Crohn's Disease, Cancer, Depression, and Intermittent Fasting

November was a busy month for research - here's a summary of what matters

Fibre is one of those food components that we automatically assume to be essential for good gut health. Yet our assumptions are frequently challenged. November saw the publication of a study that looked at how a fibre-free diet is an effective treatment to induce remission in children with Crohn’s disease.

Crohn’s disease is a debilitating and painful condition, potentially life-threatening. It is estimated that over half a million Americans are affected. More than 1 in 123 people in the UK have been diagnosed with the condition.

Typical symptoms include diarrhoea, malnutrition, fatigue, blood in stools, and loss of appetite. Crohn’s is an inflammatory disease, affecting mainly the small intestine, the site of nutrient absorption. And because what starts in the gut rarely stays in the gut, other parts of the body may also be affected. Chances are that if you have Crohn’s, you also experience inflammation in the joints, skin, or eyes.  

What the researchers of this particular study found was that a fibre-free diet starves the pathogenic microorganisms (called Mucispirillum schaedleri) that trigger the disease, leading to inhibition of inflammation and disease remission.

This, they state, suggests that a fibre-free diet may be a strategy to treat Crohn’s.

That fibre may not always be good for you is yet another nutritional heresy to add to the growing pile. There are other occasions when you might be better off without it. This, coincidentally, was the subject of this article I wrote in September on Substack:

Cut down on your fruit and vegetables