Nutritional Influences on the Development and Therapy of Chronic Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Udo Rabast, Hattingen

It has been a controversial issue for decades as to whether nutrition is a factor in the development and treatment of chronic inflammatory bowel diseases. Many positive results in case control studies have had to be qualified in more extensive studies.

For example, there is hardly evidence for lack of breast-feeding, or for the margarine, sugar, roughage or toothpaste hypotheses. Tobacco smoke has an unfavourable effect on Crohn’s disease, but a qualified favourable effect on ulcerative colitis. There is no scientific evidence for genotypebased nutrition. Positive results are expected for probiotics and prebiotics. Although administration of n3-fatty acids appeared to be effective, the results of larger studies are rather discouraging.

Glutamine and butyrate are probably unimportant, although epigallocatechin gallate in green tea may be of significance. Parenteral nutrition and formula diets are effective in patients with Crohn’s disease. The data are inadequate for low carbohydrate forms of nutrition. Good results have been obtained for patients with Crohn’s disease with elimination diets, but their use is excessively complex. Non-specific food intolerance is significantly more frequent in both conditions than with healthy subjects.

Keywords: Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, intestinal disease, nutritional therapy

Sie finden den Artikel in deutscher Sprache in Ernährungs Umschau 01/11 ab Seite 15.