Limitations
IBS
Study limitations have been discussed in the text above. Technical issues are challenging in prolonged cross-over supplementation studies. As a reasonable compromise we chose freeze-dried whole blueberries of the same varieties, a color-, taste-, sugar- and energy-matched placebo used in many previous blueberry studies, a Swiss population with an exceptionally high dosing compliance rate of around 95% and high awareness of the necessity of maintaining stable background dietary habits, and dosing and wash-out periods recommended in IBS and dietary studies. Reproduction of these results in other settings across a wider range of berry doses is encouraged.The statistical methodology employed conforms with recent guidelines for cross-over trials, including the evaluation of period and carry-over effects and the avoidance of baseline comparisons [