Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023 May 14;12(10):1987.
doi: 10.3390/foods12101987.

The Bidirectional Link between Nutritional Factors and Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: Dietary Deficits, Habits, and Recommended Interventions-A Narrative Review

Ilaria Maria Saracino  1 , Enzo Spisni  2 , Veronica Imbesi  3 , Chiara Ricci  4 , Nikolas Konstantine Dussias  5 , Patrizia Alvisi  6 , Paolo Gionchetti  5 , Fernando Rizzello  5 , Maria Chiara Valerii  2
Affiliations
Review

The Bidirectional Link between Nutritional Factors and Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: Dietary Deficits, Habits, and Recommended Interventions-A Narrative Review

Ilaria Maria Saracino et al. Foods. .

Abstract

Inflammatory bowel diseases comprise Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, two chronic inflammatory disorders of the digestive tract that develop in adolescence and early adulthood and show a rising pattern in industrialized societies, as well as in developing countries, being strongly influenced by environmental pressures such as nutrition, pollution and lifestyle behaviors. Here, we provide a narrative review of the bidirectional link between nutritional factors and IBD, of dietary deficits observed in IBD patients due to both the disease itself and dietary habits, and of the suggested nutritional interventions. Research of the literature was conducted. Clinical and basic research studies consistently demonstrate that diet could alter the risk of developing IBD in predisposed individuals. On the other hand, dietary interventions represent a valid tool in support of conventional therapies to control IBD symptoms, rebalance states of malnutrition, promote/maintain clinical remission and improve patients' quality of life. Although there are no official dietary guidelines for patients with IBD, they should receive nutritional advice and undergo oral, enteral, or parenteral nutritional supplementation if needed. However, the dietary management of malnutrition in IBD patients is complex; future clinical studies are required to standardize its management.

Keywords: Crohn’s disease; diet; enteral nutrition; inflammatory bowel diseases; malnutrition; nutritional interventions; ulcerative colitis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Comparison between the Mediterranean diet (upper) and the Western-style diet (lower) pyramids [17].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Epidemiological stages of IBD in the world. Stage 1: emergence. Stage 2: acceleration of incidence. Stage 3: compounding prevalence [4]. Developed economies: United States, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, Europe (except Southeastern Europe). Economies in transition: The Commonwealth of Independent States and Georgia, Southeastern Europe. Developing economies: Africa, Asia (except Japan), Latin America and the Caribbean (modified from [4]).
Figure 3
Figure 3
PRISMA Flow Diagram.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Interactions between food, environmental factors, intestinal microbes and immune system in IBD pathogenesis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ananthakrishnan A.N. Environmental risk factors for inflammatory bowel diseases: A review. Dig. Dis. Sci. 2015;60:290–298. doi: 10.1007/s10620-014-3350-9. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Malik T.A. Inflammatory bowel disease: Historical perspective, epidemiology, and risk factors. Surg. Clin. N. Am. 2015;95:1105–1122. doi: 10.1016/j.suc.2015.07.006. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ng S.C., Shi H.Y., Hamidi N., Underwood F.E., Tang W., Benchimol E.I., Panaccione R., Ghosh S., Wu J.C.Y., Chan F.K.L., et al. Worldwide incidence and prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease in the 21st century: A systematic review of population-based studies. Lancet. 2017;390:2769–2778. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)32448-0. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kaplan G.G., Windsor J.W. The four epidemiological stages in the global evolution of inflammatory bowel disease. Nat. Rev. Gastroenterol. Hepatol. 2021;18:56–66. doi: 10.1038/s41575-020-00360-x. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. United Nations United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects. [(accessed on 16 January 2023)]. Available online: https://www.un.org/development/desa/dpad/publication/world-economic-situ....

LinkOut - more resources