Diverticulitis is the presence of outpourings of the lining of the digestive tract, intestinal walls or colon. What should you avoid eating?
Surely the pathology obliges patients to have to pay close attention to what they ingest because based on what they eat they risk being even worse.
However, let’s start by understanding what this pathology of the digestive system is, how it manifests itself and how it can be treated. In fact, these extroflections, which we have already talked about, are like small pockets that appear and can lead to different symptoms. Meanwhile, it should be specified that like most diseases, this too has different symptoms based on the body. In many it presents fever and nausea to lead in some cases to diarrhea and in others to constipation in addition to blood in the stool.
At the moment the cause of the aforementioned is still difficult to understand, despite this the diagnosis and treatments are different and can also allow a total recovery without major complications. Despite this, the treated subject lives with rather strict nutritional rules. But be careful not to underestimate it because the consequences, even if in minor cases, can also be serious.
Diverticulitis, what to eat and what to avoid
Being there diverticulitis a pathology linked to the digestive system also becomes essential to understand what you eat during the day. This is because there are foods that are strongly recommended for improvement, while others should be absolutely avoided in order not to get worse.
Precisely for this reason it becomes essential to also contact specialists in the field of nutrition, they can be fundamental in this sense to get better and avoid further complications.
First with diverticulitis we know that you can eat pasta and rice, but whole grain carbohydrates should still be preferred, this also applies to bread obviously. The pere they are certainly excellent as well as dry fruit like almonds. Also legumes they can be eaten even if the consumption of chickpeas and beans should be moderated. Once a week it is recommended to replace them with red meat whenever possible.
Among the recommended foods there are also beans, soy, meat white, artichokes e latte with derivatives, even if for these two categories it is better not to abuse them so as not to cause swelling. You have to drink a lot water and thephysical activity it can also be daily.
What shouldn’t you eat?
There are foods which they are totally prohibited in case of diverticulitis. Although vegetables with filamentous fibers are notoriously good for health, such as for example green beans e fennel, they are dangerous.
Of course you have to totally abandon the intake of alcohol or carbonated drinks which cause intestinal irritation, as well as tea and coffee which should be kept to a minimum.
Spicy spices should not be taken at all such as chillies, pepper, paprika, turmeric and curry. Other recommendations include that of avoid fat kitchen, do not ingest seeds and therefore pay attention to fruit which has many and are easily ingestible such as kiwis for example. One must be careful of chew well, limit the use of cold cuts e do not eat at all cacao.
How are diverticula recognized?
But how can we tell if we have diverticula? Surely the symptoms that we have stated before are an alarm bell, even if it must be said that they concern numerous other pathologies. Usually the people affected are middle-aged or even the elderly, although this cannot be excluded that the disease can affect a young person. It should also be specified that it is found more frequently in obese people.
The most affected part, 95% of patients see it attacked, is the sigmoid. Diverticulitis is discovered when inblood tests we find decidedly higher values of C-reactive protein. The high fever comes and goes and brings chills, but it always has the characteristics of a septic fever and this is due to the origin of the pathology. Attention then to the perforation because diverticulitis can lead to the rupture of an intestinal wall and this leads to very serious complications, including peritonitis and that is the filling of the peritoneal cavity with bacteria which can also lead to death.
How is diverticulitis treated?
Now of course you are wondering how to cure diverticulitis. Usually the Conservative therapy is recommended and that is not resorting to surgical operations, but resting the intestine and treating himself with antibiotics in addition to antispasmodics for an extended period.
However, sometimes in the most complicated cases, i.e. when peritonitis, abscesses and fistulas occur, all this can lead to a resection which can also be a surgical operation carried out in an emergency and with a high possibility of major complications.
There are several moments in which one might have to take action and there are also interventions that are only temporary such as for example the temporary colostomy leading to an outward opening of the colon with a temporary removable stool collection bag.
Surely it is an annoying process in any case, but it can also lead to complete recovery. In any case if you have symptoms like those described, contact a trained doctor to try to understand what you are really accusing.