If you have diverticulosis, you were probably told to avoid eating nuts and seeds. The worry was that tiny food particles could get stuck in the small cervices of the bowel wall and get infected. It was inherently logical and made a lot of sense to many physicians. But it may not be true.

For clarity, a diverticulum is a sac-like outpouching of the large intestine. This tends to happen at weak points of the bowel wall where the muscle layer has thinned or weakened. People used to think diverticula were brought on by a low-fibre diet and chronic constipation, but more recent data has not borne that out. Age seems to be the most reliable risk factor, and they can be seen in nearly 60 per cent of people over age 60.

When a patient is found to have diverticula in their large intestine, usually on routine colonoscopy or imaging, then they are diagnosed with diverticulosis. Diverticulitis is when the diverticula become infected or inflamed, and it can be extremely painful. Although it was once thought that diverticulitis was common in patients with diverticulosis, more recent data suggests the opposite. Only........

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