Does dairy product consumption impact the prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease? An ecological cross-sectional analysis

Modulation of the microbiota of patients suffering from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with probiotics was suggested to avoid active disease and/or to lower the intensity of the active phase. Considering that the ecological niche of Bifidobacterium spp and Lactobacillus spp includes fermented dairy products, and that countries with highest dairy product consumption were those with lowest prevalence of IBD, we aimed at determining if consumption of dairy products could modulate the prevalence of IBD. Linear regression was performed on data from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study reporting the prevalence of IBD and from the European Association of Dairy Trade reporting national consumptions of dairy products. Consumption of milk, cheese or yoghourt per capita did not correlate with the prevalence of IBD at the national level in Western countries. Considering the limitations of this type of analysis, we recommend to continue investigating the effect of dairy product consumption on IBD by cross-sectional, longitudinal or interventional studies.