Foods to avoid with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
With Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, sensitivities centre on the gut lining itself: emulsifiers, additives like titanium dioxide, fermentable carbohydrates and lactose are the usual suspects. Tolerance often shifts sharply between an active flare, when low-residue and low-FODMAP choices help, and remission, when many foods can return.
Commonly asked about
All IBD ingredients (40)
Avoid during a flare (19)
- Hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP)Flare: Avoid
- InulinFlare: Avoid
- IodineFlare: Avoid
- Iodized saltFlare: Avoid
- King mackerelFlare: Avoid
- LactoseFlare: Avoid
- LecithinFlare: Avoid
- Mechanically separated meatFlare: Avoid
- MSGFlare: Avoid
- NitratesFlare: Avoid
- Oxalic acid (IBD)Flare: Avoid
- StachyoseFlare: Avoid
- SucraloseFlare: Avoid
- TilefishFlare: Avoid
- Titanium dioxideFlare: Avoid
- TunaFlare: Avoid
- VerbascoseFlare: Avoid
- Xanthan gumFlare: Avoid
- Yeast extractFlare: Avoid
Limit or use with caution (19)
- Black teaFlare: Limit / Caution
- energy drinksFlare: Limit / Caution
- glutenFlare: Limit / Caution
- Grape sugarFlare: Limit / Caution
- High-fructose corn syrupFlare: Limit / Caution
- Hydrogenated vegetable oilFlare: Limit / Caution
- Industrial trans fatsFlare: Limit / Caution
- Interesterified fatsFlare: Limit / Caution
- Malt extractFlare: Limit / Caution
- Malt flavorFlare: Limit / Caution
- MaltodextrinFlare: Limit / Caution
- MaltoseFlare: Limit / Caution
- Palm oilFlare: Limit / Caution
- Raw sugarFlare: Limit / Caution
- Refiner's syrupFlare: Limit / Caution
- SaccharoseFlare: Limit / Caution
- SeitanFlare: Limit / Caution
- ShorteningFlare: Limit / Caution
- WalnutsFlare: Limit / Caution
Usually fine, with a caveat (2)
How diet fits with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis
What the evidence says about food and IBD
The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases states that researchers have not found that specific foods cause or worsen Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, although studies suggest that healthier diets are associated with a lower risk of developing inflammatory bowel disease. Individual responses still differ, so the NIDDK suggests talking with your doctor about foods that seem related to your symptoms and keeping a food diary to find the ones that make them worse.
Flare versus remission
Tolerance often changes between an active flare and remission, which is why every entry in this guide has two ratings. During a flare, doctors sometimes suggest a low-residue diet for a short time, which limits high-fiber foods such as whole grains, nuts, seeds and raw fruit and vegetables, and people with strictures are advised to be especially careful with nuts, seeds and beans. In remission many foods can return. Cutting foods out without the advice of a dietitian can leave you short of nutrients, which matters because symptoms can already reduce appetite and the NIDDK notes that a lack of nutrients can affect growth and development in children.
Named diets
A systematic review of diet in ulcerative colitis found that approaches such as the low FODMAP diet, the Mediterranean diet and anti-inflammatory diets appeared to improve symptoms and quality of life, but it drew on a small body of studies and concluded that dietary advice should be tailored to the person. Treat any named diet as something to try with your care team, not as a replacement for treatment.
How to use this guide
Each entry explains why an ingredient is rated Avoid, Limit or Usually OK for a flare and for remission, with the ingredient's source and its label names. Emulsifiers, additives such as titanium dioxide, fermentable carbohydrates and lactose are the most common reasons for a caution. The ratings are general information, so use them as questions for your gastroenterologist or dietitian.
Questions to ask your care team
Useful questions include whether a low-residue diet is appropriate during your current flare and for how long, whether you have strictures that make nuts, seeds and beans a risk, whether you need vitamin or mineral supplements, and whether a registered dietitian who knows IBD can review your food diary with you.
General guidance, not medical advice. Individual tolerance varies — talk to your clinician before changing your diet.
Check whole products for IBD
Scan a barcode with FoodSage and every ingredient on the label is checked against Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) — flare or remission. Learn about FoodSage.
