AGA IBD Guidelines Emphasize Mediterranean and Whole-Food Diets

Summary of the healio Article on IBD Management & Diet

This article from Healio Gastroenterology highlights the increasing importance of dietary interventions in managing Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), particularly crohn’s disease.Here’s a breakdown of the key takeaways:

* Updated ACG Guidelines: New guidelines now recommend interventional diets like Exclusive enteral nutrition (EEN) and the Crohn’s disease exclusion diet for adults as well as pediatric patients.
* Diet for Active Disease: The guidelines specifically endorse the Crohn’s disease exclusion diet combined wiht partial enteral nutrition for managing active disease.
* EEN Remains Key: EEN (6-10 weeks, perhaps adjustable to 2-4 weeks) is still considered the primary nutritional therapy for Crohn’s disease, but is underutilized in practice.
* Unique Intervention: EEN is valuable as it has a powerful impact without being an immune modulator. This makes it a promising area for further research.
* Proactive Clinician Role: Clinicians should proactively discuss diet with patients, emphasizing healthy eating and the positive impacts of nutritional intervention (symptom enhancement, nutritional repletion, growth). They need to be the source of accurate information.
* Focus on Positives: The approach should focus on what patients can eat and the benefits of dietary changes.

Source: The information was presented by David Suskind, MD, at the Crohn’s & Colitis Congress (Jan. 22-24, 2026, Las Vegas).

Disclosure: Dr. Suskind has consulting roles with Abbott and Nestlé and founded Nutrition in Immune Balance.