Diverticulitis Diet: What to Eat During a Flare and After, According to an RD

The appropriate diverticulitis diet can seem daunting to put together on your own, especially with all of the confusion from conflicting advice about fiber, seeds, and nuts. And this is all while you’re feeling at your worst and overwhelmed.

Part of the confusion comes from the fact that there’s not just one static list of foods that are allowed versus not allowed, as a diverticulitis diet changes alongside the stages of the condition.

This is why something called a “staged approach” to a diet plan is best to minimize short-term discomfort and help prevent future flare-ups.

What Is Diverticulitis?

The presence of small bulging pouches, called diverticula, that form in the walls of the large intestine is called diverticulosis. Even though these pouches are abnormal, diverticula become quite common as we age due to pressure inside the colon over the years and they typically do not cause any symptoms.

Now compare diverticulosis to diverticulitis, which is when one or more of these pouches becomes inflamed or infected, causing symptoms during what’s called a “flare-up.” Symptoms of diverticulitis can include abdominal pain (often in the lower left side of the abdomen), nausea, vomiting, fever, constipation, or diarrhea.

A diverticulitis diet plan can play an important role in preventing these flare-ups by supporting better digestive health. However, medical treatment is still needed in those with diverticulitis and, while nutrition can help with symptom management, it’s not a replacement for medical care.

The Diverticulitis Diet in 3 Stages

A diverticulitis diet involves what’s called a “staged approach,” which basically means changing the diet at different stages alongside your flare-up, with timing dependent on how you are feeling and what your clinician believes is most appropriate.

When you have a flare-up of inflammation in the colon, your clinician will usually direct you to rest the colon with gentler foods, then gradually have you work your way back to fibrous foods.

Stage 1: Clear Liquids

When experiencing active diverticulitis, your colon is inflamed and vulnerable to further damage. So, until symptoms improve it is important to give your gut a rest with food that doesn’t take a lot of effort for your colon to pass through your system.

Clear liquids are foods that contain no or almost no solids that you can usually see right through. These foods include broth, popsicles, water, and apple juice.

Clear liquid foods provide very little nutritional value, so this diet is meant to be followed short-term — typically for just one to three days, though your clinician could recommend a longer period with severe flare-ups.

It’s also important to stay hydrated during this time, and fluids that contain electrolytes, like broth, can help prevent dehydration.

Stage 2: Low-Fiber, Soft Foods

Stage 2 is a low-fiber, soft-food diet. As symptoms improve after stage 1, your clinician will have you slowly add more “normal foods” back into your diet. Since the colon handles most of the processing of dietary fiber and we still want to be gentle on the gut at this stage, fiber intake stays low.

Examples of low-fiber, soft foods that are allowed in stage 2 include easy-to-digest proteins like eggs, poultry without skin, tofu, and baked fish. Low-fiber grains like white bread, white rice, and white pasta are also acceptable.

Vegetables are fine, but they’re best cooked well to partially break down the fiber to make it easier on the large intestine. Many people also find that smaller, more frequent meals help lighten the digestive load.

Stage 3: Reintroducing Fiber

Stage 3 is a gradual return to a higher-fiber diet. You’ll want to use a combination of how you feel and communication with your clinician at this stage to bridge back to a more standard diet long-term. Start adding fiber back into your meals slowly while listening to your body and noting how it responds to the particular food or portion of the food.

It’s very important during this stage to be on top of your fluid intake throughout the day, as adding fiber back without enough fluids can lead to constipation, with stool becoming dry and harder to pass through the colon.

Diverticulitis Foods to Eat and Limit During Recovery

Once you’re past clear liquids, most of what you eat during recovery comes from low-fiber, easy-to-digest foods. Notice when we say “foods to limit,” that does not mean you have to give up the foods entirely, but you want to watch your portions and how much you have them. Just because a food bothers you during recovery doesn’t mean you need to avoid it permanently; you may just need to limit it while your colon heals.

During diverticulitis, everyone’s tolerance for foods varies; some foods trigger symptoms for one person, but are tolerated perfectly by another person.

Use this table to build your own list based on your tolerance to find the safest foods versus the foods that trigger symptoms. Again, avoiding these foods is temporary and personalized, so even the list you may build can change as your condition changes.

