Courses

A Patient Centric Approach to Integrating Nutrition in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Care

How can nutrition be integrated into patient-centered IBD care?

Presenters: Ashwin Ananthakrishnan, MD, MPH, FACG, AGAF; David Gardinier, RD, LD

Program Date: 07 October 2025

Publication Date: 27 January 2026

Continuing Education Credits: Nurse Contact 1.0 CE; Dietitian 1.0 CPEU

Course Description

Discover how to incorporate evidence-based nutrition strategies alongside medical therapy in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) care. This course explores key nutrition goals, teaches you how to assess patient motivation and resources, and applies these concepts through a clinical case study using the IBD Nutrition Navigator™. This program was originally delivered as a live webinar on October 7, 2025.

Course Objectives:
  • Recognize the essential role of nutrition, alongside medications, in managing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
  • Identify clinical nutrition goals and select evidence-based nutritional options to support them.
  • Evaluate patients' interest and motivation in nutrition, as well as their available resources to support dietary changes.
  • Discuss a clinical case study, using the IBD Nutrition NavigatorTM.
Key Takeaways:
  • Diet plays an important role in the management of inflammatory bowel disease. Both in patients’ perception and in clinical reality. 
  • Having informed, evidence-based conversations about diet is a critically important tool for gastroenterologists and dietitians.
  • Specific diets, including Exclusive Enteral Nutrition (EEN) and the Crohn’s Disease Exclusion Diet (CDED), have the strongest evidence for reducing inflammation and should be selected based on patient goals, motivation, and resources available.

Performance Indicators: 9.1.1, 9.2.1, 10.1.3

Activity Code: 191105

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Related Questions:
  • What is the Crohn’s Disease Exclusion Diet (CDED)?
    The Crohn’s Disease Exclusion Diet is a structured, three‑phase dietary intervention. It combines partial enteral nutrition with a restricted whole‑food diet designed to mimic the benefits of exclusive enteral nutrition while improving patient tolerability and adherence. Phase one includes 50 percent of nutrition from a supplement and 50 percent from allowed foods, phase two reduces the supplement portion to 25 percent with an expanded food list, and phase three serves as a maintenance phase that allows limited free days each week.
  • What resources should clinicians assess before recommending diets like exclusive enteral nutrition or CDED to patients?
    A patient’s resources can help determine whether a therapeutic diet is realistic. Their work schedule, family routines, and comfort with cooking all influence how much time they can devote to meal preparation. It’s also important to know which kitchen appliances they have and whether they have access to a grocery store with the food needed to follow the diet. Evaluating these factors ensures the dietary plan is feasible and the best option for the patient.
  • Why is it critical to understand a patient’s motivation and readiness for dietary change when recommending a diet?
    Dietary therapies for IBD, especially structured or restrictive approaches like EEN or CDED, require significant commitment. Understanding a patient’s motivation and stage of change (e.g., pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action) helps clinicians determine whether the patient is ready to follow a diet successfully. Clinicians should use patient-centered education and goal-setting to move individuals stepwise toward readiness and avoid recommending diets beyond their capabilities. This approach increases adherence, supports success, and ensures the dietary plan is realistic for the patient.

Course Instructor Bio(s)

Ashwin Ananthakrishnan, MD, MPH, FACG, AGAM

Director, Crohn’s and Colitis Center
Massachusetts General Hospital
Associate Professor of Medicine 
Harvard Medical School 
Boston, MA, USA

Dr Ashwin Ananthakrishnan is the Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Crohn's and Colitis Center and an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He completed his medical school training at JIPMER in India and subsequently obtained his Masters in Public Health degree at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. After completing his GI fellowship at the Medical College of Wisconsin, he joined the faculty at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he is involved in clinical care, research, and teaching. In addition to his clinical expertise in the management of patients with complex IBD, he has been involved in NIH-funded investigations using large prospective cohorts to define the role of the environment on IBD. He is also conducting studies aimed at personalizing IBD therapy by defining individual patient trajectories and understanding the appropriate treatment algorithms in vulnerable populations, including the elderly. He has published over 250 manuscripts, co-authored two textbooks in IBD, and serves as an Associate Editor at Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, in addition to serving on multiple editorial boards.

 

David Gardinier, RD, LD

Registered Dietitian, IBD and Celiac Disease
Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland, OH, USA

David Gardinier is a registered dietitian with the Cleveland Clinic Center for Human Nutrition. He specializes in medical nutrition therapy for patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease as a part of the Cleveland Clinic IBD medical home. David currently serves on the National Scientific Advisory Committee and the local Healthcare Professional Engagement Committee of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation.  His interests include the use of computed tomography as a supportive tool for assessing nutritional status and perioperative nutritional care in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

John Stutts, MD, MPH, FAAP

Medical Director, Pediatric Nutrition 
Medical Affairs and Research, Abbott Nutrition 
Columbus, OH, USA

Dr Stutts is the Medical Director of Pediatric Nutrition at Abbott. He has participated in numerous clinical trials in his tenure, including many studies with the Norton Children’s Pediatric Clinical Research Unit. He is a past member of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition Professional Education, Public Education, and Professional Development Committees. Dr Stutts earned his Bachelor of Science from Purdue University and his Doctorate of Medicine from the University of Louisville. He completed his Pediatric Residency and Pediatric Gastroenterology Fellowship, and earned his Master of Public Health from Vanderbilt University.

Category
CE CPEU Pediatric Disease State
Highlighted References:
  • Swan WI, et al. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2017;117(12):2003-2014. 
  • Nutritional Therapy for IBD. Empowering Patients and Professionals in Evidence-Based Nutritional Therapy. https://www.nutritionaltherapyforibd.org/
  • Ananthakrishnan AN, et al. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2025;23(3):406-418.
  • Day A, et al. JGH Open. 2019;4(2):260-266.
  • Correia I, et al. Nutrients. 2024;16(7):987. 
  • Sigall Boneh R, et al. Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2024;30(10):1888-1902.

Abbott Nutrition’s Provider Statement for Nursing CEs:

Abbott Nutrition Health Institute is an approved provider of continuing nursing education by the California Board of Registered Nursing Provider #CEP 11213.

Abbott Nutrition’s Statement for Dietitian CPEUs:

This educational activity has been prior-approved by the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR). CDR credentialed practitioners will receive the specified continuing professional education units (CPEUs) for completion of this program/material.