Diet, Nutrition and Obesity

Inflammatory bowel diseases have traditionally been considered to consist of two diff erent forms, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. A genetic component was recognized for many years, with early studies prior to the year 2000, suggesting between 4-8 genes as being causal. However, it is largely through substantial international progress in methods for genotyping, and also the formation of large international consortia, especially the international IBD genetics consortium, that has progress the science to show to show signifi cantly more than 100 genes, that determine the dietary requirements and the dietary intolerances. It seems highly likely that it should be classed as three rather than two diseases and genetics may be an important feature in determining treatment protocols.