Supporting Research
Digestible is based on evidence-based techniques for the treatment and relief from disorders of gut-brain interaction (DBGIs). The bibliography below compiles the most relevant published research behind the Brain-Gut Regulation approach. Each paper is annotated with a description of its key findings.
Mind-body treatments of irritable bowel syndrome symptoms: An updated meta-analysis
Most Mind-body Treatments yielded medium to high effect sizes in reducing IBS symptom severity, with no specific therapy emerging as consistently superior.
Digestible's integrative program offers techniques from various Mind-body Treatments, personalizing recommendations based on each user's unique needs and preferences.
Gut-brain axis dysfunction underlies FODMAP-induced symptom generation in irritable bowel syndrome
Both IBS patients and healthy controls showed similar increases in small bowel motility and ascending colonic gas and volume after fructan ingestion, however IBS patients reported significantly more severe symptoms. IBS patients showed activation of pain-related brain regions (cerebellum, insula, and thalamus) more intensely than in healthy controls.
Digestible is designed to restore healthy communication between the brain and gut, reducing the brain’s overreactive patterns that generate pain and symptoms.
Exclude or expose? The paradox of conceptually opposite treatments for irritable bowel syndrome
Despite their opposite approaches, both therapies that encourage patients to expose themselves to foods, and those that recommend patients avoid foods thought to be symptom-inducing, have shown to be effective in treating IBS. Exposure-based CBT encourages individuals to reintroduce foods they fear, reducing gastrointestinal-specific anxiety and thereby symptoms. The Low-FODMAP (exclusion) diet can also reduce IBS symptoms, but may cause nutritional deficiencies, adherence issues, and increased fear around food, which may limit its long-term success.
Digestible challenges the belief that food restriction is the only path to relief. Instead, we support users with food fear to expand their diet, safely and at their own pace, so they can return to a place of food freedom, without the constant fear of flare-ups.
Emotional awareness and expression training improves irritable bowel syndrome: A randomized controlled trial
Compared to waitlist controls, Emotional Awareness & Expression Therapy (EAET) significantly reduced IBS symptom severity at 10-week follow-up. Both EAET and relaxation training improved quality of life.
Digestible incorporates EAET techniques to help users safely process the emotions that may be fueling IBS symptoms. By addressing the emotional undercurrents of chronic digestive issues, Digestible helps reduce internal tension and supports long-term symptom relief from the inside out.
Impact of psychological stress on irritable bowel syndrome
Clinical and experimental evidence demonstrates that stress significantly disrupts gut physiology—affecting sensitivity, motility, secretion, and permeability. IBS is conceptualized as a blend of ‘irritable brain’ and ‘irritable bowel,’ where neural and psychological stressors interact bidirectionally with gut function.
Digestible guides users through a stress inventory to uncover life events and ongoing pressures that may have contributed to the onset or persistence of their IBS symptoms. This understanding lays the foundation for healing by connecting the dots between the brain and the gut.
Adverse Childhood Experiences are Associated with Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Gastrointestinal Symptom Severity
The more adverse life events in childhood (including household mental illness, emotional abuse, having an incarcerated household member, etc.), the higher the likelihood of developing IBS and having more severe symptoms. Most IBS patients had normal anxiety/depression scores, suggesting that ACEs are linked to IBS beyond current psychological distress.
Digestible helps users understand how stress—even from early life—can shape the way the brain and nervous system influence digestion. This insight empowers users to see their symptoms through a new lens, one that honors the mind-body connection as a path to healing.
Biopsychosocial model of Irritable Bowel Syndrome
IBS stems from a dysregulation of the central and enteric nervous systems, resulting in abnormal gut motility and visceral hypersensitivity. Psychosocial influences such as stress, early-life traumatic events, coping patterns, and emotional disorders, play a critical role in symptom onset, severity, and illness behaviors.
Digestible is built on the biopsychosocial model of IBS. It treats IBS not as a gut issue alone, but as a condition shaped by the interplay between the body, brain, and emotional experiences.
Psychological Stress May Cause Food-induced Symptoms in IBS
Scientists have discovered that psychological stress can induce immune responses to food that can cause symptoms when that food is eaten again, findings that demonstrate the potential role of stress in symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), according to a recent study published in Gastroenterology.
Psychological stress can have direct effects on the physiology of the gastrointestinal tract. When mice were exposed to a certain food during a stressful task, their immune system reacted to that food when consumed later.
