Source: DGNews  |  Posted 4 years ago

By Bruce Sylvester

WASHINGTON, DC -- May 22, 2007 -- Nut, corn, and popcorn consumption do not increase the risk of complications of diverticulitis, researchers reported here in a press briefing at the Digestive Diseases Week (DDW) annual meeting.

"And frequent popcorn consumption in men appears to be linked to a reduced risk of developing diverticulitis," said presenter and investigator Lisa Strate, MD, assistant professor of gastroenterology at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, United States.

The authors noted that patients with diverticular disease are frequently told to avoid nuts and seeds, but no rigorous research exists to support this belief. "The aim of this study was to evaluate prospectively whether nut, corn, and popcorn consumption are associated with complications of diverticular disease," they wrote.

Subjects in the retrospective analysis included 47,454 US males in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study cohort, ages 40 to 75 years at baseline, who were free of diverticular disease, gastrointestinal cancer, and inflammatory bowel disease in 1986.

Subjects who reported newly diagnosed diverticulosis or diverticular complications on biennial follow-up questionnaires were also sent a supplemental questionnaire to determine details of diagnosis and treatment.

The investigators in this new analysis of the data ascertained recent nut, corn, and popcorn consumption levels from a validated 131-item semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire mailed to all participants every 4 years.

Endpoints of the study included diverticular bleeding, symptomatic uncomplicated diverticular disease, and diverticulitis.

The investigators used standard statistical analysis to adjust findings for age, study year, body mass index, dietary fat, fiber, and red meat, physical activity, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory and acetaminophen use.

Analyzing data from 18 years of follow-up, the investigators found 383 cases of diverticular bleeding and 801 cases of diverticulitis.

Among men with diverticulitis, they found no positive association between the condition and consumption of nuts, corn, popcorn, or combined consumption.

Notably, after they adjusted the findings for known or potential risk factors for diverticular complications, men with the highest popcorn intake (at least 2 times per week) had a 28% decrease in the risk of diverticulitis compared with men with the lowest intake (less than once per month). They saw similar negative associations with diverticulitis among the men reporting the highest nut intake and the highest combined intake of nuts, corn, and popcorn.

The authors concluded, "Data from this large, prospective cohort indicate that nut and corn consumption do not increase the risk of diverticular complications. In fact, frequent popcorn consumption was associated with a reduced risk of diverticulitis."

[[]Presentation title: Can Patients With Diverticular Disease Eat Nuts, Corn and Popcorn?[]]