Millions of people suffer from what is known as diverticulosis; most of them don’t feel anything, and the only times it warrants attention are when it has the potential to worsen. But the interesting part is the diet that goes along with it, perplexing and sometimes incorrect.
For many years, a type of nutritional folklore served as the foundation for the standard advice given to anyone with diverticulosis. Steer clear of seeds. Don’t eat popcorn. Avoid eating nuts. Patients dutifully removed sesame seeds from their burger buns, and doctors confidently passed this along. The issue is that there was never any solid evidence to support any of it.
Since then, studies have demonstrated that popcorn, nuts, and seeds do not get stuck inside those tiny pouches and cause problems. It’s possible that the previous recommendations actually discouraged people from consuming some of the foods that were highest in fiber, which is exactly what their digestive systems needed.
Avoidance is not the true cornerstone of a diverticulosis diet plan. Fiber is the key to increasing the stool’s volume and softness. Nowadays, the majority of gastroenterologists recommend a daily intake of 25 to 35 grams of fiber. This may seem simple, but the average American consumes about half that amount.
Making thoughtful decisions is necessary to get there: oatmeal for breakfast, black beans or lentils for lunch, broccoli and carrots for dinner, and perhaps a skin-on apple for a snack. It’s not exotic at all. However, in this case, consistency is more important than variety, and most people don’t realize how much work it takes to consistently reach that goal.
The area that gets glossed over is the water. Without enough water, fiber is a surefire way to cause gas, bloating, and the kind of gastrointestinal distress that causes people to give up on their diet plan in less than a week. The floor, not the ceiling, is eight cups per day. People seem to stop listening before the sentence “eat more fiber” is complete, missing the part about fluids being the mechanism that allows fiber to do its job. All that roughage just sits there, compacting rather than softening, because there isn’t enough water passing through the digestive tract.
The significance of adding fiber gradually is something that should be noted, and it’s something that isn’t stressed enough. It is almost a given that going from 14 to 30 grams overnight will cause cramping and discomfort, which is precisely the kind of experience that persuades someone that the entire strategy isn’t working. Adding a few grams every week, allowing the gut to adjust, and monitoring the body’s reaction is a better approach. During this transitional phase, keeping a basic food journal can highlight trends that would otherwise be difficult to spot, such as which food combinations produce gas and which do not.
Exercise comes into play in a way that seems almost too easy. Walking and other regular physical activity encourage the type of colonic muscle contractions that keep things moving. It’s not dramatic advice, but it works. Sedentary lifestyles consistently appear as a risk factor for diverticular complications for a reason.
The flip side is what complicates the entire dietary framework. The diet nearly completely reverses if diverticulosis progresses to diverticulitis, which occurs when those pouches become inflamed or infected. All of a sudden, fiber is the enemy. Patients may be put on clear liquids by doctors, followed by a low-fiber diet for a few days or weeks. It needs medical supervision and is a short-term retreat meant to allow the colon to heal. Long-term low-fiber diets have their own dangers, such as nutritional deficiencies and exacerbated constipation when regular eating resumes.
In actuality, controlling diverticulosis with diet is neither difficult nor glamorous. It consists of water, beans, oatmeal, and walks around the block. It’s the kind of low-key discipline that keeps people out of ERs but never makes headlines. Additionally, there is still enough out-of-date advice surrounding it that many people are doing it incorrectly without even realizing it.
