(HealthDay)—The specific carbohydrate diet (SCD) is not superior to the Mediterranean diet (MD) for the remission of symptoms in adults with mild-to-moderate Crohn disease (CD), according to a study published online May 26 in Gastroenterology.

James D. Lewis, M.D., from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and colleagues randomly assigned 194 adult patients with CD and mild-moderate symptoms to either MD or SCD for 12 weeks.

The researchers found that the percentage of participants who achieved symptomatic remission at week 6 was not superior with SCD (SCD: 46.5 percent; MD: 43.5 percent). Eight of 23 SCD participants and four of 13 MD participants achieved fecal calprotectin (FC) response (<250 μg/g and reduction by >50 percent among those with baseline FC >250 μg/g), while two of 37 and one of 28, respectively, achieved a C-reactive protein (CRP) response (high-sensitivity CRP <5 mg/L and >50 percent reduction from baseline among those with high-sensitivity CRP >5 mg/L).

“Given these results, the greater ease of following the MD, and other health benefits associated with MD, the MD may be preferred to the SCD for most patients with CD with mild-to-moderate symptoms,” the authors write.

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