What influence does alcohol have on the disease?
Many patients with Crohn’s disease also complain in the relapse-free period about occasional typical symptoms such as diarrhea, flatulence or abdominal pain. Above all, these symptoms in the bowel can be aggravated by alcohol consumption. A recent study suggests that this is the case in 15-30% of those affected.
In addition, high-proof alcohol can irritate the mucous membrane in the digestive tract, which could trigger a relapse of the alcohol. Nevertheless, no general statements can be made here, since every patient reacts differently to food and alcohol. An unfavorable effect of alcohol consumption on the long-term prognosis of the disease could not be clearly proven up to now, whereby long-term alcohol consumption is naturally harmful for everyone. Without regular alcohol consumption, life expectancy in Crohn’s disease in general is hardly reduced or not reduced at all.
Can alcohol trigger a relapse?
In Crohn’s disease, in principle all foods can trigger a relapse – including alcohol. Every patient must find out by trial and error and observation whether this is the case with him or her. As already mentioned above, high-proof alcohol is virtually predestined to trigger a relapse due to its mucous membrane damaging effect. This damaging effect increases the more alcohol is drunk. Small amounts of low-proof alcohol such as beer or wine are best suited for initial testing.
Can non-alcoholic beer give a boost?
Even with non-alcoholic beer, as with all other foods, a relapse triggering effect is conceivable. However, the probability of this is not higher than with other alcohol-free foods, since the amount of alcohol in alcohol-free beer is not 0, but negligible. Nevertheless, you should first carefully try out whether and how much alcohol-free beer is tolerated.
Can alcohol cause Crohn’s disease?
The causes for the development of Crohn’s disease are still not fully understood. A genetic predisposition is assumed which leads to a familial accumulation of the disease. Autoimmunological processes, together with some external factors such as smoking, contraceptives (contraceptive pill) and certain eating habits, also contribute to the onset of the disease, so that a triggering effect of alcohol would at least be conceivable.Nevertheless, alcohol has not been identified in previous studies as a risk factor for the development of Crohn’s disease.
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