How to Make Ideal Food Choices for Diverticulitis
Suffering from diverticulitis does not mean that you will have to avoid several foods. Making wise food choices, like adding low-fiber foods, to deal with this issue is recommended. Still, there are multiple food choices to fill your plate with taste.
Let us first see what diverticulitis is and how certain foods may help you get over this issue safely and healthily.
Contents
What is diverticulitis?
Diverticulosis is a condition in which small, abnormal-sized pouches grow in the digestive tract. When these pouches get inflamed or infected, the condition is called diverticulitis. Both of these conditions are called diverticular diseases.
When this issue is limited only to the mucosal and submucosal layers, it is called a pseudo or false diverticula.
How can you deal with diverticular disease through dietary changes?
Making some dietary changes can help you better manage the symptoms of diverticulitis because it is primarily a digestive issue. It could be a temporary solution for relief, but it still works well.
Eating foods like fresh fruit, and vegetables decrease your chances of getting diverticulitis disease.
Still, it is good to talk with your doctor to learn more about the early signs of diverticulitis.
What are the best foods to fight off diverticulitis?
It is normal to get stressed when you are diagnosed with diverticulitis. This issue generally brings a long list of food restrictions with it. But it is not that worrisome. Just follow some simple eating habits and smooth your way to a healthy stomach. Let us help you in this regard with better food choices while managing diverticulitis symptoms:
1. Low-fiber foods
To manage the serious attack of diverticulitis, your doctor might suggest you take a low-fiber or liquid diet to help relieve your symptoms.
Even after overcoming the diverticulitis attack, you still need to stick to a low-fiber diet to prevent these symptoms from recurring. After some time, your stomach doctor might suggest you start the intake of high-fiber foods gradually to prevent future flares.
The list of low-fiber foods to manage the symptoms of diverticulitis includes:
- White rice, white bread, or white pasta (but avoid foods that contain gluten if you’re intolerant).
- Low-fiber, dry cereals
- Processed fruits, including applesauce or canned peaches
- proteins derived from cooked animals, such as fish, poultry, or eggs
- Olive oil or other oils
- Yellow squash, zucchini, or pumpkin without skin or seeds
- Cooked spinach, beets, carrots, or asparagus
- Potatoes with no skin
- Fruit and vegetable juices
2. A clear liquid diet for diverticulitis
Your doctor may also suggest you have a clear liquid diet if you are advised to have surgery for diverticulitis or if you are suffering from serious diverticulitis flares ups seriously. After recovering from a serious condition, you may go back to low-fiber foods. In some cases, the doctor may allow you to start eating your regular foods. After a day or two, you progress from clear liquids to a low-fiber diet. You cannot continue with a liquid diet for a long time as it may lead to malnutrition, which aggravates diverticulitis symptoms.
When you are advised to take only a liquid diet, you can choose:
- Broths, not soup.
- Clear, pulp-free juices (such as apple and cranberry juice)
- Jell-O.
- Popsicles.
- Plain water
3. Fiber-rich foods
After recovering from a diverticulitis attack, your healthcare provider will suggest you add some fiber-rich foods to your daily diet. It is a common thought among people that eating a fiber-rich diet helps a lot to improve diverticulitis attacks, and sometimes it is the best way to prevent future attacks.
A diet full of fiber makes your stool soft and bulky and keeps bowel movements regular. This special diet also improves the natural bacteria in the bowel, which maintain the health of the bowel lining.
It is recommended that you plan to gradually include fiber-rich foods in your diet after recovering from diverticulitis attacks. The gradual introduction of fiber into your diet helps you prevent side effects such as wind and bloating. You can include high-fiber food at every meal.
High-fiber foods include:
- Ready-to-eat cereal with lots of fiber
- navy beans, chickpeas, split peas, lentils, and other beans and pulses
- vegetables and fruit, such as kiwis, grapes, and cherries
- vegetables like parsnips, artichokes, broccoli, green peas, potatoes, and squash
- grains like whole wheat, quinoa, barley, and bulgur
Which foods are harmful on a diverticulitis diet?
During an episode of diverticulitis and until you see improvements in all symptoms, avoid adding solid foods, especially those high in fiber. High-fiber foods are not easy to digest as they trigger bowel movements. Your inflamed intestines also find it difficult to tolerate it.
According to research, to improve diverticulitis symptoms, you should aim to prevent high pressure in the colon. You should stay away from the foods like lentils, prunes, and beans. These foods increase the pressure in the colon.
Adding red meat or processed meats, such as beef, pork, and lamb, is also responsible for increasing the risk of developing diverticulitis or making your symptoms even worse.
Lastly, it is good for you if you avoid high-fat and sugary foods.
Conclusion
Living an active life, eating a balanced diet, and avoiding tobacco use can support overall health and minimize a person’s risk of developing diverticulitis symptoms. Make your food choices wisely, as it is mainly a digestive issue.
Schedule an appointment with a Gastroenterologist in Lahore immediately if you notice any of the signs of diverticulitis. You can easily handle this medical issue more effectively with timely treatment.
FAQs
1. How can you manage diverticular disease?
A high-fiber diet helps with diverticular disease symptoms. Paracetamol is sometimes recommended for pain relief. Excessive use of any pain relieving medicine also affects your stomach badly.
2. What foods trigger diverticulitis?
There is no evidence that any particular food causes an attack of diverticulitis. And no diet has been shown to prevent attacks. So you should be careful to follow any kind of diet to manage this issue.
3. How long do diverticulitis flares last?
Diverticulitis symptoms usually improve in a few days with prompt treatment. Sometimes they’ll go away in a few hours.