Eating the right foods can help you manage and alleviate Crohn’s disease flare-ups.
Crohn’s disease is a chronic, progressive, and inflammatory bowel disorder that involves any part of the gastrointestinal tract.
Genetic susceptibility, environmental triggers, immune dysregulation, gut microbiota, diet and lifestyle are some of the factors that might contribute to the development of this disease.
Gastrointestinal symptoms include diarrhoea, blood in the stool, abdominal pain, nausea, weight loss, pain and urgency to defecate. Other manifestations may also include arthritis, weight loss, eye inflammation and skin rash.
People suffering from Crohn's disease frequently experience periods of symptomatic relapse and remission. Patients perceive a significant impact of diet on the onset of the disease and its symptoms, therefore, nutrition may play a key role in the aetiology of this condition.
As it is an inflammatory disease, eating fruit and vegetables, probiotic bacteria, dietary fibre and fat-soluble vitamins can significantly reduce symptoms due to their anti-inflammatory properties.
Probiotics may reduce harmful pathogens and maintain the microbial balance in your gut. Probiotic bacteria can function as anti-inflammatory agents. For instance, Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria are two of the most probiotic bacteria that have been evaluated to assess the effectiveness in alleviating the inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract.
Vitamin A and D are two of the fat-soluble vitamins that are often deficient in people with Crohn's disease.
The low FODMAP diet, which was designed to manage IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) seems to be efficient in some people who adhered to its elimination phase and reported to have experienced fewer abdominal disorders and better quality of life.
Certain fruit extracts may also exhibit some potential therapeutic properties by decreasing the inflammation and the immune response. As an example, the extract of the Chinese plum, pomegranate extract, berry fruits and Aronia, also known as black chokeberry, relieved colitis symptoms through its antioxidative and anti-inflammatory activities
Likewise, omega-3 fatty acids can exert therapeutic functions to control inflammatory disorders by modulating the immune response (Ref 1; Ref 2).
In a nutshell, if you are suffering from this disease you should definitely look at your diet.
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