A Crohn's Disease Diet to Reduce Symptoms of Crohn's Disease

A 16-week randomized, pilot study to determine if an elimination diet reduces symptoms of Crohn's disease. Sixty (60) adult patients (18-75 yrs) with a mild or moderate Crohn's Disease Activity Index (CDAI) of 150-450, will be recruited through the GI practices at Johns Hopkins University. Patients agree not to be on any other major treatments, with the exception of consistent/stable doses of 5-aminosalicylate (ASA) drugs/other medications during the course of the study and will obtain their physician's permission.They will be divided into a treatment and standard diet group: thirty (30) patients will be on the "Crohn's Disease Diet" (primarily an "anti-inflammatory diet that is an elimination diet - gluten-free, casein-free based with limited carbohydrate) and thirty (30) patients will be given the Dietary Guideline recommendations and similar dietary counseling attention. To assess the clinical efficacy and tolerance of the trial population, patients will be monitored by two office visits (at 0 and 12 weeks) by visits with the Clinical Research Unit (CRU) registered dietitians (RDs) at 0, 6, 12, and 16 weeks (4 weeks after the end of the study) for blood and dietary data collection. Clinical endpoints will be Crohn's disease Activity Index (CDAI) scores (remission \< 150; mild = 150-220; moderate = 220-450; severe = 450+), C-Reactive Protein (CRP) values (0-0.8 mg/L), sedimentation rate /(male: 15-20 mm/hr, female: 20-30 mm/hr)/, possibly interleukin-6(/normal value: \<10pg/ml)/, Overall Quality of Life (QOL) through the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (IBDQ), Dudley IBD Symptom Questionnaire (DISQ) surveys, and Brown's Gastrointestinal Quality of Life (QOL) Questionnaire, and health care costs measured by a health care cost questionnaire.