You're Eating Your Way to Colonic Diverticular Disease

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By Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPHMany of you have either first-hand knowledge of colonic diverticulosis (process of developing small outpouchings) or symptomatic diverticulitis (obstruction and infection) manifested by abdominal pain, fever, and colonic bleeding.Diverticulosis, Diverticulitis, and the Fiber Deficit: How Diet Determines DestinyDiverticular disease is among the most common gastrointestinal conditions in the industrialized world, yet it is almost comically misunderstood by the general public. Many people carry the vague impression that it is an inevitable consequence of aging — a sort of plumbing failure that strikes at random. The reality is closer to the opposite: diverticulosis is adisease of what we eat, and it tracks the Western diet with embarrassing precision. A colon fed primarily on refined starch and animal protein develops structural weaknesses; a colon fed on plant fiber remains resilient. What follows is an examination of how a lifelong high-fiber diet protects against diverticular disease, how meat and starch undermine the colon wall, and why processed starchy snack foods are the single worst offender.Subscribe nowRead more