IBS is characterized by recurrent abdominal pain and bowel irregularities (diarrhea, constipation, or a combination of both). For many patients, complete remission is not guaranteed by conventional treatments (symptomatic medications, psychotherapy, antidepressants).

Yoga, acting on the gut-brain axis (vagus nerve) as well as on stress regulation, is attracting growing interest as a complementary therapy. The aim of this review was to assess the effectiveness of yoga in managing IBS by analyzing results from studies available in major online scientific libraries.

Methods

Of 193 studies identified, 10 were retained after applying exclusion criteria (randomized controlled trials or pilot studies). Interventions included various forms of yoga — hatha yoga (often the Iyengar method), ashtanga, pranayama, laughter yoga, upa yoga, purification techniques, etc. — over periods of 6 to 12 weeks. The goal was to analyze the effects of yoga on gastrointestinal symptom severity, quality of life, and psychological symptoms (anxiety, depression, stress).

Results

The majority of studies show a significant reduction in digestive symptom severity (notably via the IBS-SSS scale) and/or an improvement in abdominal pain and bowel irregularities. In studies using the IBS-SSS as the primary outcome measure, the effect of yoga was moderate to large (Cohen’s d between 0.37 and 3.60). Some studies show comparable effectiveness to the low-FODMAP diet (poorly or non-absorbed sugars), to certain medications, and even superior results in some cases.

Yoga demonstrated significant improvement in quality of life (IBS-QOL), reductions in anxiety and depression, decreased perceived stress, and improvements in visceral sensitivity and fatigue. Some benefits were maintained over the medium term (3 to 6 months), particularly when practice adherence was good.

Results suggest that regular home practice enhances outcomes, that greater exposure to yoga correlates with more marked symptom reduction, and that discontinuing practice may be associated with symptom recurrence.

Conclusions

Current data suggest that yoga may improve both the digestive symptoms and the psychological dimensions of IBS, consistent with the biopsychosocial nature of this disorder. The evidence for its effectiveness remains preliminary, however.

This systematic review shares the same limitations as others that have examined yoga’s effectiveness for health conditions. All publications included show shortcomings: sample sizes are small; most studies assess the feasibility of an intervention or are pilot studies; overall methodological quality is moderate; applied protocols differ (yoga style, session structure, intervention duration); outcome measures vary; and few trials were comparative — meaning most interventions were not benchmarked against a reference standard for IBS treatment.

No approved yoga protocol exists for the complementary treatment of IBS. Larger, better standardized, and methodologically rigorous clinical trials are needed to confirm these results and define validated therapeutic protocols.