[Nutrition in chronic inflammatory bowl diseases. What your patient tolerates is permitted]

Modifying the diet can have a favorable impact on the course of chronic inflammatory bowel disease. In contrast, nutrition plays no major role in the development of the disease or in provoking an acute attack. During an acute attack of Crohn's disease, the application of oral (drinks) or tube feeding (enteral nutrition) can result in a substantial clinical improvement. The remission rate of this side effect-free therapy is, however, lower than that seen with steroids. The data available for diet therapy in ulcerative colitis are less unequivocal, but the effects are probably slight at best. During the remission phase, the patient should eat a balanced, vitamin-rich and varied normal diet that excludes all poorly tolerated foods: lactose intolerance in particular appears to be increased in patients with Crohn's disease. Known vitamin or mineral deficiencies should be corrected by appropriate dietary measures or supplementation. There is no such thing as a "Crohn's diet" or "colitis diet". The patient can be allowed to eat anything that is tolerated.