Nutrition and healthy eating

Definition

If you have diverticulitis, you may have to change the way you eat. Your diet will depend on if your diverticulitis condition is flaring up, if you're recovering or if you're preventing a flare-up. Often, the term "diverticulitis diet" is used to describe a way of eating that adjusts based on those stages of the condition. It's especially used to describe the eating plan that a healthcare professional may recommend during a flare-up.

Diverticulitis is the name given to inflamed pockets formed by the wall of the large intestine. The pockets, called diverticula, bubble through the intestine's wall. When the diverticula get inflamed or infected, the condition is called diverticulitis. This condition can cause sudden symptoms, called flare-ups, such as pain in the stomach area, fever and changes in stool.

With diverticulitis, what you eat and drink can depend on your symptoms. During a flare-up, your healthcare professional may ask you to change your diet to let your digestive tract rest and recover. As you recover and then are well, the diet shifts to include foods that may prevent future flare-ups.

Here's how that process might work.

Diet tips during a diverticulitis flare-up

If you need hospital care for a serious bout of diverticulitis, you may be given fluids through a vein first. You also may need medicines such as antibiotics. Then you'll likely start with clear foods and liquids because these are easy to digest. This way of eating is known as a clear liquid diet. You also may be given a liquid supplement to drink that boosts the amount of nutrition you get. Over time, you can slowly return to your usual diet.

For managing mild diverticulitis pain or symptoms at home, your healthcare professional may recommend eating only clear foods and clear liquids for a few days.

Examples of clear liquids that you can have include:

• Chicken, beef or vegetable broth.
• Fruit juices without pulp, such as apple, cranberry and grape juices.
• Water.
• Soda.
• Tea or coffee without cream.

Examples of items that you can eat during a clear liquid diet include:

• Ice pops without bits of fruit or fruit pulp.
• Ice chips.
• Gelatin.
• Hard candy.

A clear liquid diet isn't something that you follow long term. It includes limited foods and drinks, so it doesn't meet the body's needs for fiber and certain other nutrients.

As you recover from a diverticulitis flare-up

As you start feeling better, your healthcare professional likely will have you slowly add low-fiber foods. This way of eating can help the digestive tract heal from a flare.

You can eat canned or cooked fruits and vegetables without peels, skins or seeds. Don't eat raw fruits and vegetables for now. Stay away from cooked spinach and greens, peas, and corn too. It's OK to drink strained vegetable juice or fruit juice without pulp. If you have fruit juice, you may be less likely to get discomfort if you dilute it by half with water. Also, your digestive system may have an easier time handling fruit drinks fortified with vitamin C compared with 100% fruit juice.

You can eat various proteins while you recover. It's fine to have lean, well-cooked fish and poultry and lean, slow-cooked red meat. Other protein choices include well-cooked eggs, tofu and smooth nut butters.

Many dairy products are safe for your digestive system while you get well. You can try drinking fat-free, low-fat or reduced-fat milk. Yogurt also is OK, but don't add fiber-filled toppings such as nuts or granola. Mild cheeses, cottage cheese, sherbert and low-fat ice cream are some other dairy options.

Low-fiber grains that you can eat include white bread, rice and pasta. Some other choices are Cream of Wheat, finely ground grits, and cereals made from white or refined flour.

Aim to eat 5 to 6 small meals a day. Have about 1 to 2 ounces of protein at each meal, along with another low-fiber food. Drink plenty of water too. (6p1) Ask your healthcare professional when you can start eating a high-fiber diet again. You may need to add more fiber slowly over a few weeks.

If you have mild diverticulitis, you may feel better within 2 to 3 days of starting a clear liquid or low-fiber diet. If you don't start to feel better within a few days, call your healthcare professional.

Also call your healthcare professional if:

• You get a fever.
• Your stomach pain becomes worse.
• You can't keep clear liquids down.

You may need medicines or treatment in the hospital.

Unless your healthcare professional says it's OK, don't stay on a clear liquid diet for more than a few days. This way of eating can lead to weakness and other health issues if you follow it for too long. That's because it doesn't provide enough of the nutrients that the body needs. Your healthcare professional helps you slowly get back to your regular diet as soon as your symptoms start to improve.

Typical diet to prevent diverticulitis

Over time, keep adding fiber to your diet by including high-fiber foods such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains. High-fiber foods may lower your chances of getting diverticulitis again. Drink lots of water to keep fiber moving through your digestive system.

If you don't get enough fiber from food, your healthcare professional may recommend a fiber supplement.

In the past, people with diverticula were told not to eat nuts, seeds and popcorn. The thinking at the time was that these foods could lodge in diverticula and inflame them, causing diverticulitis. Today, experts say that there's no evidence that those foods are harmful.

Along with eating a balanced diet, aim to get regular physical activity. Moderate exercise such as water aerobics or brisk walking is linked with gut health. If you're not active now, ask your healthcare professional to help you get started.