Plant foods help lower risk of inflammatory bowel disease

High consumption of apple, pear, banana, mushrooms, onion, and garlic may reduce the risk of developing Crohn’s disease (CD), while a high intake of potatoes may induce the development of ulcerative colitis (UC), a study has shown.

A total of 314,519 individuals were followed prospectively in this study. Of these, 379 developed UC and 149 developed CD after a median follow-up of 13.4 years.

High intakes of combined fruits, vegetables, legumes, and potatoes significantly correlated with a lower risk of CD (fourth vs first quartile adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 0.44, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.26‒0.76; p<0.01) but not UC (aHR, 1.07, 95 percent CI, 0.76‒1.50; p=0.73).

Furthermore, pooled consumption of apple/pear, banana, mushrooms, and onion/garlic led to a reduced risk of CD (fourth vs first quartile aHR, 0.58, 95 percent CI, 0.33‒1.02; p=0.03). However, high potato intake appears to increase the risk of UC (fourth vs first quartile aHR, 1.51, 95 percent CI, 1.05‒2.17).

Notably, the diversity score of fruits/vegetables/legumes/potatoes showed no association with the risk of CD or of UC.

The authors assessed intakes of fruits, vegetables, legumes, and potatoes using validated food frequency questionnaire collected at baseline. They estimated the association between these foods and the risks of CD and UC using Cox models stratified by centre, sex, and age and adjusted for BMI, smoking status, physical activity, energy intake, educational level, and alcohol intake.