DEAR DR. GOTT: At my recent colonoscopy, I was somewhat surprised when my doctor told me that eating popcorn and peanuts wasn’t a bad thing as long as it was in moderation and with plenty of fiber. My wife couldn’t believe it, either. I sometimes eat “salted in the shell” peanuts, shell and all, and have had no diverticulitis reoccurrences. What is your opinion on eating popcorn and peanuts as I sometimes do?
DEAR READER: There are two schools of thought on this. One and the oldest is that individuals with diverticulosis/divertiulitis (having pouches in the colon wall/infection of the pouches) avoid all foods with small seeds such as raspberries, strawberries, tomatoes, popcorn, corn and nuts. The reasoning behind this is that these foods may not break down completely before hitting the intestine and, thus, become lodged in the diverticula (pouches), which might lead to inflammation and infection.
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