\u2013 An estimated 3 million adults in the United States suffer from Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).<\/p>\n
\u2013 The health of your gut and the gut microbiota has been shown to affect inflammation, which is the key feature of IBD.<\/p>\n
\u2013 Dysbiosis has been observed in patients with IBD as compared to healthy individuals.<\/p>\n
\u2013 The Anti-inflammatory Diet for IBD (IBD-AID), which includes the use of more prebiotic and probiotic foods to restore the healthy levels of gut microbiota, has been researched and studied as an adjunct therapy for IBD treatment.<\/p>\n
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Introduction<\/h3>\n
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)<\/strong>\u00a0is a chronic inflammatory disease of the gut and bowels. The 2 conditions that are commonly associated with IBD are\u00a0Crohn\u2019s disease (CD)<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0ulcerative colitis (UC)<\/strong>. The differences between CD and UC lie in the following [1]:<\/p>\n \u2013 Location<\/strong>: inflammation can affect any part of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract for CD; for UC, it is limited to the colon and the rectum An estimated 3 million adults from the United States (U.S.) suffer from IBD [2], with many more children under the age of 18 years old being diagnosed as well [3]. Common symptoms of IBD may resemble\u00a0irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)<\/a>, but they are not the same condition. Some symptoms include abdominal pain, weight loss, and rectal bleeding.<\/p>\n The health of your gut and the\u00a0gut microbiota<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(also called\u00a0gut microbiome<\/strong>) has been shown to affect\u00a0inflammation<\/strong>, which is the key feature of IBD [4].\u00a0Fiber intake<\/a>\u00a0may also have certain roles in the cause of IBD, which includes (but not limited to) its effects as a prebiotic for the gut microbiota.<\/p>\n World IBD Day<\/strong>\u00a0falls on 19 May every year [5]. In conjunction with this day, find out how the health of your gut (including your gut microbiota) is related and associated with this autoimmune and inflammatory disease of the bowels!<\/p>\n The human digestive system and health is greatly affected by the microorganisms harbored within the gut, which includes bacteria, virus, and fungi species. This is termed as the gut microbiota, with the number of bacterial cells estimated to be more than 10 times the number of human cells [6]. Its composition is unique to everyone, as several factors such as environmental and lifestyle contribute to the uniqueness of the gut microbiota composition [7].<\/p>\n Indications of an unhealthy digestive system can range from local (i.e., gut-related) such as digestive issues, to more systemic-related problems like\u00a0skin health<\/strong>,\u00a0mood swings<\/strong>, and even\u00a0depression<\/strong>\u00a0[8], and many of these effects may be contributed by the gut microbiota [9]. A change in the bacterial species and environment could happen because of drugs (e.g., antibiotics), toxins, and pathogens. This is called \u2018dysbiosis<\/strong>\u2019 [10].<\/p>\n There have been several published reports that studied the effects of the gut microbiota on IBD, mainly reflected by the gut microbiota\u2019s effect on reducing inflammation.<\/p>\n Dysbiosis has been observed in patients with IBD as compared to healthy individuals [11]. As a healthy gut microbiota has been associated with\u00a0anti-inflammatory effects<\/strong>\u00a0on the gut, dysbiosis could have pro-inflammatory effects on the gut, leading to symptoms of IBD. An increase in the number of \u2018bad\u2019 bacteria in the gut also affects the gut in other ways, such as changing the permeability of the intestine walls [11]. This effect has also been shown in animal studies, where rats with gut microbiota changes induced by using antibiotics were associated with recurrent gut inflammation [12].<\/p>\n The gut microbiota also produces\u00a0short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs)<\/strong>\u00a0through the fermentation of\u00a0prebiotics<\/a>\u00a0such as\u00a0dietary fiber<\/a>\u00a0[9]. The concentrations of these SCFAs were also found to be lower in IBD patients, which may also play a part in inducing inflammation, leading to IBD and its respective symptoms [11].<\/p>\n Dietary changes that target gut microbiota may help to alleviate IBD symptoms [13]. The\u00a0Anti-inflammatory Diet for IBD (IBD-AID)<\/strong>\u00a0has been researched and studied as an adjunct therapy for IBD treatment [14]. The IBD-AID includes the use of more\u00a0prebiotic and probiotic foods<\/strong>\u00a0to restore the healthy levels of gut microbiota. According to the study, a 61.3% of patients on IBD-AID for 8 weeks reported a significant decrease in IBD symptoms [14]. IBD-AID also emphasize on the importance of using\u00a0soluble fiber<\/strong>, which also promotes benefits such as SCFAs production by the gut microbiota, as mentioned above as well [15].<\/p>\n Prebiotics are substrates that are used and broken down by the gut microbiota to form metabolites such as SCFAs. Different forms of prebiotics include [16]:<\/p>\n \u2013 Resistant starches such as Advagen Prebiotic<\/a> Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammatory disease that can affect any part of the gastrointestinal system, depending on the type of IBD. The gut microbiota and alterations of the composition of it has been associated with IBD, as dysbiosis has been shown to be observed in patients with IBD as compared to healthy individuals. Dietary changes such as increasing the usage of prebiotic and soluble fiber may be useful in alleviating the symptoms of IBD.<\/p>\n This article is written in conjunction with World IBD Day, which falls on 19 May every year.<\/em><\/p>\n Key Points: \u2013 An estimated 3 million adults in the United States suffer from Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). \u2013 The health of your gut and the gut microbiota has been shown to affect inflammation, which is the key feature of IBD. \u2013 Dysbiosis has been observed in patients with IBD as compared to healthy individuals. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2051,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"yoast_head":"\n
\n\u2013 Type<\/strong>: damaged tissues appear in patches in CD, whereas the damaged areas are often continuous in UC
\n\u2013 Extend<\/strong>: the extend of inflammation can affect multiple layers of the GI tract in CD, while inflammation is only often present in the innermost layer of the colon in UC.<\/p>\nGut Health: What is the Gut Microbiota?<\/h3>\n
How The Gut Microbiota affects IBD<\/h3>\n
How Can Dietary Changes Help with IBD?<\/h3>\n
\n\u2013 Frutans
\n\u2013 Galacto-oligosaccharides
\n\u2013 Pectin<\/p>\nConclusion<\/h3>\n
Related Articles<\/h3>\n
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\nWhat is the Gut Microbiota?<\/a><\/p>\n![\"dietary](\"https:\/\/fibrosol.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Fibrosol-website-featured-image-1-300x155.jpg\")
\n6 Tips on Increasing Dietary Fiber Intake<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Prebiotic](\"https:\/\/fibrosol.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Prebiotics-educational-post-featured-image-300x155.jpg\")
\nPrebiotic: Gut Microbiota, Gut Health, and Beyond<\/a><\/p>\nReferences<\/h3>\n
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