Emotional overactivity in patients with irritable bowel syndrome
After watching fear-inducing movie clips, IBS individuals showed increased heart rate and reduced parasympathetic regulation (as measured by HRV), indicating greater physiological arousal. They also showed atronger alexithymia (difficulty identifying emotions), which correlated positively with rage expression.
Digestible’s emphasis on emotional awareness, stress reduction, and physiology-grounded coping techniques is essential to improve patterns of emotional hyper-reactivity, helping users recognize and proactively manage these heightened responses.
Effect of Pain Reprocessing Therapy vs Placebo and Usual Care for Patients With Chronic Back Pain
After undergoing 4-weeks of PRT, 98% of participants with chronic back pain improved, and 66% were pain‑free or nearly pain‑free. Results were largely sustained at one-year follow-up.
While this study was not conducted on IBS patients, IBS shares core features with other chronic pain disorders—such as visceral hypersensitivity, central sensitization, and maladaptive threat responses. Digestible applies PRT techniques like mindfulness, cognitive reframing, acceptance exercises, and somatic tracking on specific IBS symptoms.
Examining interactions of illness perceptions, avoidance behavior and patient status in predicting quality of life among people with irritable bowel syndrome
Patients’ beliefs about IBS—particularly the expected duration, emotional toll, and perceived severity—strongly predicted their tendency to engage in avoidance behaviors like dietary restriction or social withdrawal. These behaviors, along with associated feelings of depression, were significant predictors of reduced quality of life.
Digestible offers a powerful antidote: through inspiring recovery stories, evidence-based education, and daily mindset tools, we help users replace fear with hope—not as wishful thinking, but as a meaningful part of the healing process.
Neuroimaging the brain-gut axis in patients with irritable bowel syndrome
IBS patients consistently exhibit measurable differences in brain chemistry, structure, and functional processing related to visceral pain. The involved brain areas are part of known pain and emotional regulation networks.
This systematic review illustrates that gastrointestinal symptoms are deeply interwoven with neural pathways governing emotion, stress, and pain perception, areas the Digestible program proactively addresses. By modulating these neural circuits through neuroplasticity, the program tackles root drivers rather than merely suppressing symptoms.
Understanding How Perfectionism Impacts Intensive Interdisciplinary Pain Treatment Outcomes
This study focused on how two types of perfectionism influence treatment outcomes in youth with chronic pain. Their findings indicated that not all perfectionism is bad, and in fact it can support recovery when paired with reduced catastrophizing. However, perceived pressure from others to be perfect may independently worsen pain outcomes and needs to be addressed directly.
Digestible targets common traits in IBS like perfectionism, people-pleasing, and catastrophizing, all of which can activate the same brain regions tied to increased symptoms. Challenging these traits can help decrease chronic stress and symptoms.
Exposure-Based Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Children with Abdominal Pain: A Pilot Trial
Targeting fear and avoidance — not just symptoms — creates lasting change in children with functional abdominal pain disorders (FAPDs). Family involvement strengthens and sustains treatment outcomes.
Digestible guides users to gently face feared foods and situations, helping reduce symptom-related fear and avoidance behaviors over time. With a supportive community and evidence-based tools, users are never alone on their path to healing.
Mechanisms of Stress-induced Visceral Pain
Prolonged or repeated stress can sensitize visceral pain pathways, leading to chronic visceral hypersensitivity in both animal models and humans. Stress affects key systems (HPA axis, autonomic nervous system), increasing gut permeability, inflammation, and immune activation, all amplifying visceral discomfort.
Digestible helps users uncover both past and present sources of stress—such as early life adversity, perfectionism, and current life pressures—and shows how these cumulative “hits” may have sensitized the brain-gut connection over time.
Improvement in Gastrointestinal Symptoms After Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Refractory Irritable Bowel Syndrome
A mostly self-guided CBT program for IBS had substantially higher rates of "moderate to substantial" symptom improvement compared to education alone, and was just as effective as standard CBT with a therapist.
Digestible is directly supported by this research. A structured, self-paced digital program — when grounded in evidence-based techniques like CBT — can be just as effective as traditional therapy for IBS. It empowers users to take healing into their own hands, at their own pace, while still achieving meaningful and lasting symptom relief.
Role of Sex, Anxiety, and Resilience in the Association Between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Experiencing an adverse childhood experience (household mental illness, abuse, divorce, etc.) doubles the odds of developing IBS in both men and women. Experiencing anxiety further increases that likelihood.
Digestible helps users explore the link between past stressors, anxiety, and current symptoms to better understand their potential roots. Regardless of what set your symptoms off, we provide effective tools to rewire and heal your brain-gut connection.