What is it about?
A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter, clinical trial to assess if patients with ulcerative colitis in remission would have a longer interval to relapse if they followed a diet with no carrageenan. All participants were instructed in the no-carrageenan diet and were randomized to either placebo capsules or carrageenan containing capsules. The carrageenan in the capsules was less than the average daily carrageenan intake from the diet. Participants were followed by telephone calls every two weeks until relapse or one year of participation. The occurrence of relapse and inflammatory biomarkers were compared between the two groups. Three patients who received carrageenan-containing capsules relapsed, and none of the patients who received placebo-containing capsules relapsed (p = 0.046, log-rank test). Laboratory tests showed increases in Interleukin-6 (p = 0.02, paired t-test, two-tailed) and fecal calprotectin (p = 0.06; paired t-test, two-tailed).
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Why is it important?
A no-carrageenan diet may benefit patients with ulcerative colitis and help to prevent relapse.
Perspectives
Carrageenan is very frequently used as a food additive in the diet, since it improves food texture. Many processed foods contain carrageenan, although carrageenan is commonly used in the laboratory, since it predictably causes inflammation. Removing carrageenan from their diet may help patients with ulcerative colitis.
Joanne Tobacman
University of Illinois at Chicago
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: A randomized trial of the effects of the no-carrageenan diet on ulcerative colitis disease activity, Nutrition and Healthy Aging, March 2017, IOS Press,
DOI: 10.3233/nha-170023.
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