Diets high in fiber won't protect against diverticulosis

Fiber in our diets have other health benefits.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/uonc-dhi012312.php

Public release date: 23-Jan-2012
Contact: Les Lang
University of North Carolina School of Medicine
Diets high in fiber won't protect against diverticulosis
UNC researchers challenge commonly-held beliefs about the causes of a major intestinal disease


CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – For more than 40 years, scientists and physicians have thought eating a high-fiber diet lowered a person's risk of diverticulosis, a disease of the large intestine in which pouches develop in the colon wall. A new study of more than 2,000 people reveals the opposite may be true.

The study, conducted by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine , found that consuming a diet high in fiber raised, rather than lowered, the risk of developing diverticulosis. The findings also counter the commonly-held belief that constipation increases a person's risk of the disease.

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The study found no association between diverticulosis and physical inactivity, intake of fat, or intake of red meat. The disease's causes remain unknown, but the researchers believe gut flora may play a role.

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