Fiber-enriched diet helps to control symptoms and improves esophageal motility in patients with non-erosive gastroesophageal reflux disease

Table 1 Study population

Population characteristics	Result
Total subjects in the study, n	30
Male/Female, n	18/12
Ethnic characteristic	Non-Hispanic Caucasians 100%
Age, yr, mean ± SD	34.7 ± 9.3
BMI, kg/m2, mean ± SD	26.7 ± 6.9
Weight, kg, mean ± SD	82.5 ± 17.9
Waist/hip ratio, mean ± SD	0.91 ± 0.08
Smoking, yes, n (%)	6 (20)
Alcohol use, yes, n (%)	14 (46.7)
Alcohol, g/d, mean ± SD	1.1 ± 1.7
Dietary fiber intake, g/d, mean ± SD	6.0 ± 2.3
Hiatal hernia
Presence, n (%)	16 (53.3)
Size, cm, mean ± SD	0.9 ± 0.5
Esophageal motility disorders per Chicago 3.0
Ineffective esophageal motility, n (%)	14 (46.7)
Fragmented peristalsis, n (%)	9 (30.0)
Normal, n (%)	7 (23.3)
Mean stool frequency per week, mean ± SD	7.0 ± 2.0

BMI: Body mass index.

Table 2 Results of the study

	Baseline	EOT	P value
Symptoms’ characteristics
Presence of heartburn during 7 d, % of patients	93.3	40	0.000438
GERD-Q score, mean ± SD	10.9 ± 1.7	6.0 ± 2.3	0.000003
High resolution esophageal manometry (lower esophageal sphincter function)
At rest, mean ± SD
Mean resting pressure, mmHg	22.0 ± 9.4	26.5 ± 11.3	0.37
Minimal resting pressure, mmHg	5.41 ± 10.1	11.3 ± 9.4	0.023
Average, after 10 swallows of water, mean ± SD
Mean resting pressure, mmHg	20.5 ± 9.5	22.0 ± 10.3	0.11
Minimal resting pressure, mmHg	14.1 ± 8.0	14.9 ± 6.4	0.008
Residual pressure, mmHg	7.5 ± 6.1	7.0 ± 5.4	0.94
% Relaxation	49.7 ± 15.0	51.3 ± 19	0.3
Esophageal 24-hrs pH-impedance, mean ± SD
Number of refluxes	67.9 ± 17.7	42.4 ± 13.5	0.000002
Number of acid refluxes	43.2 ± 14.7	30.3 ± 15.3	0.002415
Number of weak acid refluxes	23.9 ± 11.7	11.3 ± 8.27	0.000016
Number of non-acid refluxes	0.7 ± 1.1	0.6 ± 1.7	0.34
Mean pH	5.9 ± 0.8	5.7 ± 0.9	0.06
% time pH < 4	5.6 ± 4.8	5.5 ± 7.57	0.20
Maximal reflux time, min	10.6 ± 12	5.3 ± 3.7	0.017
Number of high gastroesophageal refluxes (17 cm above LES), mean ± SD	23.1 ± 9.2	12.2 ± 6.6	0.000004
Gastric acid exposure
Mean pH, mean ± SD	1.2 ± 0.29	1.3 ± 0.36	0.35

EOT: End of treatment period; LES: Lower esophageal sphincter.