Can you eat squash with diverticulitis?
In this brief guide, we will discuss the following question, “can you eat squash with diverticulitis?”, what is diverticulitis, what food should be avoided in case of diverticulitis, and what food should be consumed, and other queries related to this topic.
Can you eat squash with diverticulitis?
Yes, you can eat squash with diverticulitis as long as it is boiled without adding to it any type of fat. Moreover, you can eat almost all the vegetables on condition of being cooked or boiled. In the beginning, doctors, and dietitians recommended following a clear liquid diet to treat diverticulitis.
Then when the patient’s case improves, he will be advised to follow a low fiber diet also known as a low residue diet. Next, he should follow a high fiber diet to avoid the remission and the inflammation of the diverticulum.
What is diverticulitis?
Diverticulitis is the case of having inflamed diverticula. Diverticula are small pouches along your small and large intestine. The case of having diverticula is known as diverticulosis. However, these diverticula can get inflamed leading to diverticulitis.
Diverticulosis is being diagnosed through colonoscopy. Once you have been diagnosed with diverticulosis you need to change your lifestyle, because diverticulosis will not go away. Hence, symptoms can be prevented or reduced through diet, lifestyle, and medications.
Generally, your physician will prescribe antibiotics to treat your diverticulitis and the symptoms will go a few days after the treatment initiation. The symptoms of diverticulitis are fever, changes in the bowel, constipation, nausea, and abdominal pain.
But if this case has been on repeat and it went really bad, you may need surgery, because diverticulitis can lead to colon perforation and fistula development. Moreover, the risk factors for developing diverticulitis are a sedentary lifestyle, low fiber intake, age, and abdominal fat.
What are the foods to avoid in the case of diverticulitis?
High-fiber foods are the ones that should be avoided in the case of diverticulitis. So, the patient should not consume raw vegetables such as carrots, cucumber, raw broccoli, cabbage, fruits with skin like apples, or juices with pulp such as orange juice.
Moreover, they should avoid high FODMAP foods and should follow a low FODMAP diet. High FODMAP foods such as pears, plums, milk, yogurt, legumes, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, onions, and garlic, might increase the pressure inside your colon and stimulate the symptoms.
Additionally, high fatty meat and food should also be avoided because fat can worsen your case. Furthermore, try to limit and avoid your processed meat consumption because it has been shown that processed meat can increase your risk of developing diverticulitis.
What foods should I eat during a diverticulitis flare?
In the first stage, the patient should start with a clear liquid diet. A clear liquid diet consists of eating jello, ice cream, soups, vegetables, or chicken broth. However, once the patient starts to feel better, he should start consuming low-fiber food.
A low fiber diet and low residue diet consist of eating cooked and boiled vegetables without their skin such as boiled carrots, potatoes, zucchini, squash, pumpkin, and beets. However, it is not very recommended to eat spinach, broccoli, and asparagus because they are high in fibers.
Regarding the fruits in the low residue diet phase, the patient should consume fruit juices, bananas, and apples without skin. Moreover, milk and dairy products can be consumed unless the patient feels abdominal discomfort after consuming them and it is preferred to choose low-fat products.
Moreover, once the patient completed his treatment and he is feeling good, he can start introducing fibers into his diet gradually. High fiber diet includes high-fiber foods such as whole-grain bread, brown rice, and pasta, raw vegetables, fruits with skin
It is generally recommended to consume 20 to 35g of fiber a day. The quantity of fiber depends on the patient’s sex and age. Usually, men need more fiber than women and with aging, the quantity for both genders decreases but is still higher in men when compared to women.
Fiber helps in softening your stools and thus will reduce your need for straining, so decreases your risk of having an inflamed diverticulum. Additionally, fiber should be reintroduced progressively to prevent gastric and abdominal discomfort.
Finally, when increasing your fiber intake make sure to drink enough water throughout the day. It is advised to drink at least 8 cups of water or two liters per day. Hence, the quantity also depends on sex, age, and external temperature.
Other FAQs about Squash that you may be interested in.
Can you bake acorn squash whole
Can you bake acorn squash seeds
Conclusion
In this brief guide, we discussed the following question, “can you eat squash with diverticulitis?”, what is diverticulitis, what food should be avoided in case of diverticulitis, and what food should be consumed, and other queries related to this topic.
References
https://www.healthline.com/health/diverticulitis-diet-list-of-foods-to-avoid#foods-to-consider
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/327259#foods-to-eat
