Diverticulitis, seeds, and nuts

It’s a myth that seeds and nuts leads to diverticulitis, perpetuated by this doctor in an article here:

Maddox said that before the attack, Kilpatrick ate a large bag of peanuts, popcorn and sunflower seeds, all of which could have contributed to the flare-up.

UptoDate says otherwise:

Patients with diverticular disease have historically been advised to avoid whole pieces of fiber (such as seeds, corn, and nuts) because of concern that the undigested fragments could become lodged within a diverticulum, thereby inciting an episode of diverticulitis. The commonly heard advice to avoid small undigestible foods (such as seeds) because they may theoretically become lodged in a diverticulum is completely unproven and is probably little more than an old wives’ tale. The authors have seen tens of thousands of diverticula and never seen a single seed!

There continues to be considerable practice variation with regard to this recommendation. In a survey of colorectal surgeons, one-half believed that the avoidance of seeds and nuts was of no value. We have generally not recommended the avoidance of these specific foods.

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