In January 2019 researchers from Iran published their review of the medical scientific literature to assess the association between fish consumption and dietary intake of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and the risk of inflammatory bowel disease. A total of 10 studies involving 282,610 individuals of which 2002 were cases of inflammatory bowel disease (1061 Crohn’s disease; 937 ulcerative colitis) were included in the review. Results showed that a higher fish consumption appeared to reduce the risk of Crohn’s disease. No relationship was seen between total dietary omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and inflammatory bowel disease although a higher intake of
dietary long chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty appeared to significantly reduce the risk of ulcerative colitis. Moreover, no association was seen between alpha-linolenic acid and inflammatory bowel disease.
Mozaffari H et al. Dietary intake of fish, n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, and risk of inflammatory bowel disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. Eur J Nutr. 2019 Jan 24. [Epub ahead of print]