GETCHA POPCORN! PEANUTS!

By the age of 60, a third of the U.S. population will have outpouches in their colon, a condition called diverticulosis. By age 80, two-thirds will have diverticulosis. And roughly 10-30 percent will have complications like bleeding and diverticulitis (inflammation of the outpouches.)

If you are in either group, odds are that you have been told to stop eating nuts, corn, and popcorn because their residue may get lodged in the pockets. Or so doctors thought.

In a new study, cited in the Journal of the American Medical Association, 47,000 men were tracked for 18 years. The risk of diverticulitis was 30 percent lower for those who ate popcorn at least twice per week than for those who ate popcorn less than once a month. The risk was also lower for those who ate nuts at least twice a week. There was no link with corn and diverticulitis, and no link with any of those foods and bleeding.

Another common misconception, although not covered in this particular study, is that the seeds in strawberries, raspberries and blackberries and the tough fiber in blueberries and oranges need to be avoided by people with diverticular disease. This is not the case. In fact, the more these foods are eaten, the less chance there is in something getting caught in these pouches. It is only the person that rarely eats these healthy, high fiber foods that the chances of problems would be present. Even then, the risk is so slight that the health benefits of eating these foods far outweigh the risk.

So...if you have diverticular disease, don't hesitate eating nuts, popcorn, or corn. Just make sure your popcorn isn't made with partially hydrogenated oils, or isn't loaded with calories from butter like movie popcorn.

Try these healthy, high fiber snacks from Reasor's:

• Corn Nuts
• Sunflower Seeds
• Vic's Lite Popcorn
• Act II Light Butter Popcorn
• Smart Balance Plain Popcorn
• Nuts-all varieties
• Plain Popcorn-popped in a popcorn popper
• All Fruits and Vegetables