The DELECTABLE Program
Treating inflammatory Bowel Disease with Diet
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Drugs that suppress the immune system are the current mainstay of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) therapy. Yet, fewer than half of the treated patients achieve full control of their disease. An alternative is to target the cause of this disease, that is, the disturbed balance of bugs in the gut, using diet as a sole or additional therapy.
More than 50 years ago researchers discovered that a special liquid diet combined with natural food exclusion could reduce gut inflammation in children or adults with Crohn's disease. Subsequent studies have since confirmed that this approach can be as effective as medications. However, liquid diets are often poorly tolerated, hard to adhere to and are not sustainable long-term.
A recent more tolerable and balanced approach is to use a food-based approaches, especially to treat Crohn’s disease. IBD patients believe that what they eat impacts on their disease activity and symptoms and are keen on food-based approaches.
We have risen to this challenge. In the first DELECTABLE Program we offered IBD patients a choice of diet treatments. One of these is a flexible wholefood diet that our team designed; this diet:
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limits processed, additive-containing foods that have been shown to further disturb the impaired balance of ‘good and ‘bad’ bugs in the gut
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includes a wide variety of nutrient-dense whole foods, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds, unprocessed dairy and olive oil
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does not restrict how much patients can eat
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We showed that patients:
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were satisfied with their personalised diet
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could maintain such a diet
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achieved less active gut inflammation
Going forward
Although dietary treatment for Crohn’s disease is often effective, not everyone responds, tolerates, or has access to diet. At present, there is no strategy to select the most appropriate diet for individual patients. Factors predicting response are also unknown.
We will now embark on defining well-tolerated, likeable and personalised dietary strategies that have a lasting impact on patients with IBD.
In this next phase of the DELECTABLE program diet will be personalised for each patient. We will also determine how diet works.
This program will advance diet management in patients with inflammatory bowel disease, making diet advice personalised, effective, and enjoyable.
CLINICAL GROUP
PROFESSOR MICHAEL KAMM
PROFESSOR OF
GASTROENTEROLOGY
The University of Melbourne,
St Vincent’s Hospital
DR. GINA TRAKMAN
RESEARCH DIETITIAN
The University of Melbourne,
St Vincent’s Hospital
ERIN RUSSELL
RESEARCH DIETITIAN
The University of Melbourne, St Vincent's Hospital
EMILY THOMPSON
RESEARCH DIETITIAN
The University of Melbourne
DR. AMY HAMILTON
CLINICAL SCIENTIST
The University of Melbourne,
St Vincent’s Hospital
SCIENTIFIC GROUP
PROFESSOR MARK MORRISON
PROFESSOR OF MICROBIOLOGY
The Diamantina Institute, The University of Queensland
DR. JULIE DAVIES
RESEARCH FELLOW
St Vincent’s Institute
EVE GRAY
RESEARCH ASSISTANT
St Vincent’s Institute