Best Diverticulitis foods to avoid if you have been diagnosed with Diverticulitis? I will cover the foods later in this article, for the time being I want to talk further about some helpful information about the disease and the steps that need to be taken to get you on the mend asap.

From the beginning Diverticulitis as you know means that you have little pouches called diverticulitis in the walls of your colon. This means that that diverticulitis have become infected or inflamed, or maybe even torn. This normally happens because the pressure inside your colon is too high which happened due to the fact the food you’ve been eating didn’t have enough fiber.

In the event that you have a diverticulitis emergency, you’ll be required first to go on a liquid only diet, or some people call it a low residue diet. The aim here is to flush and empty your colon so that activity stops. This phase can’t be rushed and believe me you will start to feel a whole lot better after this stage.

Stage two: A better explanation of low residue low fiber diet is that it’s usually recommended during the flare up periods of diverticulitis and inflammatory bowel disease. It may also be recommended as a pre and post operation diet to decrease bowel volume. This diet consists of an intake of less than 10 g of fiber per day and is generally considered a low residue/low fiber diet.

Some low fiber foods, such as dairy and coffee, can actually increase residue or stimulate bowel movement and this is what we don’t want. Some foods that are lower in residue, such as blenderized bran, are indeed high in fiber. In general, a low residue diet is more restrictive than a low fiber diet.

Therefore, it is important to check with your Dr whether it is a low fiber diet is sufficient or perhaps a true low residue diet is required. Some Dr’s recommend that if you have been on a low residue diet for any extended period of time he may ask that you take a multi vitamin.

Stage 3: After a few weeks, you will want to start including a diet with more roughage. The fiber in this particular diet will help you avoid developing more diverticulitis. With extra roughage this will also help prevent damaging the diverticulitis you already have, as it allows your colon go about its normal movements without added pressure.

Increasing the fiber in your diet has a lot of added health benefits which will include your risk of heart disease will drop, and you’ll notice an increase in energy because your blood sugar will stabilize. As extra fibre will fill and satisfy you for longer you won’t feel the need to over eat and this will aid you in losing weight.

There has been a recent study which suggests that patients avoid, nuts, sunflower seeds, popcorn, pumpkin, caraway, and sesame seeds this advice has always been recommend by Doctor’s who feared that seed particles could enter and block the diverticula. Saying this however, of late there is no medical or specific scientific evidence that would support this theory.

The facts are simple if you are not eating a proper balanced diet; the chances are you are really going to be placing yourself at risk for developing diverticulitis. In today’s world of fast food and processed goods, it isn’t surprising that today diverticulitis incidence rates are steadily rising.

Encouraging patients to make a positive lifestyle change to their eating habits to include a higher amount of fibre in their diet is the most significant requirement stressed across medical information. Fibre is known to keep a stool soft and lowers the pressure inside the colon in order for the bowel contents to move through easily and without effort. Dietitians generally recommend increasing the amount of fibre you consume to 20 – 35 grams per day for maximum results.

Doctors believe that eliminating specific food groups is not necessary. For instance the seeds in tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, strawberries, and gooseberries, as well as poppy seeds, are considered harmless. People differ in the amounts and types of foods they can eat.

Helpful information of possible foods to avoid:
Decisions about diet change should be made between the Dr and patient and how the diet change can be tailored to accommodate on what works and is best for each person. When you have been newly diagnosed with this disease it is helpful to keep a food diary to help identify what foods may triggers attacks.

Evidence suggests that point out the fact that there are also certain specific factors that can affect your risk for developing diverticulitis such as age seems to be one predominant factor as is heredity. By far the biggest contributing factor however is diet.

Once you know or become aware of which foods you are able to eat & which aggravate your diverticular disease, it’s a good idea to stick with them for the duration so you can prevent diverticulosis flare ups from occurring again.  If you suffer from diverticulitis or  the symptoms of diverticulosis it is of course important to speak to your doctor before embarking on a special diet for diverticulitis.  Once you have your dietary plan established it’s one thing sticking to the diverticulitis diet when you are at home, but not so easy if you are traveling or eating out.  Fortunately today many restaurants are aware of special dietary requirements & may have a suitable menu for diverticulitis sufferers.

 

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