Long-term intake of dietary fat and risk of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease
Ashwin N. Ananthakrishnan, Hamed Khalili, Gauree Gupta Konijeti, Leslie M. Higuchi, Punyanganie S. de Silva, Charles S. Fuchs, Walter Churchill Willett, James M. Richter, Andrew Tan Chan · Gut (2013)
TL;DR
Long-term intake of trans fats may increase ulcerative colitis risk, while long-chain omega-3s may lower it.
What they did
Scientists studied 170,805 women over 26 years. They looked at how total fat, saturated fats, unsaturated fats, different types of fatty acids, and trans-unsaturated fatty acids affected the risk of Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC).
What they found
No links were found between total fat, saturated fats, or most fatty acids and CD or UC. However, long-chain omega-3s showed a trend towards lowering UC risk (HR 0.72, 95% CI 0.51 to 1.01), while trans-unsaturated fats showed a trend towards increasing UC risk (HR 1.34, 95% CI 0.94 to 1.92).
Why it matters
Studies suggest that choosing foods rich in long-chain omega-3s and limiting trans fats may help maintain digestive health.
Limits
This is general education, not medical advice.
Jargon explained
- HR
- Hazard Ratio - a measure used in statistics to compare the risk of an event between groups.
- CI
- Confidence Interval - a range of values that is likely to contain an unknown population parameter.
Read the original: https://doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2013-305304
Full citation
Ashwin N. Ananthakrishnan, Hamed Khalili, Gauree Gupta Konijeti, Leslie M. Higuchi, Punyanganie S. de Silva, Charles S. Fuchs, Walter Churchill Willett, James M. Richter, Andrew Tan Chan (2013). Long-term intake of dietary fat and risk of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. Gut. DOI: 10.1136/gutjnl-2013-305304
Open access (green): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/3915038
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Educational information only, not medical or dietary advice. Consult a qualified health professional for personal nutrition guidance.