Lifestyle And Preventing Diverticulitis

Lifestyle and Preventing Diverticulitis

Eating habits and the response we have to our bodies, exercise and activity levels and how we handle stress are all lifestyle factors that we can have control over when we are trying to prevent diverticulitis from occurring.

Diverticulitis happens when pouches form in our colon or other areas of the digestive tract. These pouches can become inflamed or infected from bad eating habits, and from pressure in our colon as a result from constipation.

Certain eating habits such as consuming junk food, eating frequent fast food, drinking alcohol and eating daily chocolates can contribute to diverticulitis. You can make a difference in your health by making healthy dietary changes such as increasing your fiber intake, and eating whole foods. You can increase your servings of fruit and vegetables and cut out the unnecessary junk food and fast foods.

Too little fiber or too little water or both cause constipation. It can also be contributed to too little activity. It can also be caused when we ignore the urges our bodies give us to move our bowels.

To avoid constipation, increase the fiber in what we eat by eating more whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Increase the daily water intake to a minimum of 8 - 8 oz glasses of water. Make a habit of obeying the urge to move the bowels the first time we feel the urge.

Identify any stress in life and avoid when possible or eliminate if necessary. Stress can occur at home, work or at school. We can't always control everything that stresses us but we can learn ways of coping better with what stresses us out. We can learn relaxation techniques.

We can learn to move our bodies more in daily activities like walking instead of riding, climbing stairs instead of taking the elevator and making an effort to participate in exercise and fitness programs that are offered in our community.

It feels good to take good care of our health and make a difference in how we feel. Making lifestyle changes does not have to be drastic nor do you have to make all the changes at once. Do something each day to decrease your risk for diverticulitis. Improve your lifestyle one day and one change at a time. When you start to feel better, making lifestyle changes will not be so difficult to do because you will want to continue to feel better. Avoiding the pain of diverticulitis and especially avoiding the surgery of repeated bouts of diverticulitis may bring is certainly worth making lifestyle changes for.

Eating better, drinking more water, exercising daily and reducing the stress in life are all things that we can learn to incorporate into our lifestyle. Look for books on healthy lifestyle changes or join a class that is being offered in your community. There are others that are making lifestyle changes for a healthy life and sharing these changes makes doing them easier.

News About Diverticulitis Community notes: Free blood test (The Reporter) 15 Mar 2010 at 7:59am HATFIELD - Free test kits on Thursday St. Luke's Miners welcomes fellowship trained colon, rectal surgeons (Times N... 15 Mar 2010 at 2:19pm W. Terence Reilly, MD, FASCRS, Camille Eyvazzadeh, MD, FASCRS and Daniel J. Bowers, MD are treating patients at St. Luke's Miners Memorial Hospital. Sidelined no more (Honolulu Star-Bulletin) 10 Mar 2010 at 3:39am Colin Nishida, chef-owner at the popular Side Street Inn, survived a life-threatening medical battle last year that left him unconscious in the hospital for two months. Now he has five bellybuttons. Rochester writers (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle) 7 Mar 2010 at 2:12am Bruce Bennett writes a novel that joins people from many cultures; RIT graduate David S. Kidder contributes to a book on health. Have Your Steak and Eat It, Too (The Cornell Daily Sun) 4 Mar 2010 at 9:17pm Sometimes I try to be a public servant. And no ? that was not a typo ? there was meant to be an ?l? in ?public.? Therefore as my duty to my gender and all that is hol(e)y, I must inform, promote and encourage others to observe the most under-appreciated, under-celebrated (and hopefully not undercooked), holiday of the year. Expert gives talk to seniors on healthy eating (Wilton Bulletin) 3 Mar 2010 at 9:08pm March is National Nutrition Month and on Wednesday, March 10, at Ogden House, Elaine Abrams will remind us that good diet habits are particularly important for older adults. Why? Because diet plays a vital role in disease prevention and management as we age. Top 5 Ways to Get More Fiber (ABC News) 1 Mar 2010 at 7:11am Dr. Marie Savard on how to improve your health by increasing your fiber intake. Business - Fiber - Textiles and Nonwovens - Telecommunications - Equipment Doc says, eat your fibre (North Island MidWeek) 1 Mar 2010 at 1:08pm By Paul G. Donohue, M.D. Bulletin Board: March 1, 2010 (The Saratogian) 1 Mar 2010 at 2:17am Auxiliary to meet tonight Mailbag: Where does Cain stand? (Yahoo! Sports via Yahoo! Sports) 23 Feb 2010 at 11:02am Fans are buzzing about Cain Velasquez's stunning knockout of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Diverticulitis Books & Resources The New Eating Right for a Bad Gut : The Complete Nutritional Guide to Ileiti... The New Eating Right for a Bad Gut : The Complete Nutritional Guide to Ileitis, Colitis, Crohn's Disease, and Inflammatory Bowel Disease (Paperback) By James Scala Buy new: $10.20 100 used and new from $2.25 Customer Rating: First tagged "diverticulitis" by Irish Lady "Stargazer" Diverticulitis: Safe Alternatives Without Drugs Thorsons Natural Health Diverticulitis: Safe Alternatives Without Drugs Thorsons Natural Health (The Self Help Series) (Paperback) By Arthur White 16 used and new from $4.92 Customer Rating: First tagged "diverticulitis" by Any Mouse Coping with Diverticulitis Coping with Diverticulitis (Overcoming Common Problems) (Paperback) By Peter Cartwright Buy new: $12.04 16 used and new from $9.80 Customer Rating: First tagged "diverticulitis" by Sandra Bracken