Inflammatory Bowel Disease

 
Inflammatory Bowel Disease IBD
 

This article was written by our clinic dietitian, Annabel Leather. Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a chronic, long-term condition involving inflammation of the gut. The two main forms of IBD are Crohn’s Disease or Ulcerative Colitis (UC).

  • Crohn’s disease can affect any part of the digestive tract from the mouth to anus (bottom).

  • Ulcerative Colitis is limited to the colon and rectum.

The main symptoms of IBD include, but are not exclusive to:

  • Abdominal pain

  • Abdominal cramping

  • Diarrhoea

  • Rectal bleeding

  • Fatigue

  • Weight loss

Symptoms of IBD will come and go. People suffer with ‘flare ups’ with heightened symptoms, and then periods of remission with no symptoms. There is no cure for either UC or Crohn’s disease. Treatments aim to relieve symptoms and prevent them returning. This can include medicines, specific diet or lifestyle changes, and in severe cases surgery.

Diet

For some people, during a flare up they may need to follow a lower fibre diet to help remove certain foods that can irritate an inflamed bowel or obstruct narrowed parts of the bowel. Typically foods to be removed on a lower fibre diet will include:

  • Fruit & vegetable skins

  • Dried fruit

  • Skins of beans, pulses & lentils

  • Wholegrains

  • Nuts, seeds & pips

During remission, it is important to reintroduce some fibre back into the diet as fibre is beneficial for gut health as well as overall health.

Exclusive Enteral Nutrition (EEN)

EEN is a special liquid only diet that is sometimes used to induce remission during a flare up. It needs to be strictly adhered to for up to 4-8 weeks. The liquid diet provides all the nutrition needed, and therefore needs to be closely supervised by a dietitian. EEN is the most rigorously supported dietary intervention, but it is challenging to sustain long term. Sometimes 'partial enteral nutrition' is used in combination with whole foods.

Diet during remission

Did you know…

  • No specific diet needs to be followed during the remission phase of IBD.

  • 35% of patients with inactive IBD (when IBD is in the remission phase), meet the criteria for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

  • The low FODMAP diet may be effective in reducing the ‘IBS-like’ gut symptoms in remission of IBD.

  • However, the low FODMAP diet does not reduce inflammation of disease activity of IBD.

Next steps

If you have been diagnosed with IBD, dietitians can help to assess your symptoms, discuss the different dietary options, and support you if you are losing weight. If you are suffering & need help reviewing your diet, book in to speak to a dietitian at the KC Nutrition Clinic with either Kaitlin or Annabel.

Kaitlin Colucci