Yes, people with diverticular disease can eat nuts.

Guidelines from the 1990s, which are now outdated, recommended that people with diverticular disease avoid certain foods, including nuts and seeds, for fear that these foods would get ‘stuck’ in the diverticula (or tiny ‘pockets’ within the bowel wall) and inflame the bowel.

These guidelines have been superseded, due to a lack of scientific evidence to back up them up. The current recommendation is that people with diverticular disease do not need to avoid nuts (unless they cause particular discomfort for individuals) (1, 2).

In fact, avoiding nuts may even be counterproductive. This is because nuts are a valuable source of dietary fibre, which is important in managing diverticular disease.

Did you know? A large study (3), involving 29,916 women, without diverticulitis at the start of the study, found that following a healthy diet was associated with a reduced risk of diverticulitis. Similarly, consumption of nuts and seeds was not associated with diverticulitis risk.