REVIEW article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition, Psychology and Brain Health
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1592528
This article is part of the Research TopicUnraveling the Associations Between Diet and Mental HealthView all 11 articles
Nutritional Psychology and Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Narrative Review of Gut-Brain Axis Interactions
Provisionally accepted
- Tel Hai Academic College, Kiryat Shemona, Israel
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This paper explores the intricate relationship between Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and psychopathology, with a particular focus on anxiety and depression. This narrative review synthesizes recent findings on how dietary factors and nutritional psychology influence the gut-brain axis in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. The bidirectional gut-brain axis, chronic inflammation, and psychological stress are all key contributors to the mental health burden in IBD patients. The paper reviews the physiological mechanisms linking IBD and psychiatric symptoms, particularly how inflammation and gut microbiota composition may influence mood disorders. It addresses the variability in psychiatric comorbidities across IBD subtypes (Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis) and highlights the challenges in standardized diagnosis and treatment. Emerging research on microbiome-based therapies, nutritional interventions, and personalized care approaches offers promising solutions for improving gastrointestinal and mental health outcomes. Integrating multidisciplinary care, involving gastroenterologists, psychiatrists, and dietitians, alongside advances in precision medicine, holds potential for developing more effective, individualized treatment strategies. However, challenges remain regarding variability in patient responses, methodological inconsistencies, and the need for standardized clinical protocols. The paper concludes by calling for further research to clarify these relationships and optimize treatment for IBD patients struggling with both physical and psychological health challenges.
Keywords: gut-brain axis, Nutritional psychology, psychiatric comorbidities, Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), microbiota
Received: 12 Mar 2025; Accepted: 21 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Horovitz. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Omer Horovitz, Tel Hai Academic College, Kiryat Shemona, Israel
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