I had never heard of Diverticulitis until a few months ago when a friend of mine wound up in the hospital seriously ill. I decided to google it and realized quickly how many articles there were from sources of all kinds: doctors, hospitals, nutritionists, people living with the disease and many more. So who do you listen to? Especially if what your doctor is telling you to do is not working or you have a lack of insurance.
*This definition is from the U.S. National Library of Medicine:
-Diverticulitis is small, bulging sacs or pouches of the inner lining of the intestine (diverticulitis) that become inflamed or infected. Most often, these pouches are in the large intestine (colon).
-No one knows exactly what causes the sacs, or pouches of Diverticulitis to form. Eating a low-fiber diet is one of the most likely causes.
-People who eat mostly processed food, as many Americans eat, do not get enough fiber in their diet. Processed foods include white rice, white bread, most breakfast cereals, crackers, and pretzels.
-As a result, constipation and hard stools are more likely to occur – causing people to strain when passing stools. This increases the pressure in the colon or intestines and may cause these pouches to form.
-Diverticulitis is very common. It is found in more than half of Americans over age 60.
-Diverticulitis is caused by small pieces of stool (feces) that become trapped in these pouches, causing infection or inflammation.
*
Most of us know how blurry the lines can get during the ‘in between’ time of figuring out what the problem is and trying different options to feel better and get healthy. These are hard, difficult periods where some days it feels like relief will never come, but every morning you wake up hoping today is the day that it will. At least that’s I how I felt before and after being diagnosed with Celiac Disease. The 6 months following diagnosis I continued to accidentally gluten my body with ‘hidden wheat’ and the damaging side effects were worse than before.
As I have said there were a great many articles I found and this first one comes from NaturalNews.com and seems interestingly informative (especially the squatting & use of certain choice words), I would also offer you to read the comments below the article as well…
http://www.naturalnews.com/037995_diet_diverticulitis_dietary_fiber.html
The second is from the Mayo Clinic…
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/diverticulitis-diet/my00736
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/diverticulitis-diet/AN01934
The third is from a Diverticulitis support group..
http://www.dailystrength.org/c/Diverticulitis/forum/15079855-gluten-free
There are plenty more articles all over the Internet but I figured these were four great starters. I hope these articles are filled with information that can help my friend and maybe some others who are searching for some kind of relief.
