Assessment of dietary habits in inflammatory bowel disease patients: A cross‐sectional study from Poland

Abstract

AbstractInflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has a negative impact on patients’ quality of life and affects their dietary habits. In this cross‐sectional study, we focused on the overall variety of food products consumed by IBD patients compared to a group of age‐ and sex‐matched controls; we also investigated the self‐reported, most frequently consumed and most avoided foods in relation to anticipated aggravation of IBD symptoms. We recruited 73 IBD patients from Lodz, Poland (56% with Crohn's disease [CD], 44% with ulcerative colitis [UC]); average duration of IBD 118 ± 78 months and 103 healthy volunteers aged 13–59 years, of whom 52 (72% female, 28% male) and 76 (65% female and 35% male), respectively, were enrolled for further analysis. Using a 186‐item food frequency questionnaire, we found that the overall reported frequency of food products consumed was lower in IBD patients than in the controls. Patients with IBD reported eating fruits (median: 1.33 vs. 1.86, p = 0.003), vegetables (1.22 vs. 2.06, p < 0.001), wholegrain products (0.63 vs. 1.25, p < 0.001), eggs (1.52 vs. 2.11, p < 0.001), milk and dairy products (1.06 vs. 1.81, p < 0.001), plant oils (1.17 vs. 1.49, p = 0.043), nuts and seeds (0.75 vs. 1.47, p < 0.001), spicy foods (0.81 vs. 1.68, p < 0.001) and confectionery products (1.67 vs. 2.20, p = 0.013), as well as beverages such as coffee (1.38 vs. 2.15, p = 0.005), carbonated drinks (0.85 vs. 1.39, p = 0.007) and alcohol (0.61 vs. 1.02, p = 0.003) less frequently compared to the control group. In contrast, they reported consuming refined grain products (1.72 vs. 1.34, p = 0.004) and animal fats (1.62 vs. 1.28, p = 0.046) more frequently than the control group. When comparing the consumption frequency of the most avoided foods within the IBD group with self‐reported actual gastrointestinal symptoms within the past 3 months, a statistically significant positive association was noted only between milk consumption and the occurrence of diarrhoea in patients with IBD. This analysis is one of few studies to evaluate dietary patterns in IBD patients and to indicate the most frequently consumed and the most avoided foods.