A new study is set to investigate the impact of a culturally tailored, anti-inflammatory diet on Hispanic/LatinX patients with ulcerative colitis. Oriana Damas, M.D., associate professor of digestive health and liver diseases at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, will lead the five-year initiative, supported by a National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01 grant.
The research aims to address the increasing prevalence of ulcerative colitis among Hispanic/LatinX individuals, a population historically less affected by the disease. The study will adapt a Mediterranean diet to incorporate South Florida dietary staples, ensuring the inclusion of foods with anti-inflammatory properties.
The Need for Culturally Sensitive Diets
Traditional dietary guidance for ulcerative colitis often centers around the Mediterranean diet. However, Dr. Damas noted the limitations of this approach for patients with diverse cultural backgrounds. "It is hard to tell patients who have their own customs and grew up eating their own native foods to adapt their diet to one from a different region of the world," she said.
The study will recruit 122 Hispanic/LatinX participants from South Florida for an eight-week trial. Participants will be randomized to either the special anti-inflammatory diet or their usual diet, with a crossover design ensuring all participants eventually receive the intervention diet. The diet will feature rice dishes, yams, plantains, yuca, Latin soups, and tropical fruits like papaya, guava, and mango.
Trial Design and Expected Outcomes
Dr. Damas's team will assess the effects of the diet using the Simple Clinical Colitis Activity Index, a questionnaire evaluating the severity of ulcerative colitis symptoms. They will also measure inflammatory markers in blood and stool samples to obtain objective measures of improvement. Furthermore, the study will analyze stool microbiota composition to identify potential predictors of dietary response.
"Growing evidence suggests that the gut microbiome may mediate the effect of diet on ulcerative colitis and similar diseases," Dr. Damas explained. The research will also examine specific genes and fatty acids in the blood to evaluate the likelihood of patients responding to the diet based on their capacity to metabolize certain fats, particularly omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids.
Personalizing Medicine through Diet
The ultimate goal is to develop personalized dietary recommendations for the Hispanic/LatinX population that are both effective and sustainable. Dr. Damas envisions future clinical trials building on these findings to create algorithms that tailor dietary interventions based on ethnicity, genetic background, and gut microbiota composition. She also plans to extend this approach to other populations affected by ulcerative colitis and other inflammatory bowel diseases.
"Our findings may get us closer toward personalizing medicine and making dietary recommendations for the Hispanic/LatinX population that patients like and can adhere to, long term, while also allowing us to control their disease inflammation," Dr. Damas concluded.
