population; NHANES.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: The institutional review board approved the NHANES protocol of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and each participant provided written informed consent.The authors of this study thank the participants of the NHANES and the NHANES staff. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow chart of the study
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Association between DI-GM and Constipation in NHANES 2005–2010 participants by RCS. Association between DI-GM and Constipation in NHANES 2005–2010 participants by RCS Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; DI-GM, dietary index for gut microbiota; NHANES, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey; OR, odd ratio; RCS, restricted cubic spline. The model adjusted for age, gender, marital status, race/ethnicity, education level, Family income ratio, body mass index, smoking status, drinking, physical activities, Carbohydrate intake. Model 3 was adjusted for model 2 + CVD, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, NHANES cycle
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Association between the gut microbiota dietary index and Constipation according to general characteristics. The stratifications were adjusted for all variables (age, gender, marital status, race/ethnicity, education level, body mass index, smoking status, drinking, physical activities, Carbohydrate intake, CVD, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, NHANES cycle.) except for the stratification factor itself. Circles represent the ORs and horizontal lines represent 95% CIs. BMI, body mass index; CI, confidence interval; OR, odds ratio
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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