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Review
. 2022 Feb 10;14(4):751.
doi: 10.3390/nu14040751.

Nutrition in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: A Narrative Review

Leda Roncoroni  1   2 , Rachele Gori  1 , Luca Elli  1 , Gian Eugenio Tontini  1   3 , Luisa Doneda  2 , Lorenzo Norsa  4 , Marialaura Cuomo  5 , Vincenza Lombardo  1 , Alice Scricciolo  1 , Flavio Caprioli  1   3 , Andrea Costantino  1 , Lucia Scaramella  1 , Maurizio Vecchi  1   3
Affiliations
Review

Nutrition in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: A Narrative Review

Leda Roncoroni et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) affect the gastrointestinal tract: they include Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). Each has a different phenotypic spectrum, characterized by gastrointestinal and extra-intestinal manifestations. People living with IBD are very interested in diet, but little is known about the impact of diet on these patients; no guidelines are available yet. In this review, we analyze the dietary patterns of patients with IBD and the approach to the choices of foods both in adults and pediatric patients. Very often, IBD patients report an intentional avoidance of gluten to manage the disease; furthermore, a proportion of IBD patients believe that dairy products worsen their symptoms and that avoidance may help the disease. They have a low compliance with the Mediterranean Diet, which is considered to have potential benefits but is little used in practice. In conclusion, the review underscores the pivotal role of nutritional counselling in IBD patients, and the importance of future clinical studies to evaluate the beneficial effects of dietary recommendations in the management of IBD.

Keywords: FODMAP diet; IBD; Mediterranean diet; gluten; lactose; nutrition; pediatric patient.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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