Consumption Of Nuts With Diverticulitis

If you have diverticulitis, you may have heard that you should omit nuts from your diet to avoid painful inflammatory episodes. While nuts, seeds, popcorn and other foods with hulls or hard particles may irritate the intestinal lining during an acute flare-up of diverticulitis, clinical evidence hasn't verified that these foods can trigger an attack when you are asymptomatic, says MayoClinic.com. In fact, recent research suggests that the nutrients in nuts may help you to maintain colon health and lower your risk of diverticulitis.

Misconceptions

For many years, physicians advised their patients with diverticulitis not to eat nuts, but the National Institutes of Health reports that no specific food is more likely to trigger a flare-up. When you have diverticulitis, trapped food particles or waste material may inflame the diverticula, or balloon-like sacs in the intestinal lining that occur most often in the colon. Inflamed diverticula may bleed, become infected or rupture, requiring medical treatment and a clear liquid diet that allows the digestive tract to heal, according to the NIH. However, when you are not having abdominal pain, nausea, fever or other symptoms, eating a high-fiber diet that includes nuts and seeds helps to maintain a healthy colon, notes MayoClinic.com.

Research

The authors of a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2008 investigated the relationship between nuts, popcorn and diverticulitis. At the beginning of the study, participants had no diagnosis of diverticular disease. During the 18 years of the study, participants who included nuts in their diet were less likely to develop new cases of diverticulitis. Lisa L. Strate, M.D., and her colleagues could not find any association between eating nuts and popcorn and diverticular inflammation or bleeding. In fact, Strate proposes that eating nuts may have reduced the risk of diverticulitis in the study participants.

Benefits

Rich in fiber, protein, unsaturated fats, vitamins and minerals, nuts offer numerous health benefits. According to Strate, the anti-inflammatory properties of the nutrients in nuts, including vitamin E and unsaturated fatty acids, may provide protection against diverticulitis. The zinc in nuts may support the structural integrity of the colon, notes Strate, while the magnesium in nuts may reduce the oxidative damage that contributes to colon cancer. The fiber in nuts facilitates bowel movements, which relieves the pressure that can cause diverticula to form.

Exceptions

During a flare-up of diverticulitis, a clear liquid diet may give the colon time to heal. Your health-care provider may restrict you to foods such as clear juices, gelatin and broth until inflammation, bleeding or infection have subsided. Once the severe symptoms have decreased, your provider may advance you to a low-fiber diet, limiting you to soft foods such as eggs, yogurt, canned fruits and vegetables. After you've recovered, a high-fiber diet including nuts, vegetables, fruits and whole grains may help you avoid a recurrence of diverticulitis, says MayoClinic.com.

Suggestions

Although research suggests that eating nuts may prevent, rather than promote diverticulitis in people who have no symptoms, MayoClinic.com advises that you avoid any food if you believe it irritates your colon and precipitates flare-ups. If you are avoiding nuts, eat other high-fiber foods to regulate bowel movements and maintain the integrity of your colon, says MayoClinic.com.