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. 2023 Apr 19;17(4):535-552.
doi: 10.1093/ecco-jcc/jjac167.

Intake of Ultra-processed Foods Is Associated with an Increased Risk of Crohn's Disease: A Cross-sectional and Prospective Analysis of 187 154 Participants in the UK Biobank

Jie Chen  1   2 , Judith Wellens  3   4 , Rahul Kalla  5 , Tian Fu  2 , Minzi Deng  2 , Han Zhang  1 , Shuai Yuan  6 , Xiaoyan Wang  2 , Evropi Theodoratou  7   8 , Xue Li  1 , Jack Satsangi  3
Affiliations

Intake of Ultra-processed Foods Is Associated with an Increased Risk of Crohn's Disease: A Cross-sectional and Prospective Analysis of 187 154 Participants in the UK Biobank

Jie Chen et al. J Crohns Colitis. .

Abstract

Background and aims: Ultra-processed food [UPF] consumption has been linked to globally increasing incidence and prevalence of chronic diseases, including inflammatory bowel diseases [IBD]. We aimed to investigate the association between UPF consumption and IBD incidence, prevalence, and IBD-relevant outcomes.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional and prospective cohort study in 187 854 individuals included in the national UK Biobank, using 24-h dietary recall questionnaires. Multivariable logistic regression and Cox proportional hazard regression were used to examine the association between UPFs and the prevalence and incidence risk of IBD, respectively.

Results: A total of 185 849 participants with a mean age of 56.2 were included, with a mean follow-up of 9.84 years. During follow-up, 841 developed IBD (251 Crohn's disease [CD], and 590 ulcerative colitis [UC]). UPF intake in IBD patients was significantly higher: CD: odds ratio [OR] 1.94 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.52, 2.49, p <0.001); UC: OR 1.39 [95% CI: 1.17, 1.65, p <0.001]. Compared with low consumption, higher UPF consumption was significantly associated with incident CD: hazard ration [HR] 2.00 [95% CI: 1.32, 3.03, p = 0.001], but not UC. We also found a significant association between UPF intake and need of IBD-related surgery: HR 4.06 [95% CI: 1.52, 10.86, p = 0.005].

Conclusion: Higher intake of UPFs was associated with higher incidence of CD, but not UC. In individuals with a pre-existing diagnosis of IBD, consumption of UPFs was significantly higher compared with controls, and was associated with an increased need for IBD-related surgery. Further studies are needed to address the impact of UPF intake on disease pathogenesis and outcomes.

Keywords: Inflammatory bowel diseases; ultra-processed food; utrition.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Graphical Abstract
Graphical Abstract
Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Flowchart of the selection of eligible study population. IBD, inflammatory bowel diseases; CD, Crohn’s disease; UC, ulcerative colitis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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