Finding The Right Diet For Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)

Many people hear that a particular diet will help their IBD. Gaining a sense of control by changing what or how you eat can be appealing when living with an unpredictable disease. In some cases, the diet may claim to prevent disease relapse or even cure your IBD. Other diets claim to influence your immune system positively, improve digestive health, and reduce inflammation. However, just because it is in print, does not mean it is true or scientifically valid.

 

Sometimes diets are applied to the body in a way that has not been proven or does not even make sense physiologically. It can be difficult to sort out myth from science. A persuasive author or an impressive anecdotal story of someone whose IBD only responded to the author's diet can be very impressive and may leave you with the impression that there is some merit in what the author is suggesting. However, such anecdotes may provide false hope. The money you spend should be for reliable evidence-based strategies. If you've had difficulty figuring out the 'right' diet to follow, it is probably because your experience with diet has been different from someone else's experience.

 

We each have different taste preferences, different tolerances (to spicy or gas-producing foods, for example), different budgets, and even different food availability, with limited food choices in remote areas. Not only are these circumstances applicable for an individual living with IBD, there could be additional dietary considerations, including transient intolerances to previously enjoyed foods and the need to restrict some foods temporarily and supplement others. Considering these factors, it makes sense that the same food can be experienced differently by different individuals. If you then add personal tolerances and our unique likes and dislikes, there could be many thousand versions of the 'right' diet.

 

 

Accordingly, all nutrition care should be individualized and developed with your doctor or registered dietitian to ensure it is realistic and successful. Remember that Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis have different disease characteristics, different disease courses, a variety of possible symptoms and possible complications, and variations in treatment regimens.

 

Nutrition recommendations must be balanced to avoid nutrient deficiencies, individualized to specific tastes, budgets, lifestyles, and very importantly, for specific desired functional benefits (for example, regaining weight, symptom management). The diet that considers and meets these needs is the right diet for you.

 

However, there are some common dietary guidelines that people with IBD could follow in an effort to manage their symptoms and improve their quality of life — and even ward off more serious complications, such as malnutrition.