Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), which includes Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, is a chronic inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract which significantly affects quality of life. While there is no cure, dietary strategies, particularly the Mediterranean Diet, have emerged as powerful tools to help manage IBD. Patients adopting this diet may experience fewer flare-ups, improved gut microbiome, reduced inflammation, and overall enhanced well-being. 

Successfully implementing the Mediterranean Diet in IBD management requires a personalized approach, tailored to individual dietary needs and tolerances, especially during flare-ups. Collaborating with healthcare professionals ensures the diet is optimized for each patient. With proper guidance, the Mediterranean Diet can serve as a key element of IBD wellness, offering a sustainable path to improved gut health.

This presentation will highlight both the scientific evidence and practical tools that healthcare professionals can apply in their clinical practice.

The low FODMAP diet is gaining recognition among consumers, and there are opportunities to communicate the scientific basis, specific intention, and appropriate implementation of the diet to ensure it achieves the clinical goal. In this webinar, the etiology, diagnosis (focus on Rome IV criteria), and symptomology related to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) were covered. In addition, the specific action of lactose, excess fructose, GOS, fructans, and polyols and their contributions to GI symptoms were reviewed. Participants also benefited from a review of considerations for future research trials in humans. The webinar included a review of the specifics of the low FODMAP diet for IBS, including the practicalities of implementation from a dietitian’s perspective. The program delved into the 3 phases of the diet, helpful hints for success, grocery shopping tips, and particular nutrients that may be of concern with long-term implementation.

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The presentation will focus on how diet affects the human gut microbiome and health. Briefly, the presentation content will include a discussion of the complexity of foods and how food science and nutritional characteristics of foods are connected to microbial and health outcomes. The bioavailability of nutrients determines the nutritional attributes of foods. Factors such as temperature, pH, and processing affect the nutritional content of foods and their availability for human metabolism. Intestinal microorganisms can metabolize nutrients that escape digestion by human enzymes. Dietary fiber is a nutrient that escapes digestion and can be metabolized by intestinal microorganisms. Microbial fermentation of fibers results in short-chain fatty acid production. Interestingly, the fat content of foods can also affect the gut microbiota both directly and indirectly through bile acid secretion and the microbial conversion of primary bile acids to secondary bile acids. Microbial-derived metabolites, including short-chain fatty acids and secondary bile acids, are connected to various health outcomes, including gut health, adiposity, and cognition. Research conducted in my laboratory has shown that nuts and avocados, foods rich in fiber and unsaturated fatty acids, affect the human gut microbiota and health.

This webinar takes a deep dive into the role wheat plays in the symptoms of IBS. When one goes on a wheat free or more common, a gluten free diet (GFD), eliminating wheat, as well as rye and barely, gluten is not the only food component that is removed from the diet. Fructans, along with other compounds, also present in wheat, are reduced and thus may be responsible for symptom improvement.