Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis: what is the correct diet

How to manage chronic inflammatory bowel diseases, better known by the acronym Mici? How important it is for the women they face Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis have dedicated paths, be reassured that it is possible to become pregnant and that you can travel and lead a normal life, paying attention to the table?

These questions were answered by the experts of the Italian Group for the study of inflammatory bowel diseases (IG-IBD), gathered at the conference These diseases affect about 250 thousand people in Italy, often at a young age, and are particularly disabling and with repercussions also on life social and labor market of patients.

Pay attention to the power supply

Eating according to doctors’ instructions is important. And how. And we have to counteract the habits we are living, which lead us to eat a lot but without the right attention to the quality of the food. This discourse is particularly delicate in those who are affected by these conditions.

There are in fact numerous cases of malnutrition, especially in Crohn’s disease, which are interconnected with the disease. The reasons can be found in food restrictions, often spontaneous by patients, in the malabsorption of food linked to the localization of the disease or intestinal resections or in the phases of disease activity that lead an anorectic effect and require an increased nutritional requirement.

“It is now proven that a state of malnutrition it is associated with a negative course of IBD – underlines Simone Saibeni, medical director at the Gastroenterology Unit of the Rho Hospital. A malnutrition state is associated with a greater likelihood of experiencing flare-ups of the disease and of undergoing surgery. It is also associated with an increased risk of postoperative complications and a negative impact on patients’ perceived quality of life.

There are many ways of intervention to deal with a state of malnutrition: first of all, a varied and regular diet is recommended, without restrictions except in particular cases and in any case decided by a doctor. Secondly, it is possible to supplement the deficiencies of vitamins or trace elements that can occur during the disease, as in the case of anemia due to iron, folate or vitamin B12 deficiency. If the deficits become more severe, nutritional supplements and artificial nutrition can be used, which can be enteral or parenteral.

In the first case, we proceed orally (or through a nasogastric tube), ensuring intestinal transit also to nourish the cells of the intestine. Parenteral nutrition (i.e. via a venous catheter), on the other hand, is aimed at those patients with severe malnutrition, who cannot eat by mouth or who are close to surgery to ensure a restoration of energy supplies. Parenteral nutrition is ultimately necessary in the patients in which it has developed short bowel syndrome, ie a net reduction of the absorbent surface of the small intestine which causes a significant decrease in the space to absorb nutrients “.

A campaign dedicated to women

Experts have relaunched the “Together we can” awareness campaign, focused on women with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis. The message is encouraging because women affected by these diseases must not be discouraged and must become aware that it is possible to have children, travel, eat and lead a normal life.

The IG-IBD awareness campaign, with a spot shot by the director Paolo Genovese with the actress as testimonial Matilde Gioli aired, it showed the results that can be obtained with therapies in every phase of the woman’s biological cycle, especially during pregnancy.

In addition to this positive message, which is not a simplification and in any case takes into account the difficulties that a woman suffering from Mici faces, there is also a theme of gender medicine: today there are personalized therapeutic approaches and women need a ‘ particular attention given that with their metabolism they have specific needs, so much so that most of the adverse reactions are detected in women, not exclusively in the gastroenterological field.