(HealthDay News) — The specific carbohydrate diet is not superior to the Mediterranean diet for the remission of symptoms in adults with mild to moderate Crohn’s disease, according to a study published online May 26 in Gastroenterology.
James D. Lewis, M.D., from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and colleagues randomly assigned 194 adult patients with Crohn’s disease and mild/moderate symptoms to either a Mediterranean diet or a specific carbohydrate diet for 12 weeks.
The researchers found that the percentage of participants who achieved symptomatic remission at week 6 was not superior with the specific carbohydrate diet (SCD: 46.5%; MD: 43.5 percent). Eight of 23 specific carbohydrate diet participants and four of 13 Mediterranean diet participants achieved fecal calprotectin response (<250 μg/g and reduction by >50% among those with baseline FC >250 μg/g), whereas two of 37 and one of 28, respectively, achieved a C-reactive protein response (high-sensitivity CRP <5 mg/L and >50% reduction from baseline among those with high-sensitivity CRP >5 mg/L).
“Given these results, the greater ease of following the Mediterranean diet, and other health benefits associated with the Mediterranean diet, the Mediterranean diet may be preferred to the specific carbohydrate diet for most patients with Crohn’s disease with mild-to-moderate symptoms,” the authors write.
Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries.
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