Dietary modifications to prevent recurrent diverticulitis

Each year, millions of people experience an episode of diverticulitis, accompanied by abdominal pain, gastrointestinal symptoms, and expensive healthcare utilization. Rates of recurrence following recovery from an episode are high, ranging from 20 to 50% depending on how this is measured. A number of dietary and lifestyle factors have been found to be associated with an increased risk of developing incident diverticulitis; while these have been suggested to play a role in preventing recurrence, there is limited evidence to support this claim. Clinicians often recommend a high fiber diet after recovery from an episode of diverticulitis, however, numerous other dietary patterns have been proposed to provide benefit. Anecdotal evidence suggests that there are widespread beliefs among patients with diverticulitis about dietary triggers and modifications that are effective at reducing disease recurrence and symptom burden. We aimed to gain a better understanding of what current dietary modifications are being attempted by patients with a history of diverticulitis episode and surveyed 430 people. We found that a high fiber diet was the most common dietary change, made in 59% of survey respondents, followed by the Mediterranean diet by 26%. Among patients who adopted a Mediterranean diet, adherence was modest in 45% and strict/high in 20%. These findings suggest patients commonly make dietary changes motivated by a history of diverticulitis, and that further research in dietary interventions for this condition may be embraced by patients.