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Diverticula, small pouches of intestinal protrusion, are a rather common disorder, especially after the age of 50, and especially if you follow a low-fiber diet that promotes constipation or if you have a family history, and it is important to know how to behave to avoid them becoming inflamed with the risk of perforation (a bit like what happens with the appendix). And to learn more about diverticular disease - diverticulosis means the presence of diverticula, diverticulitis means inflammation of the diverticula - we met with Dr. Carla Bruschelli, a specialist in internal medicine, family doctor and SIMI advisor, who explained to us how a diet rich in water, fruit, vegetables and whole foods is the best lifestyle to prevent the formation of diverticula, but that once they have formed it is important that the diet is based on foods that do not leave too much waste (a rule could be to imagine passing a food through a vegetable mill, if residues of that food remain it would be better not to use it or at least consume it rarely, while if the food turns into mush or puree it can be used. The symptoms of inflammation are abdominal pain, swelling, alternating constipation and diarrhea, and in that case it is useful to take medications to eliminate the inflammation and prevent the most feared complication which is clearly perforation, a fortunately rare event, which requires resection of the damaged section of the intestine.