ibs 4Vitamin A is among the nutrients that are deficient in patient with inflammatory bowel disease (uclerative colitis or Crohn’s disease). In a study appearing in Hepato-Gastroenterology (1991;38:391-395) compared 32 patients with inflammatory bowel disease (17 patients with Crohn’s disease and 15 patients with ulcerative colitis) and compared them to healthy controls. The retinol (vitamin A) levels and retinol-binding protein levels were lower in the patients with inflammatory bowel disease than in healthy controls. Ulcerative colitis patients who were successfully treated had their vitamin A level increase to normal, even without vitamin A supplementation. Similarly, vitamin A levels normalize in patients with Crohn’s disease when the disease is inactive.