Intermittent Fasting May Ease Crohn's Disease Symptoms

A small clinical trial found that adults with Crohn's disease who limited eating to an eight-hour daily window experienced a 40% drop in bowel movement frequency and about a 50% reduction in abdominal pain after 12 weeks.

A small clinical trial reported improvements in Crohn's disease symptoms after participants followed time-restricted eating. The study tested an eight-hour daily eating window in adults with Crohn's disease who were overweight or obese. Crohn's is an inflammatory bowel disease that can affect any part of the digestive tract and commonly causes diarrhea and abdominal pain. Researchers reported changes in symptoms, body composition, inflammation markers and gut bacteria over 12 weeks. Key findings: - Bowel movement frequency decreased by about 40% in the group assigned to an eight-hour eating window after 12 weeks. - Abdominal pain was reported to be reduced by roughly half in the time-restricted eating group. - Participants assigned to intermittent fasting lost about 5.5 pounds, while those who continued their usual diet gained about 3.7 pounds. - The fasting group showed decreased body fat, lower blood markers associated with inflammation, and increased diversity in gut bacteria, according to the researchers. - The trial enrolled 35 adults with Crohn's disease; 20 were randomly assigned to the time-restricted eating plan and the remainder followed their regular diets. Summary: The trial indicates that time-restricted eating was associated with reduced symptom frequency and pain, along with metabolic and microbial changes, in this small group of patients. Researchers said larger studies are needed to confirm the findings and to evaluate long-term safety.