The program is designed to overcome the challenges of nutritional therapy, such as diet compliance, by including hands-on cooking classes and dietary advice.
Dr. Esther Torres, director of the Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease at the University of Puerto Rico.
The Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease at the University of Puerto Rico, led by Dr. Esther Torres, announced Wednesday that it has partnered with the Boston University of Massachusetts School of Medicine research team (UMASS), with the aim of developing a pioneering study that could serve as a model for nutritional interventions to treat Crohn’s disease in populations neglected.
The study, which is supported by a donation from the Lioness M. and Harry B Helmsley Charitable Trust, is to offer patients with Crohn’s disease on the island, an Anti-Inflammatory Diet Plan, known as Dain (for its acronym in English) with components of typical use in the diet Puerto Rican.
Dain will include a variety of probiotics, such as yogurt and fermented foods, that contain live microorganisms that are believed to be beneficial to the gut, and prebiotics, such as high-fiber foods, that provide nutrients that can support beneficial bacteria.
The plan also integrates balanced nutrients to meet the requirements dietary supplements for safe use long-term and will exclude adverse foods, such as processed foods, that are known to trigger gastrointestinal symptoms in some people.
The program is designed to overcome the challenges of nutritional therapy, Such as compliance with the diet, By including practical cooking classes and dietary advice.
In the summer of 2022, it is planned to begin testing the effectiveness of Dain in improving the clinical outcomes of patients with Crohn’s disease to Puerto Rico.
“Eating a healthy diet is one component important of general management of Crohn’s disease, however, to be followed successfully, these diets must incorporate regional food availability as well as cultural preferences and tastes. This grant will help bring us closer to the dietary recommendations validated by the Puerto Rican community and potentially the largest Hispanic diaspora living with Crohn’s disease, “concluded Dr. Kerry Hernandez, program officer associated with Helmsley Charitable Trust.
With information from the Press Release