You’ve probably heard that eating certain foods can help reduce pain from a bout of diverticulosis, but you may not have known it all the way down to your core.
People who suffer from food sensitivities can go through an emotional rollercoaster with food. They may feel guilty for eating something that’s not “bad” for them, or they may feel overwhelmed by a seemingly endless list of what foods they can and can’t eat.
The truth is, there is no need to feel pressured by what you eat. When you choose a diet that works for you, and you stick to it, you’ll be able to enjoy the foods you love without suffering from the side effects that come with eating poorly.
Diet for diverticulitis flare-ups
Diverticulitis is a very painful condition that can cause debilitating digestive symptoms such as diarrhea, cramping and pain. Diverticular disease (also called diverticulosis) is common in the United States and is usually detected in younger people.
Up to one-third of the U.S. adult population has diverticulosis. Diverticulitis is a disease that causes inflammation in the digestive tract and is a serious condition that can be fatal.
You may have heard some people say that diverticulitis is caused by eating certain foods or not eating enough fiber. However, this isn’t true.
Your doctor will likely recommend you take fiber supplements to help prevent future flare-ups. The following diet is a collection of the most important fiber-rich foods: bran, oatmeal, flax, whole wheat bread, cabbage, broccoli, apples, pears, beans, oranges, bananas, lentils, almonds, pomegranates, bran muffins, and bran cookies.
In order to keep diverticulitis in remission, it’s very important to follow a healthy diet that doesn’t aggravate symptoms such as indigestion, gas, bloating, and constipation.
Unfortunately, it can be very difficult to avoid these foods, especially if you have an extremely sensitive digestive tract (like I do), but there are many foods that can be included in your diet to prevent and treat diverticulitis.
Diagnosing Diverticular Disease
Diverticular disease (aka “gut motility disease”, or “DMD”) is a condition that causes the gut muscles to become weak or to malfunction.
These muscles control the movement of food through the digestive system from the mouth to the anus. This can cause gas, bloating, and constipation, and can also cause severe pain and intestinal bleeding.
A doctor can diagnose diverticular disease by looking at the patient’s symptoms and examining the small intestine and colon with an endoscope or colonoscopy, which may be inserted through the anus.
Please pay close attention to the use of similar but distinctly different definitions: the condition of diverticular disease (diverticulosis) and inflammation of the diverticula (diverticulitis).
Your physician will also consider other conditions that could be causing your symptoms and will eliminate these as possibilities before confirming a diverticular disease diagnosis.
If you’ve done everything you can to identify your triggers and keep your symptoms under control but are still living with flare-ups, you may be able to adopt a few lifestyle changes to control your diverticulitis.
These can be done in addition to modifying your diet for diverticulitis.
Other ways to keep diverticulitis under control
For a long time diverticulitis was thought to be a disease of the colon, but in recent years it has become clear that it is a disease of the entire lower digestive tract.
While the colon is the largest part of the digestive system, it is not the only part which can be affected by diverticulitis.
Most cases of diverticulitis start in a pouch called the sigmoid, which is located in the lower right side of the large intestine.
During the last decade, there has been a tremendous increase in the incidence of diverticulitis, which is a painful, potentially life-threatening gastrointestinal (GI) infection.
That may mean there are more cases of diverticulitis, but it also means that more people have access to treatments that can prevent its onset, and even its recurrence.
In addition, the number of people who develop diverticulitis is not uniform; there are people who have it more often than others, and there are people who develop it less often than others.
Possibly unsafe foods to eat with Diverticulosis
When you are in the early stages of diverticulitis, the digestive tract is inflamed, there is swelling in the wall of the colon, and the intestine might be partially blocked by gas and fluid.
This is a dangerous condition that can lead to life-threatening complications. Because of this, it is important to follow a diet that will help you avoid food poisoning and reduce the likelihood of a flare-up.
Red meat: Some studies suggest red meat can contribute to diverticulitis flares; one from 2018, published in Gut , showed an increase in attacks for men who consumed more red meat than other types of protein , like poultry and fish.
There are many foods that you can eat that can make a huge difference to the symptoms of diverticulitis. However, because there are no set rules, it is important to consult a Doctor with expertise in diverticulitis.
It is common knowledge that a healthy diet can help prevent problems like diverticulitis, which is inflammation of the diverticula (walls) in the large intestine.
However, there are certain foods that can aggravate the condition, such as spicy foods, citrus, and carbonated beverages.
When should I consume a diverticulitis clear liquid diet?
The guidelines for eating a diverticulitis clear liquid diet are very strict. To make sure you are following the program correctly, you need to be able to tell the difference between a clear liquid diet, a liquid diet, and a liquid clear diet.
If you’re experiencing an acute diverticulitis attack and want to rest your bowel so it can recover faster, you might want to go on a clear liquid diet for one to two days, advises Dr. Boling.
This means you can consume clear liquids of all kinds, including chicken broth, water or ice chips, Gatorade, no-pulp juice, herbal tea, or even Jell-O (since it’s digested as a liquid).
Digestive problems are a big problem for many people, and can be dangerous if not treated properly. One of the most basic and popular foods for digestive problems is the soured milk diet, which involves using milk with a bacteria called lactobacillus bulgaricus which produces acid in the gut.
If this diet is followed correctly, the bacteria will digest the food and produce gas which makes the stomach distend.
Are alcohol and coffee bad for diverticulitis?
This is a common question among people who are suffering from diverticulitis. It is not really a question of whether alcohol and coffee are bad for diverticulitis.
Rather, it is a question of how much alcohol and coffee to consume and for how long. Like all other medical conditions, diverticulitis is a disease of the body.
It is a disease in which the stomach walls develop pockets that form inside the lining of the large intestine.
The exact cause of diverticulitis is not clear, but the condition is frequently seen in people who have chronic constipation.
You may have heard that coffee is bad for diverticulitis, but you might not know why. The truth is that it’s one of the few things that is “good” for diverticulitis.
In fact, many people find that if they don’t drink coffee, their disease doesn’t progress as much.
