Higher Meat Intake Linked to Increased Ulcerative Colitis Flares: Study
A new study published in the British Medical Journal Gut showed higher overall meat consumption was linked to a considerably increased incidence of illness flare-ups in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC).
Red meat and ultraprocessed meals are connected to Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, respectively, while diets high in vegetables, seafood, and plant-based fibers are linked to a lower risk of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and anti-inflammatory effects. Robust data on nutrition and illness flare-ups are still few, though. This PREdiCCt research was set to investigate nutritional, clinical, and demographic variables linked to illness flare-ups in IBD patients who self-reported being in remission.
Patients with Crohn's disease (CD), ulcerative colitis (UC), or IBD unclassified (IBDU) who reported being in remission were followed up prospectively. The baseline diet was evaluated using a validated food frequency questionnaire. The primary outcome was time to patient-reported flare (measured by monthly IBD-Control) and objective flare (clinical flare + C-reactive protein >5 mg/L and/or fecal calprotectin (FC) >250 µg/g with therapy escalation).
2629 individuals (1370 CD; 1259 UC/IBDU) were enrolled between November 2016 and March 2020, and they were monitored for a median of 4.1 years (IQR 3.0–5.0). Patient-reported flares (FC ≥250 µg/g: adjusted HR (aHR) 2.22; FC 50–250 µg/g: aHR 1.52 (reference <50 µg/g)) and objective flares (FC ≥250 µg/g: aHR 3.25; FC 50–250 µg/g: aHR 1.98) were significantly correlated with baseline FC.
Higher total meat consumption was linked to an increased risk of objective flares in UC (highest versus lowest quartile: aHR 1.95, 95% CI 1.07 to 3.56). Ultraprocessed foods, fiber, or polyunsaturated fatty acids did not consistently correlate with flare. Overall, this study offers strong prospective evidence that FC is highly linked to disease flare, even in presumed remission, and that habitual food, especially meat intake, may impact flare risk in UC.
Source:
Constantine-Cooke, N., Gros, B., Plevris, N., Williams, L. J., Jones, G.-R., Kyle, J., Kennedy, N. A., Velasco-Pardo, V., Rudge, A., Alexander, D., Anderson, C. A., Brusco de Freitas, M., Derr, L. M., Derikx, L. A., Gilchrist, S., Henderson, P., Horgan, G. W., Irving, P., Lamb, C. A., … PREdiCCt study group. (2026). Associations between demographic, clinical and dietary factors and flares in inflammatory bowel disease: the PRognostic effect of Environmental factors in Crohn’s and Colitis (PREdiCCt) prospective cohort study. Gut. https://doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2025-337846
