Health of our Guts is Not Helped by a High Fibre Diet

Tue, 24 Jan 2012

The health of our guts is, surprisingly, not necessarily protected by high fibre diets. However, they can increase the likelihood of developing diverticulosis .

This condition involves the formation of small bulging pouches on the inner lining of large intestine which trap bits of stool and thus becomes infected.

Symptoms of this condition include abdominal cramping, diarrhoea and constipation.

More serious related complications include collection of pus in the pelvis, colonic obstruction and rectal bleeding.

The study was undertaken by the University of North Carolina's Chapel Hill School of Medicine, involving approximately 2,000 people.

It showed that a high fibre diet in fact increased the risk of developing diverticulosis, which impacts a third of adults aged over 60 in just the USA.

Individuals who had the lowest fibre intake were 30 per cent less likely to develop diverticula than those who have the highest fibre intake.

A high fibre diet comprises green vegetables, fresh as well as dry fruits, beans, nuts, seeds and grains. Doctors have recommended this diet since the early 1970s to thwart diverticulosis. Research, however, had rarely been undertaken to test this assumption.

The study uncovered no links between diverticulosis and lack of exercise, dietary intake of fat or of red meat. Researchers are not sure of the cause of this disease however some consider that gut flora may play a part.
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