I Got A Warning

[cabinetman]

My last visit to the Doctor included a review of my CT scan. I was asked if I ate peanuts. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!! I eat cashews every afternoon. They are my favorite munchy. Well the advice was to cut out or else. Seems like I have a slight diverticulum problem in my exhaust system. Nothing fatal though.

What the heck am I going to do. Everything I crave is bad for me. Shouldn't have salt, granulated sugar, or spicey foods. I'm wondering about chocolate. Maybe I just won't admit to eating it.
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[germdoc]

This is an old "chestnut" (pun intended) that gets trotted out every now and then. I think it's malarkey.

This is a quote from UpToDate, an expert source for doctors on virtually all medical specialties: "The commonly heard advice to avoid small undigestible foods (such as seeds) because they may theoretically become lodged in a diverticulum is completely unproven and is probably little more than an old wives' tale. The authors have seen tens of thousands of diverticula and never seen a single seed!"

This should apply to peanuts and cashews as well, which in fact should be digested before they hit the colon.

That said, you should increase the fiber in your diet. Vegetarians and people in developing countries (in Africa, for instance) virtually never get diverticula or diverticulitis because of the high fiber in their diet. Not because they avoid nuts...

[Ed62]

You should go to my doctor. He said I can eat anything I want, as long as it doesn't taste good.

Ed

[cabinetman]

This is an old "chestnut" (pun intended) that gets trotted out every now and then. I think it's malarkey.

This is a quote from UpToDate, an expert source for doctors on virtually all medical specialties: "The commonly heard advice to avoid small undigestible foods (such as seeds) because they may theoretically become lodged in a diverticulum is completely unproven and is probably little more than an old wives' tale. The authors have seen tens of thousands of diverticula and never seen a single seed!"

This should apply to peanuts and cashews as well, which in fact should be digested before they hit the colon.

That said, you should increase the fiber in your diet. Vegetarians and people in developing countries (in Africa, for instance) virtually never get diverticula or diverticulitis because of the high fiber in their diet. Not because they avoid nuts...

Seeds were another one of the no no's. Seeded rye is my favorite bread. If what you're saying is true, that would uncomplicate my wants. But I've heard that "old wives tale" for a long time about the undigestibles.

I agree with you on the fiber thing. I'm not a big vegetable eater. Most of that stuff is rabbit food as far as I'm concerned. I might have to force myself. If they only made a breakfast food high in fiber that tasted good.
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[jackellis]

You can follow Jeff's diet (meaning more fiber) or your docs advice and stick around, or you can eat what you want and be a short-timer. Based on genetics, I should be gone by now from a heart attack or cancer, so you get no sympathy

Your choice. There are some kinds of fiber I hate (like swiss chard, which my wife loves), but generally speaking I eat what she puts in front of me plus lots of fresh fruit. So far, I'm alive.

[Len]

Seeds don't always digest completely, or they wouldn't get spread by birds who eat them.

I had a serious diverticulum attack a few years back, and ended up in the ER because of the pain. Long story short, I ended up being 'scoped' and what they found was a rye bread seed lodged in the diverticulum wall, and the penetration had become infected.

What I was told afterwards was if I continued to eat nuts and things with seeds, to make sure they were chewed completely before swallowing. Maybe that's the trick.

Len

[Mr__Bill]

If they only made a breakfast food high in fiber that tasted good.
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There is always Oatmeal, it's not so bad if you put lots of raisins in it, and lots of sugar on top and then some heavy cream. Have it with a mocha cappuccino

Bill

[LCHIEN]

My last visit to the Doctor included a review of my CT scan. I was asked if I ate peanuts. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!! I eat cashews every afternoon. They are my favorite munchy. Well the advice was to cut out or else. Seems like I have a slight diverticulum problem in my exhaust system. Nothing fatal though.

What the heck am I going to do. Everything I crave is bad for me. Shouldn't have salt, granulated sugar, or spicey foods. I'm wondering about chocolate. Maybe I just won't admit to eating it.
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Cashew butter. Ever had it? Like peanut butter only tastes like cashews - much better. Already premushed up for your diverti-whatever.

so on another note, most animals in the wild instinctively like to eat what they need and is good for them and in proper balance. Why is homo sapiens (Western version perhaps) so disposed to liking all this stuff that's bad for them? Too much sugar, salt, and carbos?

Why is it that dogs, cats, birds can drink from any old puddle on the ground and not die instantly but humans are so weak that it's instant death (according to my mom) to drink from a dirty glass at a restaurant?

[Kristofor]

so on another note, most animals in the wild instinctively like to eat what they need and is good for them and in proper balance. Why is homo sapiens (Western version perhaps) so disposed to liking all this stuff that's bad for them? Too much sugar, salt, and carbos?

In the wild the thing the animals are trying to avoid is starvation. If we were in "the wild" there's good reason for people to seek out high energy foods. If you jumpped back to the 1700's the diet we eat today would have huge positive impacts on average lifespan since millions were chronically undernourished, and suffering from related diseases, or just not strong enough to fight off others.


Our problem (okay, at least my problem ...) these days however is rather the opposite...

[MikeMcM1956]

If they only made a breakfast food high in fiber that tasted good.

Check out some of the cereals from Kashi, high fiber and good tasting. I bring some into work and snack on it dry along with a banana....

Mike

[cabinetman]

Check out some of the cereals from Kashi, high fiber and good tasting. I bring some into work and snack on it dry along with a banana....

Mike

Thanks for the tip. LOML eats Kashi, the kind that looks like Cheerios, and has little hearts in it. Can't remember the name because she throws away the box (bag is easier to store). Anyway, it's a far cry from Cheerios. If I want to immobilize myself for a good part of the day, I'll eat Fiber One (wears me out just thinking about it).

But, I'll experiment with the different Kashi selections...there's has to be one that's palatable.
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[vaking]

Why is it that dogs, cats, birds can drink from any old puddle on the ground and not die instantly but humans are so weak that it's instant death (according to my mom) to drink from a dirty glass at a restaurant?

Listen to your Mom, she is a wise person.
Epidemic deseases require an environment where there is large concentration of species the desease attacks. Domesticated animals (cattle) like horses and cows historically were the first large concentrations of species. As a result the first epidemic deseases were cattle deseases. These deseases later on mutated and started affecting people when people started living in large groups (cities). Most epidemic deseases we know (smallpox, cholera, etc) are mutated versions of cattle deseases. Cats and dogs do not live in large packs, so there are no epidemic deseases striking them.

[Slik Geek]

Cats and dogs do not live in large packs, so there are no epidemic deseases striking them.

Sorry for the off-topic... what about canine and feline distemper?