This would point to the use of fiber supplements, particularly barley. Another study, published in Digestive Diseases and Sciences , concluded that rats who followed a diet supplemented with yeast-RNA and arginine showed a significant improvement in ulcer healing. There is no evidence that food allergies cause Crohn's, but food sensitivities may add to the irritation of the colon. To check for sensitivities, avoid a suspected food for 10 to 30 days, then reintroduce it into the diet. If a reaction occurs, eliminate the food from your diet.
Common allergens are dairy products, eggs, and wheat.
Nutrition and intestinal function are, by their very relationship, intimately connected. A published Scandinavian study suggests that fiber, starches, glutamine, and fish oils may all help Crohn's patients with issues of malnutrition. A recent Irish study published in Diseases of the Colon and Rectum examined mucosal metabolism of butyrate impaired in ulcerative colitis. The study sought to confirm if a similar change occurs in Crohn's colitis and to establish whether a panenteric disorder of butyrate metabolism exists in either condition. The results indicated that in the colon, the mucosal metabolic fluxes of both butyrate and glutamine are reduced in both ulcerative colitis and Crohn's colitis compared with healthy controls.