Do You Need to Avoid Nuts, Seeds, and Popcorn?

Historically, nuts, seeds, and popcorn have been classified as a hard no for people with diverticulitis as they were thought to get stuck in colon pouches and cause painful inflammation. However, this advice is on its way out: a study of more than 47,000 men found that eating nuts, corn, and popcorn didn’t raise the risk of diverticulitis, and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) notes these foods aren’t harmful for most people.

Many people still hear this recommendation to this day despite the current evidence. However, it’s still important to test your individual tolerance with these foods as a diverticulitis diet, as you’ve seen, is far from a one-size-fits-all guideline.

Sample Diverticulitis Meal Plan After a Flare

This is simply an example of what three days of eating would look like after a flare-up, but there is room for flexibility. Remember to always pull back if you experience symptoms and take note of what foods may have led to them.

Long-Term Diverticulitis Diet to Prevent Flares

When it comes to the diverticulitis diet on a long-term basis, the goal is to prevent future flare-ups with a plant-based, high-fiber diet with consistent hydration to support gut and digestive health.

Other lifestyle factors can also help, including regular physical activity and limiting red meat, which research has linked to a higher risk of diverticulitis.

How Much Fiber Should You Aim For?

There’s no need to chase fiber goals while you’re still moving through the stages of your diverticulitis diet. However, the general guideline is about 25 to 38 grams of fiber per day for adults, depending on age and sex, which is a number you’ll want to build up to in order to avoid uncomfortable symptoms.

Hydration and Fiber Go Together

Even if you don’t have diverticulosis or diverticulitis, it’s a good idea to increase your fluid intake alongside your fiber intake. Soluble fiber needs water to form the beneficial gel in the gut, and insoluble fiber needs fluid to keep it moving through your system smoothly.

As your body adjusts to a more consistent fiber intake, steady hydration still helps keep things moving. However, if you go from a low-fiber diet to a high-fiber one suddenly, the risk of constipation increases substantially if hydration is lacking.

When to Contact Your Clinician

Symptoms can be managed to an extent, but there is a level of severity where you should consider reaching out to your clinician.

Persistent fever, abdominal pain that does not improve, rectal bleeding, and vomiting that doesn’t allow you to keep food or liquids down are all red flags to seek their assistance. You may be prescribed antibiotics or other medications alongside proper nutrition to help ease these symptoms.

How a Registered Dietitian Can Help

A gut health registered dietitian (RD) can work alongside your clinician, complementing any medication they prescribe, to help ease symptoms and support flare recovery. The tricky thing with a diverticulitis diet is that everyone’s gut is different, so everyone’s safe and trigger foods will also be different.

That’s why personalized advice is so critical to constructing a diverticulitis diet and an RD is trained to provide just that. They can help you identify trigger foods, find an eating schedule that’s mindfully portioned enough to maximize comfort, and help you to meet fiber goals realistically.

They can also make long-term eating feel more natural and less overwhelming. Many insurance plans cover nutrition counseling at no cost, though coverage varies by plan. Through Top Nutrition Coaching, you’ll meet with your RD by video and can message them between sessions as you reintroduce foods — check if your insurance covers a dietitian.

FAQs

How long should you follow a clear liquid diet for diverticulitis?

A clear liquid diet for a diverticulitis flare-up typically lasts only one to three days (24 to 72 hours), unless your clinician recommends otherwise.

Can you eat eggs with diverticulitis?

Yes, you can eat well-cooked eggs (such as scrambled or soft-boiled) when you have diverticulitis.

Is fiber bad after a diverticulitis flare?

Fiber is not bad after a diverticulitis flare, provided you reintroduce it gradually in stage 3 of recovery, often starting with gentler sources like oatmeal and ripe bananas.

What should you avoid eating with diverticulitis?

During an active diverticulitis flare-up (when the small pouches in your colon are inflamed or infected), clinicians typically advise temporarily limiting high-fiber foods, such as whole grains, legumes, raw vegetables, and berries, to let your colon rest.

Can probiotics help with diverticulitis?

Probiotics may help reduce inflammation and ease symptoms in some cases of diverticulitis, but the scientific evidence is mixed and major medical groups do not officially recommend them.