Interestingly, one new study explains exactly how to reduce your risk of developing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) by as much as 61%. The first is Crohn’s disease, which can affect any part of the GI tract but typically affects the small intestine, while the second is ulcerative colitis, which normally occurs in the large intestine, colon, and rectum. An IBD diagnosis can be life-altering and incapacitating, and medical experts are still working on developing effective treatments, so we’d all benefit from investing in preventive measures. It found that those who generally invested in healthy lifestyle factors like eating fruits and vegetables, getting enough fiber, and engaging in regular exercise—and generally avoided unhealthy ones like having a high BMI and smoking—could prevent about 61% of Crohn’s disease cases and about 42% of ulcerative colitis cases. Nevertheless, the study did have some limitations. For example, stress, which has a known link to IBD1 and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), was not included as one of the lifestyle factors. Even so, as Emily W. Lopes, MPH, and one of the study’s authors, explained to Medical News Today, “…adherence to a number of dietary and lifestyle factors known to be associated with risk of Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) could have prevented a substantial number of cases.”
