Medical lore or old wives tale?
Posted on August 27th, 2008 – 8:52 AMBy Josephine Marcotty
Sometimes doctors’ best advice turns out to be an old wives tale. Such is the case with the common medical belief that it’s best to avoid nuts and popcorn if you have the painful bowel condition called diverticulosis.  A massive new study this week has found that it just ain’t so.
About half of the over 40 set develop small, bulging pouches called diverticula in the digestive tract. Most occur in the large intestine, and sometimes they can become inflamed an infected, causing severe abdominal pain, fever, nausea. The worst cases of diverticulosis require hospitalization and surgery to remove the diseased section of the intestine.
For years doctors have said that people at risk for the disease should avoid seeds, nuts, popcorn and corn and other “high-residue foods” under the theory that partially digested bits lodge inside the divurticula and cause irritation. A survey of colorectal surgeons found that nearly half believed patients with diverticular disease should avoid those foods.
Researchers at the University of Washington and elsewhere thought it was time to test that belief. Nuts, after all, are now believed to be an important part of a healthy diet. Moreover, the aging baby boom generation is driving up the numbers of people who have the disease, so it is increasingly important to provide sound medical advice. Â
The researcheres tracked 47,228 men and their diets between 1986 and 2004.  In a study published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) they found there was absolutely no connection between eating nuts etc. and the disease. In fact, they found that the more the men ate those kinds of foods, the less likely they were to have diverticulosis.
It is time, the researchers said, that the recommendation to avoid nuts, seeds and popcorn “should be reconsidered.”
So pass the word and the popcorn.
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