Dylan’s Diverticulitis Diet
High fibre, high protein, low cost, low calories, vegetarian.
Introduction
I’ll try to keep this breif and to the point.
This diet is made for
- People with diverticular disease and some forms of IBS/IBD who need to have high amounts of fibre while minimizing bloating. (NOT Crohn’s disease!)
- People doing a moderate amount of strength/weight/resistance exercise, who need a higher than usual amount of protein.
- People who want to lose fat and build muscle and are willing to “carb cycle” meals around exercise to achieve both at once.
- People who don’t have much money - originally designed to be affordable for a pensioner with diverticulitis.
- People who can’t handle fasting diets (for digestive or behavioural reasons or both)
- Vegetarians, especially those looking for a high-protein veg diet.
This diet is not suitable for
- Those with Crohn’s disease, or any other condition where fiber needs to be low.
- Gluten free; some things can be adapted but I make heavy use of wholegrains for their bulking fibre and gluten protein for high protein low carbohydrate baked goodies.
- People who want to do “Bulking” and “Cutting” cycles; these aggravate digestive problems like diverticulitis so I use carb cycling instead to maintain a stable amount of food every day.
- Most forms of fasting (as above, doesn’t mesh with a steady rate, high fibre diet).
Daily Targets
Kilocalories: | 1200-1500: |
---|---|
Protein: | 100-140g protein per day (more with resistance training) |
- 35-40g fibre per day
- 150-200g carbs per day (more with cardio training)
- < 60g fat per day
- About $4-$5 AUD per day
Basic Ideas and Core Foods
- All meals should have plenty of water, fibre and protein to ensure (a) Smooth digestion (b) Good protein absorbtion (c) Meals are filling and satisfying.
- To ensure the above, base the diet around ingredients which are high in protein and fibre, low in calories and price.
- Ingredients that meet those requirements: Legumes, Wholegrains, some nuts/seeds, some refined diet foods (such as protein concentrates and isolates - these can be eliminated if you don’t have high protein requirements).
- Ground/milled
- In addition to the above items, we try to have plenty of vegetables and a bit of fruit and oats each day
- Grains and legumes together each day provides complete protein. A wide variety of each keeps things interesting and is good for nutrition.
- To avoid painful bloating agravating diverticulitis, legumes prone to cause bloating (most beans and lentils) kept to a minimum.
- Avoid chilli/cayenne/etc and cheese or heavy cream as these can aggravate digestive issues.
- Meals with more grains (and therefore a substantial amount of
carbohydrates) should be eaten 1-2 hours before long periods of
exercise, especially cardio exercise. See “
- As a rule of thumb, the dry weight (i.e. dry ingredients) of all meals should be at least 10% fibre and 20% protein; any remainder should be around 2/3 carbohydrates and 1/3 fat @@@@