Publications and Research
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1997
Abstract
Few clinical studies have found that dietary or nutritional factors significantly influence ulcerative colitis (UC}(l,2}. It is noteworthy, however, that a range of factors have been researched including dietary components such as refined sugars (3,4}, allergenic foods (1,5,6} and fast foods (7), as well as nutritional supplement effects from fish oil (2), zinc (8), glutamine (9), folate (10, 11} and alpha-tocopherolquinone (12}. More recently investigators have also examined the interelationships between bowel flora and UC, including factors such as flora changes (13,14), endotoxemia (15} and supplementation effects with Lactobacillous species (16,17). These studies taken together and a recent review of UC (18) suggest that nutritional influences on UC may likely be multifactorial. We therefore report the findings of a retrospective chart review study of 24 consecutive UC patients who presented to an outpatient medical office in which treatment emphasized a comprehensive nutritional regimen, including a sugar-free hypoallergenic diet and nutritional supplementation