Abstract
Background: The consumption of ultra-processed food (UPF) has an effect on the gut barrier and gut microbiome. Considering that there are limited studies on the association of UPFs and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with the small number of ulcerative colitis (UC) patients, this cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the relationship between UPFs and UC severity.
Methods: One hundred fifty-eight patients with UC participated in this study. The disease severity was assessed by the Mayo score. Dietary intake was recorded by a 168-item Food Frequency Questionnaire. UPF consumption was calculated based on the NOVA classification. In addition, the relationship between UC activity and UPF consumption was analyzed by the logistic regression adjusting for dietary factors, demographic values, and lifestyle factors.
Results: There were no significant differences between participants across different tertiles of UPFs, except for age (P=0.03) and gender (P=0.04). The mean consumption of UPF components was significantly greater in the high tertile of the UPF score, except for packaged bread, cream, mayonnaise, curd, margarine, and soft drinks. In the crude (odds ratio [OR]: 1.21, 95% CI: 0.56, 2.60) and adjusted (OR: 1.10, 95% CI: 0.47, 2.56) models, disease severity was not associated with consuming UPFs.
Conclusion: In this study, no significant association was found between UPF consumption and UC activity in patients with UC. However, considering the limitations of this study, especially regarding design and sample size, there is a need to conduct more prospective studies or clinical trials to assess the correlation between UPFs and UC activity.