Dietary strategies and delicious recipes that help manage inflammatory bowel disease.

Good nutrition is a top priority for people living with Crohn''s disease and ulcerative colitis and also for their families and friends. There is often a fear of trying new foods, as well as other concerns. Is a current diet appropriate? Can the usual foods purchased at the grocery store still be part of the daily diet?

Crohn''s and Colitis Diet Guide addresses these concerns and more. The authors explain how nutrition plays a central role in the management of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and discuss the importance of maintaining general health during times of disease activity and periods of remission. They also show how a person''s nutritional status affects immunity, wound-healing and other physiological processes. Reliable, well-researched dietary advice combined with 150 outstanding recipes provides a crucial resource for those managing IBD.

Although good nutrition does not cure IBD, and although -- with certain exceptions -- nutritional therapy does not always control disease flares, good nutrition is important for health maintenance, symptom management and well-being.

A. Hillary Steinhart, MD. MSc. FRCP(C), author of the companion volume Crohn''s and Colitis: Understanding and Managing IBD, is head of the combined division of gastroenterology for Mount Sinai Hospital and the University Health Network in Toronto. He is also an associate professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto.

Julie Cepo, RD, is the inpatient clinical dietitian for the gastrointestinal program at Toronto''s Mount Sinai Hospital. Her work involves IBD patients and their families, and she specializes in nutrition support as well as therapeutic diet education.