Diverticulitis: More Fiber, Less Inflammation

Vomiting, abdominal pain and bloating, constipation, nausea, diarrhea, and sometimes fever. These are all possible symptoms of diverticulitis, the inflammation that affects the intestinal tract. Advanced age and a family history of diverticulitis are often listed among the risk factors, along with a low-fiber diet, smoking, and obesity. Unhealthy lifestyles have long been a potential culprit, and new research, just published in the journal Gut , reiterates the weight of all these factors in the risk of developing diverticulitis. Dietary habits, exercise, and quitting smoking can help reduce the risk of diverticulitis, even in the presence of genetic susceptibility.

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The study on lifestyle and genetics

Specifically, the study pooled genetic and lifestyle data from over 200,000 people. The researchers used a system to assess the risk of diverticulitis based on lifestyle risk factors. This system, in simple terms, assigns a score to those habits deemed healthiest. They then linked lifestyle assessments to the risk of developing diverticulitis, confirming the protective role of quitting smoking, weight management, a high-fiber diet, and physical activity. On the other hand, higher consumption of red meat was associated with a higher risk of the disease.

Lifestyles as a form of prevention

Using genetic data available for approximately 30,000 of the patients included in the analysis, the researchers also developed an indicator of genetic risk for diverticulitis (assessed through a polygenic risk score ). And in this case too, they observed that, regardless of the genetic risk, whether high or low, a healthier lifestyle was associated with a lower incidence of diverticulitis, the paper states.

The results of this new study thus appear to confirm, pending further studies in the field, the general recommendations already issued by leading health institutions on the subject. A high-fiber diet and an active lifestyle are recommended as preventative measures (while reducing the consumption of seed-rich foods should be reconsidered, as there is no supporting evidence, experts explain ).

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These factors, combined, can in fact promote intestinal transit in different ways, explain the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, discouraging the formation and inflammation of diverticula.