There are reports that Crohn’s disease can be battled by eating broccoli and plantain. Researchers gave stated that certain types of soluble fibers have been found by them from these plants that can help to prevent bacteria from sticking to the gut's walls and by this the disease’s progress gets limited.

The purpose of the research was to find out if the transport of E. coli bacteria was affected by fibers from various edible plants across specialised cells found in the lining of the bowel.

It was also tried to be found if the transfer of bacteria across these cells was getting altered by substances called emulsifiers commonly found in processed foods.

It was observed that the transmission of bacteria across cells was reduced by fibers from broccoli and plantain by between 45 per cent and 82 per cent, while leek and apple fibers had no effect.

There was an increase in the transmission of bacteria across these cells by one emulsifier, called polysorbate 80.

The preliminary attempts made at the laboratory study do not show that consuming broccoli or plantain reduces attacks of Crohn’s.

But it has been stated that these findings may be of scientific interest and may prove beneficial for clinical trials to find out whether certain plant foods and dietary modifications could have an effect on disease activity in people with Crohn’s.

The study was carried out by researchers from the University of Liverpool, Linkoping University, Sweden, the University of Aberdeen.