Below is a short list of foods that should be considered as risky, foods you should consider avoiding. Where did this list come from?
YOU - And all the other people with Diverticulitis who are members of our Newsletter. Thanks to the support of our fantastic newsletter readers. We were able to do a survey of the foods they found caused problems.

Complete results are contained in the End Diverticulitis Reference.

The following foods were rated as HIGH RISK by our survey respondents. I would look to exclude these in your diet. It is not as simple as just leaving them out forever. As the survey results did throw up a few surprises. But a good start is to avoid these where possible. These are foods most likely to bring on an attack of Diverticulitis.

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 on stress in our site.
• 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 a question in the initial survey, but a lot of people specifically mentioned them as a problem.

• 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. Food Diary Link on the Right Hand Side.

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 hot and spicy foods) all together. 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. 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.

The big one is stress, and I have dedicated a whole page to it. Stress and Diverticulitis.

A small change in buying habits can soon replace a lot of the things on the list. Just remember when you are shopping the foods that are risky, and try not to bring them home. There are people that will completely disagree with me on the above. And I know it is not as simple as avoiding the foods mentioned. This is just the basics, a start. The complete list of foods is in our End Diverticulitis Reference, and the methods of dealing with foods is discussed in more detail there.

So, 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.

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 out much easier.

There are usually heaps of food options no matter where you go, so why not just leave out the questionable ones.