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Foods
To Avoid with Diverticulitis
There is a lot of confusing information about what foods you should eat
with Diverticulitis.
There is also just as much conjecture on the type of food you should
avoid.
This page is just about the foods to Avoid with Diverticulitis and
Diverticulosis.
Recently we did a survey for the End
Diverticulitis Reference. In this
survey we asked people to rate foods on how much of a problem they
caused. Specifically when they were feeling OK,
that is
they have Diverticulosis (as opposed to Diverticulitis) If you wish to
get clarification on the differences please click here.
Basically Diverticulosis is where you have the pouches, and
Diverticulitis is where the pouches are inflamed (usually you are in
pain).
So these are the foods that most people said they had trouble
with. The foods that would cause them a flare up of Diverticulitis.
If your not in pain, and are not on any medication for Diverticulitis
(i.e. antibiotics), then have a serious look at these foods
and
food groups, and try to avoid them.
These
foods are rated as HIGH RISK by
our survey respondents. I would look to exclude these in your
diet. Just remember that even though most
people said they caused trouble, they may not cause trouble with you
personally. This is only the recommendations as per the
survey we did for the End
Diverticulitis Reference.
This is a bit of an odd list, the survey was by no means
complete
covering every type of food. What we tried to do was cover a
lot
of good common foods, and a wide variety of foods.
So these are this foods you should avoid according to our survey report.
1. Stress - while not a food, this rated as the highest problem from
our survey and we have more info directly on stress at this link.
Diverticulitis and Stress
2. Nuts, Hazel, Peanuts etc.
3. Sesame Seeds, this will include buns, and burgers with sesame seeds
on them.
4. Corn (any corn, pop corn, sweet corn, even corn flour and tortillas)
5. Chilli's and peppers, hot and spicy.
I would also like to add a couple of things that got a specific
mention, these were not rated as they were not on a question in the
initial survey, but a lot of people specifically mentioned them as a problem, something to avoid.
1. V8 Tomato Juice
2. Iceberg lettuce
3. Fried, Deep Fried or Fatty foods.
4. Onions,
5. Raw Vegetables
One thing that did come out of the survey was
some people
had no trouble even with the above (except stress). So it
seems
the things that effect you can be very personal. For this
reason
we suggest you keep a food diary to record what you found OK and what
you found not OK. More on food diaries can be found
at the
link here Click
here for the food diary pages.
However what are the basics we know from the End
Diverticulitis survey?
This is what I would do, now this is not a strict rule, it
is
only a suggestion. You will need to make up your own mind
about
the foods you need to avoid and a Food
Diary will help with that.
Eliminate from you diet initially.
Nuts, Corn, Sesame Seeds, and Chilli's. Also Tomato Juice
(the V8
tomato juice got mentioned quite a few times, however I think
that all tomato juices should be questioned).
Iceberg
lettuce (try other options like the Cos Lettuce or baby spinach leaves
my favorite), fired food and fatty foods, onions and raw vegetables.
This should immediately help reduce problems with your
Diverticulitis.
Nuts is a funny one, a lot of people say they are no good and
a
lot say they are OK. So we have a nuts and seeds page here.
Diverticulitis and
Nuts and Seeds.
But in a nut shell (pardon the pun) leave them out to begin
with
then try a few here and there. But do not over indulge.
Seriously consider leaving out Corn, Sesame Seeds and Chilli's (or hit
and spicy foods) all together. It is not a big ask to exempt
them
from you daily diet, it is very easy to find buns without sesame seeds.
Corn is not such a hard one, pop corn, sweet corn, even corn
tortillas would be high on my list for leaving out. I would
also
avoid those Mexican and Indian restaurants. There are plenty
of
options about for eating out. if you go to those restaurants
then
aim for the foods that are less spicy. These three (the three
amigo's) were all pretty bad for causing Diverticulitis problems according to our survey results.
A small change in buying habits can soon replace Iceberg lettuce and
tomato juice, and you would not even notice the difference.
Not
being real big on onions or raw vegetables, that wouldn't be
too
hard for me, just cook the vege's. Onions
might be a
bit different as they are in lots of food dishes. I would be
inclined to leave them out of salads and maybe try them in cooking in
reduced portions. Just be wary initially, and keep a record
in a
food diary and see how they go.
The harder one is the fried or fatty foods, especially when
eating on the run. These didn't rate as really
bad for
causing
problems but they certainly rated. I would suggest the
occasional
burger and fries would be OK, but as a general rule stay away
from them. Generally fatty foods or fried foods are not high
in
fiber anyway, and you should be on a good high fiber diet. Foods
high in oil and saturated fats tend to bind you up, and you need to
keep pressure off the bowel. The less pressure the less touble
you are likely to have, high fiber = less pressure = less trouble.
The big one is stress, and I have dedicated a whole page to
it. Stress and
Diverticulitis.
So after you have eliminated these from you diet what do you do?
Well after all the survey replies we had, if you really
really
miss the foods, when you feeling OK and well again you could try them. Only in small batches,
do not
over indulge in them. Just a few and see how you go.
Keep a
food diary to know how things progress. But in general things
like nuts are most likely OK, they were a 50/50 food and
current medical thinking suggests they are OK.
But if your feeling OK, and don't really miss them, why
bother??
It is nice to know when you're out for a special occasion that you
don't have to worry too much about things. Just keep and eye
on
the foods you know cause you particular problems. And if you
have
tested the nuts, etc and they are OK in small doses you will find going
much easier.
There are usually heaps of food options no matter where you go,
so why not just leave out the questionable ones.
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