Nutrients. 2021 Apr 20;13(4):1387. doi: 10.3390/nu13041387.

Lorenzo Bertani ¹, Davide Giuseppe Ribaldone ², Massimo Bellini ¹, Maria Gloria Mumolo ³, Francesco Costa ³

Author information

• ¹Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, 56100 Pisa, Italy.
• ²Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, 10126 Turin, Italy.
• ³IBD Unit, Department of General Surgery and Gastroenterology, Pisa University Hospital, 56124 Pisa, Italy.

Abstract

Nutrition has an important impact on inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). In particular, several studies have addressed its role in their pathogenesis, showing how the incidence of IBD significantly increased in recent years. Meanwhile, nutrition should be considered a component of the treatment of the disease, both as a therapy itself, and especially in the perspective of correcting the various nutritional deficiencies shown by these patients. In this perspective, nutritional suggestions are very important even in the most severe forms of IBD, requiring hospitalization or surgical treatment. Although current knowledge about nutrition in IBD is increasing over time, nutritional suggestions are often underestimated by clinicians. This narrative review is an update summary of current knowledge on nutritional suggestions in IBD, in order to address the impact of nutrition on pathogenesis, micro- and macro-nutrients deficiencies (especially in the case of sarcopenia and obesity), as well as in hospitalized patients.