Diverticulitis Foods: This Food-Combining Diet Helped Me
The Problem
I had a (first time) flare-up of diverticulitis last November (2009). It was deemed a “mild case” but oh how miserable I was that weekend. If this is “mild”– what is severe I wondered?! I had hours of painful stomach contractions! It felt like labor pains. My husband was on the verge of taking me to the emergency room Saturday night but I toughed it out. I was dazed, confused and exhausted the next day. We called our family doctor Sunday morning and she recommended a liquid diet for two days to “rest the bowels” but NO advice beyond that! Now what do I eat I worried? I was also upset to learn that this could reoccur or worsen. And oh, the horror stories of what others have gone through (e.g., a colon rupture and toxins seeping into your system; surgically removing a part of the colon, etc.). These stories motivated me to not dismiss this “mild” attack.
The Causes
Many reputable medical sites said to “eat more fiber” but since we already eat a lot of fiber as we are pescatarian (i.e., we eat mostly vegetables, tofu, whole grains – and fish) – this advice and stomach dis-ease didn’t make sense to me until I receive the email from Sherry explaining how antibiotics can contribute to digestive imbalance. Ah-hah! I had just completed a round of antibiotics for a severe sinus infection days before this first diverticulitis flare up.
So I began to grasp the problem, causes — and Sherry’s books provided a solution.
The Solution
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Diverticulitis foods during an attack
While you are experiencing a diverticulitis attack, you do not want to eat a diet high in fiber. I lived on white miso broth and herb teas (no caffeine!) for two days.
Diverticulitis foods after an attack
Once your digestive track heals up, you do want to increase fiber. BUT you want to be mindful of how you combine foods. Some foods work well together and others do NOT. The meal before the worst flare-up that weekend was brown rice, salmon, and salad. I now recognized the following about that meal:
- A meal high in fiber? Yes.
- A good food combining diet example? No. Especially given the imbalance the antibiotics had caused in my intestines.
I must admit that I hesitated to spend the $40 on this series of e-books and then I considered that I would be very willing to spend hundreds of dollars on a doctor visits (where I’d would get far less information and perhaps worsen the situations with medication). As I continued my research into diverticulitis, I realized many people were still struggling with pain and discomfort despite doctor visits and hospital surgeries.
I am pleased to report I followed Sherry’s four day food combining diet and recipes presented in her free ebooks offer religiously (and I also purchased the full series of ebooks). And my recovery was smooth sailing until the December holidays. I did mis-combined foods at several holiday dinners and was on the verge of another attack on Christmas night — so I quickly retreated to her food combining diet and began to feel better within days. I now know the levels to which I may occasionally “cheat” on this food combining diet. And I do take supplements like acidophilus and digestive enzymes on and off.
Diverticulitis Foods to Avoid
I’ve read medical advice that suggest we avoid certain foods (e.g., nuts). But a proper food combining diet turns this dated advice on its head. Nuts and high fibers foods keep things moving.
So I happy I can still able to eat important healthy foods (like nuts!) and delicious meals, albeit following some important food combining diet rules. We run several holistic websites and I don’t think a proper food combining diet for diverticulitis is common knowledge — so it is something to consider if you struggle with stomach pain. A proper food combining diet is something that continues to help me.
To your health!
Co-founder of
SelfHealingExpressions.com and HealingeBooks.com
