How A Healthy Diet Can Help Manage Diverticulitis
Bowel disease, ranging from irritable bowel syndrome and Crohn's disease to diverticulitis and cancer is on the rise in America. Many health professionals agree that modern Western diet, deficient in whole foods and consisting mostly of highly-processed foods is the culprit. Filled with sugar and fat, these refined foods not only wreak havoc on health but also specifically, the bowel. So, what is diverticulitis and what are the best ways to manage this disease using diet?
What Is Diverticulitis?

Diverticula are pouches or herniations found in the bowel due to weakened areas of the colon wall that manifests in the descending and sigmoid colon. It is not uncommon for men and women over fifty years old to begin to develop diverticula. However, diverticulitis is not just for the older population. In addition to age, these weakened pockets can be formed due to chronic constipation and straining of the bowel, pregnancy, smoking, and obesity.
When multiple diverticula are found in the colon, it is referred to as diverticulosis. Diverticulitis, on the other hand, is the condition when these diverticula become infected and inflamed resulting in abdominal pain and cramping in the lower left quadrant, which is the location of the descending and sigmoid colon.
Learn more about the symptoms and available treatments now!
Symptoms And Treatment

In addition to abdominal pain and cramping, a person may experience symptoms of fever, chills, nausea, diarrhea, and constipation. A diagnosis can be made with an ultrasound of the colon, and once the diagnosis is made, the first line of treatment is typically antibiotics to treat the infected diverticula. Acute onset of diverticulitis will often clear up after a single course of antibiotics. However, in some cases, the degree of this condition may require surgical intervention.
Continue reading to find out what foods to consume when suffering from diverticulitis.
Easily-Digestible Foods
Find out now what low-fiber foods to reintroduce back into a healthy diet when healing from diverticulitis.
The Healing Power Of Low-Fiber Foods
After a course of antibiotics, when the bowel has rested sufficiently, and inflammation of the diverticula has subsided, the acute phase is past, and the state of the bowel is considered to be back to diverticulosis. However, maintaining a diet to promote bowel health is paramount in controlling further acute diverticular attacks. Fiber intake, balancing your gut flora, calming herbs and teas, as well as drinking plenty of fluids can further aid with diverticular recovery.
Next, let’s find out the importance of a fiber-rich diet!
The Importance Of Fiber

Once the resting phase is completed, it is time to implement a diet rich in fiber with a recommended intake of twenty-five grams of fiber per day. A diet rich in fiber is the foundation to a healthy bowel. Fiber-rich foods include fresh fruits such as apples, berries, mangoes, plums and pineapple, nuts such as walnuts, cashews, pecans, and almonds, and green leafy vegetables such as spinach and kale, cruciferous vegetables such as Brussel sprouts, cabbage, and cauliflower. Other healthy foods include winter squashes such as butternut, acorn and spaghetti squash, whole grains such as pasta, bread, oats, rice and quinoa, legumes such as black beans, kidney beans, chickpeas, and peanuts.
How can fiber be incorporated into a healthy diet? Continue reading to find out!
Ways To Incorporate More Fiber Into A Diet
Let’s discover another essential element of gut health: probiotics!
The Good Bacteria: Probiotics
Next, let’s learn more about what bad bacteria in the gut is.
How Bad Bacteria Affects Colon Health
In the past, it was thought that certain nuts and seeds, as well as popcorn, should be avoided at all costs for diverticulitis patients. The ideology behind this practice was the assumption that small particles would become lodged in the sac of the diverticula and cause infection. However, new findings conclude that this not the case. Nuts, seeds, and popcorn are recommended food sources of a fiber-rich diet.
Discover the importance of water in healing the bowel now!