Food Is Medicine: Diet Assessment Tools in Adult Inflammatory Bowel Disease Research

BACKGROUND: Diet significantly impacts the onset and progression of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and diet offers unique opportunities for treatment and preventative purposes. However, despite growing interest, no diet has been conclusively associated with improved long-term clinical and endoscopic outcomes in IBD, and evidence-based dietary guidelines for IBD remain scarce. This narrative review critically examines dietary assessment methods tailored to the unique needs of IBD, highlighting opportunities for precision and inclusivity.

METHODS: We conducted a comprehensive literature review using search terms related to diet, diet assessment, nutrition, food, sex, gender, equity, and IBD.

RESULTS: The identified dietary assessment tools evaluated nutritional quality, dietary patterns, food processing, lifestyle interactions, inflammatory potential, and effects of specific nutrients. Advanced methods, including biomarkers, multi-omics approaches, and digital tools, were highlighted as being complementary to traditional approaches, offering enhanced precision and real-time monitoring. Women remain under-represented in dietary research but face unique nutritional needs due to hormonal cycles, pregnancy, and higher malnutrition risks in IBD.

DISCUSSION: Traditional diet assessment methods remain valuable but are often limited by misreporting biases. Advanced approaches may provide greater precision, enabling real-time monitoring and personalised dietary tracking. Incorporating considerations of sex, gender, age, ethnicity, socioeconomic, and sustainability enhances the relevance and applicability of these methods. Addressing these multifaceted aspects of dietary assessment in IBD can facilitate robust interventional trials.

CONCLUSIONS: Diet assessment tools are essential for developing personalised dietary interventions in IBD, informing evidence-based guidelines, and improving health outcomes and quality of life in IBD.