The inadequate dietary intake of Vitamin D and Vitamin K is an easily reversible factor
favoring IBD-associated bone loss, but data on Vitamin K are lacking. A 28-item quantitative food
frequency questionnaire was administered to 193 IBD patients (89 Crohn’s disease and 104 ulcerative
colitis), and 199 controls. Patients’ demographics, clinical and laboratory findings were analyzed in
relation to recommended daily allowances. VitD intake was inadequate both in the IBD and control
patients (8.3 ± 4.5 µg/day in IBD, 53.1% RDA, and 9.7 ± 5.9 µg/day, 63.2% RDA, respectively).
Conversely, the mean ViK intake was less than adequate in IBD, at 116.7 ± 116.3 µg/day (78.7% RDA),
and high in controls, at 203.1 ± 166.9 µg/day (138.8% RDA). Nonetheless, due to marked interindividual differences, diets were severely lacking VitK in 40% of UC and 49% of CD patients,
more so in females and those with active disease. The intake of Vit D was non-significantly lower
in colitis than that in Crohn’s disease (7.9 vs. 8.7 µg/day). The opposite was observed for VitK
(123.5 vs. 107.0 µg/day). Thus, the diet lacks the micronutrients involved in bone wellbeing in a large
proportion of IBD patients. While VitD supplementation is the rule, VitK shortages need proactive
nutritional intervention.
Keywords: IBD; vitamin K; vitamin D; diet in IB
