The following information is from a book entitled, The Real Vitamin & Mineral Book, written by Shari Lieberman & Nancy Bruning. Shari Lieberman is a clinical nutritionist and Registered Dietician with an M.A. degree in clinical nutrition from New York University. She is currently completing her Ph.D. in clinical nutrition and applied physiology.

The following are some excerpts from their book.

Most patients with Crohn’s disease have deficient levels of vitamin D and should be supplemented with vitamin D to prevent osteomalacia.

According to several studies, up to 1,000 IU per day of vitamin D appears to be safe. Both the beneficial and adverse effects of exceeding this amount are controversial. Overdosing of vitamin D are irreversible and may be fatal.

Magnesium may be too low in people with malabsorption syndromes or gastrointestinal disease such as Crohn’s disease.

Food sources: Magnesium is widely distributed in foods. Those with the highest content of this mineral are milk and dairy products, meat, fish and seafood, nuts, blackstrap molasses, soybeans, peanuts, seeds and wheat germ. Whole grains such as oatmeal, cornmeal, and rice are good sources.

Bear in mind, however, that the magnesium content of food varies considerably with the magnesium content of the soil in which the food is grown. In addition, much of the magnesium in food is lost during processing. For example, milling removes 59 percent of the magnesium from whole wheat. Cooking foods in water also leaches out this mineral.

Supplements: I recommend taking magnesium supplements as either magnesium carbonate or magnesium oxide. Magnesium oxide contains the purest magnesium (60 percent); equally common is magnesium carbonate (40 percent) magnesium. Magnesium works together with calcium and phosphorus, and so must be in balance in the body. Therefore both calcium and magnesium supplements should be taken. (Food usually supplies enough phosphorous.)

Those with malabsorption syndromes such as Crohn’s disease... are at risk... These individuals may have subtle signs of zinc deficiency including loss of appetite, impaired night vision, and depressed immune and mental functions. In one study, patients with highly active Crohn’s disease had only 60 percent of the normal zinc level in the blood.

Supplements: Zinc is available as individual supplements, or as part of many muti-vitamin and multi-mineral formulas.

Since zinc supplements combine elemental or pure zinc with another chemical. when buying supplements yo must consider the amount of elemental zinc; the zinc equivalent is commonly listed on the product label. For example, 80 milligrams of zinc gluconate usually contains 10 milligrams of elemental zinc; 220 milligrams of zinc sulfate supplies 50 milligrams of elemental zinc.

Optimum daily allowance: 22.5 - 50 mg for men and women

She recommends 30-5-mg if they are having any of the above symptoms.