Though a big juicy steak can be as American as, well, a big juicy steak, new research out of France found a link between high animal protein intake and a "significantly increased risk of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)."

Using participants in a French cohort study, researcher led by Provost Jantchou, MD, of the Center for Research in Epidemiology and Population, studied 77 women ages 40 to 65 with confirmed cases of IBD. After examining their diet, Dr. Jantchou found that more than two thirds of them had elevated levels of protein intake. Furthermore, the results indicated that animal protein, meat, fish and non dairy, tripled the patient's risk of developing IBD, while protein derived from vegetables carried no additional risk of IBD.

Researchers found that the increased risk from animal protein was the same for both Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis.

According to Dr. Jantchou, the findings "represent a tremendous step forward in our understanding of IBD" by knowing "specifically which aspects of diet is related to disease occurrence." The research team's next step is to look at the effect of animal protein in patients already diagnosed with IBD with the hope of improved IBD management.

Dr. Jantchou's findings were presented at Digestive Disease Week (DDW) 2010 in New Orleans, LA. DDW is the largest international gathering of physicians and researchers in the field of gastroenterology, hepatology, endoscopy and gastrointestinal surgery.