Diverticulosis occurs when pockets called diverticula form in the walls of the digestive tract. The inner layer of the intestine passes through the weak points of the outer lining. This pressure causes them to stick out, forming small pockets. Diverticulitis occurs when one or more of these bags is punctured (they make a hole in the wall of the colon) and an infection occurs.
Or when the bags rupture and bacteria that are normally in the stool leave the intestines and enter the surrounding abdominal area. These bags protrude through weak spots in the colon. Pouches can become inflamed (red, swollen) or infected. When bags become infected, the condition is called diverticulitis.
More than half of people in the United States over the age of 60 will have diverticulosis. Some people with diverticulosis also develop diverticulitis. Experts don't know what causes the infection that leads to diverticulitis. They believe that infection can start when stool or bacteria get trapped in the diverticula.
Once diverticulitis is cured, a colonoscopy is usually recommended to check the colon. However, once you have diverticulosis, it's possible to lower your risk of diverticulitis if you follow a high-fiber diet. You don't need to avoid corn, nuts, or seeds. If you have diverticulosis, follow the advice of your healthcare provider.
Some people with diverticulosis will have diverticulitis. Some will have diverticular bleeding. It is unknown why only a few people with colonic diverticula suffer diverticulitis attacks. Pathologists note that an acute attack is associated with a hard ball of stool (fecal) lodged in a diverticulum.
Pressure on the very thin wall of the diverticulum damages the tissue and leads to a small perforation that causes an infection that may or may not be located at the perforation site. In a survey of 373 fellows at the American College of Colorectal Surgeons, fifty-three percent believed that avoiding seeds and nuts was worthless and that more were hesitant. Deciding whether or not to exclude seeds or nuts as a primary or secondary prevention of diverticulitis will be reduced to common sense and personal choice. Thompson's claim that “the notion that nuts or seeds can lodge in diverticula and cause diverticulitis is probably false.
Some have wondered if ingesting particulate matter, such as nuts or seeds, could favor this process, perhaps contributing to faeces or lodging themselves in the thin-walled bag. One that did indicate that there was no evidence to support the role of seeds and nuts in the pathogenesis of diverticulitis. Most of the available texts in gastroenterology, medicine and pathophysiology do not mention nuts or seeds in their descriptions of the pathogenesis, prevention, or treatment of diverticulosis and diverticulitis. Although it was once believed that the consumption of nuts and seeds could cause diverticulitis, the relationship has not been proven.
Lacking a pathological basis, the hypothesis that seeds and nuts cause diverticulitis will need to be based on clinical evidence. On several occasions, the ingestion of nuts and seeds, and even crushed coconuts, has caused the most acute repeated attacks of diverticulitis, marked by acute pain in the left side, difficulty defecating and fever. I would welcome some clarification on the role of diet in this syndrome, with special reference to the issue of seeds, nuts and any other food that might be offensive. We used to think that a seed or a nut clogged the colon sac, and that's what caused it to swell or break.
Advising abstinence from nuts and seeds would not be practical for the vast majority of people with diverticulosis and without diverticulitis. A healthy, high-fiber diet is actually the best medicine against diverticulitis, and seeds and nuts certainly meet the requirements. It has been stated that there are no known cases of nuts or seeds that plug a diverticulum and cause an attack of diverticulitis. For secondary prevention, evidence suggests that a high-fiber diet is important and that it could include particles other than seeds and nuts.
But if you have diverticula with small, pouch-like structures that sometimes form in the muscle wall of your colon and protrude outward, you may be worried that nuts or seeds will get stuck in those small pockets, which can cause a painful infection called diverticulitis. . .
