Can You Have Your Nuts and Popcorn Too-Even If You Have Diverticular Disease?

For those people with a common digestive disorder known as diverticular disease, avoiding foods such as nuts, popcorn, seeds and corn has long been hailed as a preventative measure against painful attacks. However, new information is giving pause to the reliability of such wisdom. In a study of over 47,000 men, it has been found that eating such foods apparently does not increase the risk of diverticulosis or other diverticular complications.

Diverticular disease is a condition affecting the section of the large intestine known as the colon, which discards body waste. When pouches called diverticula form in the colon and then stool or bacteria to get lodged within the pouches, this is known as diverticulosis. When these pouches get inflamed, diverticulitis occurs causing symptoms such as intense pain in the lower left side of the abdomen, nausea, vomiting, cramping, bleeding, infection, or blockage of the digestive system.

According to the National Institutes of Health, approximately one-third of adults in the U.S. have diverticulosis by the age of 60 and the total affected population grows to two thirds by the age of 85, with as many as one in four developing diverticulitis.

Although the exact cause of the condition is not known, many experts believe it is due to a low-fiber diet and that muscle strain during defecation causes pouches to form. Since nuts, popcorn, seeds and corn are believed to be more likely to lodge in the pouches, patients are always advised to avoid them. However, there is no supporting evidence of such a link between these foods and the condition itself.

Lead author of the study, Dr. Lisa Strate, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle said, "We found, contrary to current recommendations, that actually, consumption of these foods did not increase the risk of diverticulitis or diverticular bleeding and didn't appear to increase the risk of developing diverticulosis or its complications."

Data was evaluated from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, in which a group of 47,228 men, ages 40 to 75, were studied from 1986 to 2004. Strate and her colleagues reviewed medical records at two-year intervals and dietary information four-year intervals. None of the participants in the study suffered from diverticulosis at the study's inception. Eighteen years later, 801 had experienced diverticulitis, and 383 had diverticular bleeding.

An analysis of those study participants with the highest intake of the suspect foods compared with those with the lowest intake of them had very interesting results. Those who ate the most nuts were actually 20 percent less likely to get diverticulitis than those who ate the least. In addition, those men who ate the most popcorn were 28 percent less likely to get diverticulitis than those eating the least. These findings are believed to be applicable to women also. No association was found for corn.

Some experts believe that even though the study numbers were large, the results may not apply to everyone. There are people with diverticular disease who do benefit from a more restrictive diet and some people experience distress when they eat the suspect foods. These patients should probably continue to avoid them.

The findings are published in the Aug. 27 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.