Journal of Nutrition & Food Sciences
Open Access
ISSN: 2155-9600
ISSN: 2155-9600
Martyn Caplin
Royal Free Hospital, UK
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Nutr Food Sci
Background & Aims: Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) is chronic immune disorders of unclear etiology, in which the gastrointestinal tract is inflamed. Diet may be a potential pathogenic factor in the development of IBD and patients often take food supplements with no evidence base. We have thus assessed the evidence for food supplements in the management of IBD. Methods: A PubMed search was performed for the terms: Inflammatory bowel disease; nutritional deficiencies; dietary supplements; curcumin; green tea; vitamin D and other vitamins; folic acid; iron; zinc; probiotics; Andrographis paniculata and Boswellia serrate. PubMed was used to search for all relevant articles published during 1975-2015. Results: The most evidence was for curcumin, green tea, vitamin D and probiotics. Curcumin supplementation has been reported to be effective in reducing both the symptoms and the inflammatory indices in IBD patients. Similar results have been observed for green tea, however pertinent studies are limited. Vitamin D supplementation may help to both increase bone mineral density in patients with IBD and to reduce disease activity. IBD patients with ileal resections >20 cm may develop vitamin B12 deficiency which requires parenteral supplementation. Conversely, there is no current evidence to support fat soluble vitamin supplementation in IBD patients. Probiotics, particularly VSL#3, appears to reduce disease activity in IBD patients with pouchitis. Complementary and alternative medicines are used by IBD patients and some in vitro and animal studies have showed promising results. Conclusion: Attention to dietary factors such as curcumin, green tea and vitamins, including vitamin D and vitamin B12, appears to be beneficial and, if necessary, supplementation may be appropriate.
Martyn Caplin is a Professor of Gastroenterology & GI Neuroendocrinology at the Royal Free Hospital and University College London. He has published over 150 peer reviewed papers, written multiple book chapters and co-authored two books. He regularly lectures both nationally and internationally. From 2006-2012, he was the Clinical Lead for “NHS Evidence” for Gastroenterology and Liver diseases. He was a Member of the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) upper-G.I. Cancer Committee 2006-2014. He is an international expert in Neuroendocrine Tumours and is the Chair of the European Neuroendocrine Tumor Society. He has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the UK & Ireland Neuroendocrine Tumour Society in recognition of his Clinical Leadership and Research in the field of NETs.
Email: m.caplin@ucl.ac.uk