High-fiber and Safe to Eat Diet: Fruit (apples, bananas, blueberries, pineapple, grapefruit, etc.) Vegetables (asparagus, broccoli, carrots, green peppers, sweet potatoes, etc.) Whole grain breads, pastas, and cereals (all seedless, of course!) Brown rice.
Diverticulosis: What to Eat. Cater says people with diverticulosis can benefit from eating fiber-rich foods, including: Whole grains, such as quinoa, bulgur, teff, barley, popcorn, oats, shredded wheat or bran cereals, and whole grain breads. Beans and legumes, including black beans, kidney beans, chickpeas and lentils.
As you start feeling better, your doctor will recommend that you slowly add low-fiber foods. Examples of low-fiber foods include: Canned or cooked fruits without skin or seeds. Canned or cooked vegetables such as green beans, carrots and potatoes (without the skin)
For patients who want to reduce their risk, a reasonable recommendation is to follow an anti-inflammatory diet. For example eating a high amount of green leafy vegetables, dark-yellow vegetables, coffee and tea and low consumption of red meat, processed meat, refined grain and sugary beverages.
There are no specific foods you need to avoid. You do not need to avoid any foods such as nuts, seeds, corn, popcorn or tomatoes if you have diverticular disease. These foods do not make diverticular disease worse.
If you have diverticulosis, it's OK to have pizza occasionally, as long as it doesn't cause any symptoms. Research shows that people who eat a Western-style diet (pizza, fast food, and sweets) tend to have more bouts of diverticulitis.
Eggs contain protein that can be easily digested, and it will not irritate your digestive tract. Therefore, scrambled eggs can be taken during diverticulitis.
You can add vegetables to the foods that you are eating or have soup, salad or cooked vegetables on the side; Increasing your fiber intake slowly; And taking in enough fluids along with the high fiber foods. Go for water, seltzer, club soda, and herbal teas.
A low-fiber diet is recommended to manage diverticulitis symptoms. While meatballs and meaty spaghetti sauces are not advised, plain, white pasta is allowed.
Uncomplicated diverticulitis
Your doctor is likely to recommend: Antibiotics to treat infection, although new guidelines state that in very mild cases, they may not be needed. A liquid diet for a few days while your bowel heals. Once your symptoms improve, you can gradually add solid food to your diet.
In about 95 out of 100 people, uncomplicated diverticulitis goes away on its own within a week. In about 5 out of 100 people, the symptoms stay and treatment is needed. Surgery is only rarely necessary.
So, if you have diverticulitis, it may be a good idea to limit your intake of red meat, processed foods, and sweets and increase your intake of fruits and vegetables.
Your healthcare provider may advise a liquid diet. This gives your bowel a chance to rest so that it can recover. Include these foods: flake cereal, mashed potatoes, pancakes, waffles, pasta, white bread, rice, applesauce, bananas, eggs, fish, poultry, tofu, and well-cooked vegetables.
Stay with liquids or a bland diet (plain rice, bananas, dry toast or crackers, applesauce) until you are feeling better.
It's also OK to eat small fruits with seeds, such as strawberries and blueberries. Research has found that these foods are not associated with an increased diverticulitis risk.
Certain low-fiber cereals also get a thumbs-up, including corn flakes and puffed rice cereal. Proteins: Choose eggs and egg whites, tofu, and meat or seafood. “It should be tender, so shredded chicken, lean ground beef and soft baked fish work best.”
It is best to avoid these types of foods so that diverticulitis symptoms do not become worse. High fiber vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, and artichokes are high in fiber and can be difficult to digest. Eating them may cause gas and bloating. People with diverticulitis may not digest lactose well.
Treatment for diverticulosis
A gradual switch to a diet with increased soluble fibre (green vegetables, oat bran and fibre supplements such as psyllium) usually leads to an improvement in bowel habit and mild symptoms. Some foods may make symptoms worse or even lead to diverticulitis.
CAUSES. The most commonly accepted theory for the formation of diverticulosis is related to high pressure within the colon, which causes weak areas of the colon wall to bulge out and form the sacs. A diet low in fiber and high in red meat may also play a role.
Diverticulitis is caused by an infection of one or more of the diverticula. It is thought an infection develops when a hard piece of stool or undigested food gets trapped in one of the pouches. This gives bacteria in the stool the chance to multiply and spread, triggering an infection.