Probiotics and Diverticulitis

Diverticulitis can happen to anyone and is most common in people over 40 who have a low fiber diet leading to constipation and increased pressure on the digestive tract.

Diverticulitis is a condition that occurs in the digestive tract when pouches form in the wall of the colon and these get inflamed or infected.  This can result in painful symptoms such as stomach pain, bloating, constipation or diarrhoea and even fever, chills, nausea and vomiting. 

This condition most usually occurs due to a lack of fibre in the diet, which can help create the pouches, and build up of bad bacteria which can then cause the inflammation. 

Diverticulitis is often treated with antibiotics, however an antibiotic taken to kill bad bacteria will unfortunately also kill off all the good bacteria. Therefore, a good quality probiotic should be taken at the same time as an antibiotic, to replace those good bacteria we need so much to maintain balanced intestinal flora and good gut health.

Nutrition plays an important role in the prevention of Diverticulitis, and in the long term to avoid recurrence of this condition you can increase the amount of fibre in the diet by eating high fibre foods such as beans, pulses, legumes, wholegrains, nuts, fresh fruits & vegetables, and avoid low fibre foods such as refined white bread, canned or cooked fruits & vegies, and dairy products. 

Also drink plenty of fluids, exercise and take a good quality probiotic with nutritional content. The probiotic may assist to maintain a healthy digestive tract replacing the good bacteria so those bad bacteria can’t gain control again and cause the infection to reoccur.