Table 1

Associations of nutrients, food components or dietary patterns with development of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative from prospective cohort studies

Food componentProspective cohort studyAssociation with Crohn’s diseaseAssociation with ulcerative colitisReference
Energy and macronutrients
 Energy and macronutrient profileEPIC–None 85
 ProteinE3N/EPIC↑ Total protein↑ Animal protein 3
 ProteinEPICNone↑ Total meat and red meat 14
 FatEPIC↓ DHA– 5
 FatNHSNone↑ Trans unsaturated fats 15
 FatNHS and NHS IINone↓ High n3:n6 PUFA in certain genotype 16
 FatEPIC–↑ Linoleic acid 19
 FatEPIC–↓ DHA 18
 FatEPIC–↑ Arachidonic acid and ↓ oleic acid 17
 CarbohydrateEPICNoneNone 86
 Sweetened beveragesSMC/CoSMNoneNone 87
 Sugar-sweetened beveragesUK Biobank↑ Sugar-sweetened beveragesNone 4
Micronutrients
 Vitamin DNHSNone↓ Diet and supplementary vitamin D 20
 Vitamin DE3N/EPICNoneNone 88
 Vitamin DEPICNoneNone 89
 Sodium and potassiumNHS and NHS II↓ Dietary potassiumNone 11
 Dietary ironNHS and NHS IINoneNone 90
 ZincNHS and NHS II↓ Zinc intake for womenNone 12
 ZincNutriNet-Santé↓ Dietary zincNone 13
Specific foods/components
 DairyEPIC↓ Total dairyNone 6
 FibreNHS↓ Total fibre and fibre from fruitNone 7
 FibreEPIC↓ Fibre from grains in non-smokersNone 8
 FibreUK Biobank↓ Total fibre and fibre from fruit and breadNone 9
 Fibre & meatDCHNot separated into CD and UC—no associations 91
 GlutenNHS and NHS II and HPFSNoneNone 92
 AlcoholEPICNoneNone 93
 AlcoholNHS and NHS II and HPFSNoneNone 94
 AlcoholUK BiobankNot separated into CD and UC—variable results 95
 PolyphenolsEPIC↓ Flavones and resveratrolNone 10
 Metal elements and disinfectants in drinking waterYinzhouNot separated into CD and UC—many associations 96
Food patterns
 Dietary patterns and Mediterranean diet scoreEPICNone↑ High sugar and soft drinks with low vegetable intake 23
 Mediterranean dietSMC/CoSM↓ MED scoreNone 21
 Dietary patterns, including MED scoreLifeLines↑ Snacks, prepared meals, non-alcoholic beverages, sauces and low vegetable and fruit
↓ LifeLines Diet Score		↑ Red meat, poultry, processed meat 22
 Diet qualitySMC/CoSM↓ HPDI and modified MED scoresNone 24
 Healthy lifestyle scoreNHS/NHS II/HPFS, EPIC and SMC/CoSM↓HLS↓HLS 25
 Dietary patternsNHS II↓ Prudent diet scoreNone 97
 Inflammatory score of dietEPIC↑ Two unit increased scoreNone 98
 Cardioprotective dietUK Biobank↓ 5–7 score↓ 5–7 score 99
 Special dietary habitsCHEFNoneNone 100
 EDIP scoreNHS and NHS II↑ Higher ‘inflammatory’ scoreNone 28
 EDIP scorePURENoneNone 29
 UPFPURE↑ UPF↑ UPF 101
 Dietary patterns and UPFNutriNet-SantéNot separated into Crohn’s and UC—no associations 102
 UPFNHS and NHS II and HPFS↑ UPFNone 103
 Unprocessed/minimally processed and UPFEPIC↓ Unprocessed/minimally processed foodNone 104
 UPFUK Biobank↑ UPFNone 105

  • CD, Crohn’s disease; CoSM, Cohort of Swedish Men; DCH, Danish Diet, Cancer and Health cohort; DHA, docosahexaenoic acid; EDIP, Empirical Dietary Inflammatory Pattern; E3N, Etude Épidémiologique des femmes de la Mutuelle Générale de l’Education National; EPIC, European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition; HLS, Healthy Lifestyle Score; HPDI, Healthful Plant-Based Diet Index; HPFS, Health Professional Follow-up Study; MED, Mediterranean diet; NHS, Nurses’ Health Study; PUFA, polyunsaturated fatty acids; PURE, Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology cohort; SMC, Swedish Mammography Cohort; UC, ulcerative colitis; UPF, ultra-processed food.