[Nutritional therapy in gastrointestinal diseases. Diets--necessary or superfluous?]

Diets form a part of the treatment concept in numerous gastrointestinal diseases. Their effectiveness, however, varies considerably from one disease to another. Thus, for example, diet is of decisive importance in celiac disease and lactose intolerance. In contrast, dietary measures are ineffective in the treatment of gallstones, and uncertain as a prophylactic measure against biliary colic. While dietetic measures are an important temporary measure in acute pancreatitis, in chronic pancreatitis such an approach is often not complied with, since it includes abstinence from alcohol. In chronic inflammatory bowel disease, diet can ameliorate a number of complications, although it leaves the pathological process itself unaffected. High-fiber diet is, for the most part, ineffective in patients with irritable bowel syndrome. The present article discusses the benefits of dietary measures in a number of gastroenterological disorders.