ISMNT News #48. About half of Americans over 60 yrs have two or more diverticula, i.e. pouches which bulge outward in the colon. Various complications can arise and lead to serious illness. The disease is typical of communities consuming low-fiber diets (see e.g. http://www.methodisthealth.com/digestive/divertic.htm). A high fiber intake has been recommended for years and is now supported by data from a prospective study. The insoluble component of fiber was found to be associated with a decreased risk of diverticular disease. The inverse association was particularly strong for cellulose.

The key reference is by:

Aldoori WH, Giovannucci EL, Rockett HR, Sampson L, Rimm EB, Willett WC

Department of Nutrition, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115

A prospective study of dietary fiber types and symptomatic diverticular disease in men

J Nutr 1998 Apr;128(4):714-719

To examine prospectively dietary fiber calculated from food composition values based on analytic techniques and specific dietary fiber types in relation to risk of diverticular disease, we analyzed data from a prospective cohort of 43,881 U.S. male health professionals 40-75 y of age at base line; subjects were free of diagnosed diverticular disease, colon or rectal polyps, ulcerative colitis and cancer.

The insoluble component of fiber was inversely associated with risk of diverticular disease relative risk (RR) = 0. 63, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.44-0.91, P for trend = 0.02, and this association was particularly strong for cellulose (RR = 0.52, 95% CI, 0.36-0.75, P for trend = 0.002). The association between diverticular disease and total dietary fiber intake calculated from the AOAC standards method was not appreciably different from results using the Southgate or Englyst method [for AOAC method, RR = 0.60, 95% CI, 0.41-0.87; for Southgate method, RR = 0.61, 95% CI, 0.42-0. 88; for Englyst method, RR = 0.60, 95% CI, 0.42-0.87, for the highest quintiles].

Our findings provide evidence for the hypothesis that a diet high in dietary fiber decreases the risk of diverticular disease, and this result was not sensitive to the use of different analytic techniques to define dietary fiber. Our findings suggest that the insoluble component of fiber was significantly associated with a decreased risk of diverticular disease, and this inverse association was particularly strong for cellulose.