This month, we're bringing you fresh insights and practical tools to support nutrition in IBD management.

• DDW 2025 Insights: Discover the latest breakthroughs in nutritional therapy for IBD from Digestive Disease Week, including plant-based diets, fiber strategies, and managing IBS-IBD overlap.
  
  
• New Webpage – What to Eat During an IBD Flare: Practical tips on gentle foods, cooking methods, hydration, and how to simplify your meals during a flare-up.
  
  
• Final Week of the IBD Snack Challenge: Celebrate the creativity and commitment of our community with nutrient-dense, kid-friendly snack ideas you can keep using all year.

So let's dive into this information-packed newsletter!

DDW Highlights

From 3-6 May 2025, Nutritional Therapy for IBD attended Digestive Disease Week in San Diego, USA.

Here’s what’s new in nutritional therapies for IBD from leading experts:

💡 IBD is becoming a health concern in newly industrialized countries

🔸 Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East are just now seeing a skyrocket in IBD

🔸 North America, Europe, and Oceania face a dual challenge: 

✅ Managing new cases in young adults

✅ Supporting older patients with complex health needs

🗣 Gilaad G. Kaplan, MD, MPH, and Siew Ng, MBBS, PhD: “Prioritizing IBD prevention by investigating lifestyle and diet-related causes of IBD and innovating healthcare systems to provide accessible, equitable, and affordable care for all patients is an urgent goal.” 

💡 Non-exclusion diets with adequate dietary fiber (>25g/day) are feasible in patients with mild IBD

🔸 Short-term plant-based diets may improve depression in patients with CD and UC

🔸 A plant-based calorie-restricted diet consumed for five consecutive days in a month, while returning to baseline diet indefinitely after, may improve disease activity and reduce fecal calprotectin in mild-to-moderate CD

🔸 A catered low-fat, high-fiber diet for 8 weeks may improve quality of life, inflammatory markers, and gut microbiome function in patients with CD

💡 Shifting the focus from nutrients to diet quality for a healthier, anti-inflammatory microbiome

🔸 Time-restricted feeding alone isn’t enough for weight loss in patients with CD and obesity, while diet quality remains essential to support a healthy, anti-inflammatory microbiome   

🔸 Purified fibers found in processed foods are linked to intestinal atrophy and high liver cancer risk in mice

🔸 A low-emulsifier diet is a safe and effective therapy for mild-to-moderately active CD

💡 How to manage IBS-IBD overlap with diet

🔸 IBS-type symptoms affect up to one-third of patients with IBD in remission and are a consequence of a Western diet high in ultra-processed foods and/or an altered microbiome 

🔸 Patients with socioeconomic inability to follow a diet, those who are not interested in diet changes, and those with a history of or active eating disorder may benefit from restricting only the most problematic FODMAPs 

🔸 Fructans, widely available in wheat, may induce greater IBS-like symptoms than gluten

💡 The overlooked link between gut microbes and food sensitivities in IBD

🔸 Patients with IBD present multiple adverse reactions to foods 

🔸 Intolerances to dairy, FODMAPs, and wheat in IBD are associated with a defective metabolic capacity of the microbiome

🔸 Gut inflammation emerges as the initial trigger of food intolerances in IBD, leading to a decrease in gut bacteria involved in digesting offending foods

New Resource: What Should I Eat During an IBD Flare?

Managing an IBD flare can be overwhelming, but nutrition plays a key role in easing symptoms and supporting healing. Our latest webpage offers practical guidance on what to eat (and what to avoid) during a flare, how to prepare gentle, nourishing meals, and tips for simplifying food choices when you're not feeling your best. From cooking methods to hydration tips and a list of IBD-friendly foods, this guide is here to support your recovery., 

Our recipe database includes 192 recipes  specifically appropriate for IBD flares, featuring smooth, soft, and easy-to-digest options with modified textures.

Use the filter function to find flare appropriate recipes

IBD Snack Challenge - Final Week 

We're in the Final Stretch of the Healthy Snack Challenge!
It’s been inspiring to see families trying new recipes and choosing nutrient-dense snacks—proving that healthy habits can be both doable and fun! Thank you to IBD Connect for partnering with us to host this tasty challenge. 

But the journey doesn’t end here. Nutritious snacking can be part of your routine every day. Check out some of the delicious snacks our participants have shared, then dive into the Week 4 recipes below.

It’s never too late to start a healthy habit. Let’s finish strong and keep making good choices together!

No-Bake Energy Bites

Almond Vanilla Milkshake

Broccoli Pepper Egg Muffs

The  IBD Nutrition Navigator™

Empowering Personalized Care

The IBD Nutrition Navigator™ puts patients at the center of their care by prioritizing their goals and resources. Evaluations show that 95% of users find it helpful for guiding tailored dietary changes alongside medications.

This tool:

• fosters collaboration between patients and healthcare providers
• encourages early nutrition discussions to support better, sustainable remission and overall well-being
• has a simple, step-by-step approach based on clinical evidence
• makes nutrition conversations easier and more meaningful

Empowering patients to take control of their IBD management

Support our Mission

Our resources are free so everyone can access reliable nutrition guidance for IBD. But creating and maintaining them comes with costs. If our content is helpful to you, please consider making a donation. Your support allows us to continue improving nutritional care for the IBD community.

If you know someone interested in evidence-based nutritional therapy, please forward them this email and encourage them to subscribe!

Thank you and see you next month!

The Nutritional Therapy for IBD Team

We are grateful for the collaboration and support of our Corporate Partners!

*Please note that Nutritional Therapy for IBD does not provide medical advice. The content provided here is for informational purposes only. Patients should always talk with their healthcare providers before changing their diet.*