A cross-sectional study on nutrient intake and -status in inflammatory bowel disease patients

Abstract

Background and aimsInflammatory bowel disease (IBD) can be associated with nutritional problems. The aim of this study was to investigate diet and nutritional status of IBD patients.MethodsA total of 78 participants (35 men and 43 women aged 18–74 years) were included in this cross-sectional study. The majority (80 %) of the participant received infliximab treatment. Participants filled out disease related questionnaires and 31 participants also a 3-day food record. Body composition was measured and blood samples analysed in order to estimate nutritional status.ResultsThe majority (87 %) claimed that diet affects digestive tract symptoms and 72 % had changed diet accordingly. The most common foods restricted were dairy products (60 %), processed meat (55 %), soft drinks (46 %), alcohol (45 %) and fast food (44 %). Body mass index was mostly in the overweight range but 46 % of the participants had been diagnosed with some nutritional deficiency since IBD diagnosis (most common was iron deficiency: 39 %). Patients who restricted meat products had lower ferritin values (48 ± 39 vs. 95 ± 74 μg/L, P = 0.011). Intake of vitamin D and calcium were not adequate (65 % below recommeded intake for both) and 60 % had poor vitamin D status.ConclusionIBD patients often change their dietary intake in order to affect digestive tract symptoms. Many patients have a history of nutrient deficiency. Restriction of dairy and meat consumption is common and is negatively associated with intake or status of micronutrients like calcium and iron. Dietary advice by a dietitian and use of potentially helpful dietary supplements is indicated.

Dietary Habits and Nutrient Intake in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

“…In our study, 38% of the IBD patients claimed to have changed their diet, mostly because of gastrointestinal afflictions including indigestions, bowel complaints or stomach pain. This percentage is much lower compared to a recent study of Vidarsdottir et al, where 87% of the IBD patients were convinced that the food affects their gastrointestinal tract; 72% of these patients changed their diet during the course of the disease [34]. This discrepancy with our data may be caused by the fact that we asked for dietary changes only within in the past twelve months, but the actual disease duration of our IBD patients ranged from six months up to 54 years.…”

“…The use of other alternative supplements like fish oil, cranberry extracts or St. John's wort was scarce. A recent study showed a similar prevalence for the use of vitamin and mineral supplements [34], with 27% of IBD patients consuming multivitamins compounds. Summarizing the use of vitamins (6%), minerals (4%) and combinations (15%) of the IBD patients in our study the prevalence was 25% and confirmed former results.…”

“…This is in accordance with our data, since 35% of our patients with IBD stated to have reduced the consumption of fast food compared to only 7% in the healthy control group. Different studies showed that deep-fried and high-fat foods worsen symptoms in 40%-44% of IBD patients [33,34], a fact that might explain the high restriction rate in our IBD patients.…”

“…However, several studies showed different effects in patients with IBD on disease course [34], depending on disease type and status [12]. The avoidance of raw fruits and vegetables to reduce gastrointestinal afflictions varied between 8% and 71% [11,33].…”

“…According to the BMI-classification of the World Health Organization (WHO), a BMI less than 18.5 kg/m² was considered as underweight, between 18.5 kg/m² to 25.0 kg/m² as normal weight, between 25.0 kg/ m² to 30.0 kg/m² as overweight (pre-obese) and over 30.0 kg/m² as obese [28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45].…”