Nutritional Management in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: Modulating Inflammation, Managing Complications, Improving Symptoms

Nutritional status plays a critical role throughout the disease course of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). Patients frequently present with malnutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, sarcopenia, and diet-related symptom burden. Beyond its impact on nutritional adequacy, diet exerts modulatory effects on the gut microbiome and intestinal barrier integrity. From a clinical standpoint, nutritional interventions can be considered across prevention through healthy dietary patterns and lifestyle, co-adjuvant strategies targeting mucosal inflammation, prevention and management of IBD-related or treatment-related complications and dietary modulation of functional symptoms while maintaining nutritional sufficiency.

This Research Topic aims to advance the scientific and clinical understanding of nutritional interventions in IBD. We encourage the submission of contributions that explore the efficacy, safety, and applicability of structured food-based interventions, enteral nutrition (exclusive or partial) and supplementation strategies.
Studies focusing the evaluation of clinically relevant endpoints, nutritional status, changes in body composition, health-related quality of life, and patient-reported outcomes—are particularly welcome.

We welcome manuscripts that advance evidence on nutritional interventions in IBD with clear clinical applicability. Areas of interest include:

- Assessment & endpoints: nutritional screening/assessment, malnutrition and risk stratification, body composition and physical function, clinically relevant endpoints (clinical/endoscopic remission, biomarkers), and health-related quality of life.

- Interventions: structured food-based protocols (e.g., Mediterranean-style, Crohn’s Disease Exclusion Diet, low-FODMAP diet); enteral nutrition (exclusive/partial); supplementation strategies for macro/micronutrients.
Personalization & predictors: precision nutrition, phenotypes of responders.

- Multimodal care: integration with pharmacologic therapy and perioperative/inpatient pathways; management of treatment-related or inflammation-related deficiencies; special populations (pediatric, adolescent, geriatric, pregnancy).

- Adherence & implementation: digital tools, behavioral approaches, equity, accessibility, cost-effectiveness, and real-world feasibility.

- Mechanisms & translation: studies linking dietary components to microbiota, metabolome, immune signaling, and intestinal permeability, with translational relevance.


---

Article types: Original Research, Clinical Trial, Systematic Review, Mini Review, Brief Research Report, Study Protocol.

---

Andrea Pasta has served as consultant for Fenix Pharma and has served as speaker for Alfasigma; Elena Formisano has authored scientific articles for ESI srl. Luisa Bertin has received speaker fees from Edra SPA and Takeda SPA.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn’s disease, Ulcerative colitis, Nutrition therapy, Exclusive enteral nutrition, Partial enteral nutrition, Crohn’s Disease Exclusion Diet, Low-FODMAP diet, Mediterranean diet, Micronutrient deficiency, Body composition, Sarcopenia, Perioperative nutrition, Microbiota, Precision nutrition, Quality of life

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.