• More than 6 million individuals globally have inflammatory bowel illness (IBD).
  • Diet performs a job in each probably rising an individual’s threat for growing IBD, in addition to serving to to alleviate symptoms.
  • Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh discovered {that a} high-sugar diet worsened IBD symptoms in a mouse mannequin.

More than 6 million people all over the world have inflammatory bowel illness (IBD) — an umbrella time period for Crohn’s illness and ulcerative colitis, which each trigger irritation of the intestine.

An individual’s diet performs an vital function in rising the chance for and assuaging symptoms of IBD. Previous research hyperlinks a high-sugar diet to a higher threat of growing inflammatory bowel illness.

A high-sugar diet is a identified cause of irritation all through the physique. Increased sugar consumption has additionally been linked to different ailments together with obesity, chronic kidney disease, and cardiovascular disease.

Now, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh discovered that consuming a high-sugar diet may additionally worsen symptoms for individuals with IBD, through a mouse mannequin.

This research was lately revealed within the journal Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

Inflammatory bowel illness happens when the physique’s immune system assaults your bowels, inflicting irritation, ache, and swelling within the intestines.

Although researchers are nonetheless undecided precisely what causes IBD, there are some identified threat components, together with:

Symptoms of IBD embody:

  • fatigue
  • fever, night time sweats, or each
  • vomiting, nausea, and diarrhea
  • lack of urge for food
  • abdomen pains and cramps
  • unexplained weight reduction
  • joint ache
  • blood within the stool

Currently, there isn’t a remedy for IBD. Treatment facilities round lowering an individual’s symptoms and avoiding any problems. Common remedies for IBD embody:

When requested why he determined to review the impact of sugar on IBD, Tim Hand, PhD, affiliate professor of Pediatrics and Immunology at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh on the University of Pittsburgh and senior writer of the research, instructed Medical News Today:

“Sugar is pervasive in the diet of high-income countries with the average person consuming up to a kilogram a week. This amount of sugar is unprecedented for our species and thus how high levels of sugar consumption might affect the intestine’s response to damage seemed like a timely and important question to answer.”

For the research, Dr. Hand and his staff used a mouse mannequin to check the impact both a regular or high-sugar diet had on IBD.

Mice have been fed both a regular or high-sugar diet after which handled with a chemical to imitate IBD colon injury after they have been fed one of many two diets.

Scientists reported that in the course of the research, all mice fed a high-sugar diet died inside 9 days of the 14-day experiment. All the mice fed a regular diet survived for all 14 days.

At the conclusion of the experiment, researchers examined the colons of the mice who had died after consuming a high-sugar diet and located it inhibited the therapeutic or regeneration strategy of the gut.

“The intestine is covered in an epithelial layer, like the skin, but with a layer of mucus on its surface,” Dr. Hand defined. “This intestinal barrier needs to regenerate itself every three to five days and does so via the action of ‘stem cells’ that divide to make new copies of themselves constantly.”

“As you can imagine, these stem cells are very important in regenerating damaged epithelium and must divide even faster to replace dead and damaged cells. What we found was that high sugar concentrations directly affected the ability of stem cells in the intestine to regenerate in response to damage. Under high sugar conditions, when they need to increase their function, intestinal stem cells were unable to do so.”

– Tim Hand, PhD, senior research writer

Dr. Hand stated the research findings recommend that folks with IBD may need to keep away from sugary soft drinks and sweet the place a considerable amount of sugar will be consumed in a short time.

He added that it’s additionally vital to debate any dietary modifications together with your physician first.

As for the subsequent steps on this analysis, Dr. Hand stated they’re working intently with their collaborator Dr. Semir Beyaz on the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories in New York to attempt to outline how diet, the immune response, and the microbiota mix to form the operate of the gut.

“In addition to high sugar and high fat diets, as are common in high-income countries, we are also working on how malnutrition — low protein [and low] fat diets — contribute to intestinal disease in children in low-income countries,” he added.

MNT additionally spoke with Dr. Rudolph Bedford, a gastroenterologist at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, CA, about this research.

He stated the research findings have been very provocative and prone to be true.

“In Western societies, we are seeing an increasing rate of IBD and we certainly do have high-sugar diets,” Dr. Bedford continued. “Sugar itself has really an effect on the gut microbiome and certainly may put patients at risk for IBD. And those with IBD in terms of healing of their bowels will certainly (also) be compromised. My suspicion is that patients in the future — and even now — will be told that their diets should be very low in sugar in order to prevent IBD, and also (for) those who do have IBD to aid in the healing.”

– Dr. Rudolph Bedford, gastroenterologist

For these trying to decrease their sugar consumption, Dr. Bedford says consuming a diet excessive in fiber and really low in processed meals is vital.

“(And) drinking plenty of water (and) staying away from all of these sugary drinks,” he added.