Vegetarians Have Lower Risk for Symptomatic Diverticular Disease

Results support earlier findings on the protective effects of dietary fiber intake and vegetarianism on diverticular disease.


Despite the reputation of a high-fiber diet of being effective in disease prevention, only one prospective study has examined the association between dietary fiber and risk for diverticular disease, and its population was limited to men (Am J Clin Nutr 1994; 60:757). Now, a prospective cohort study of a generally health-conscious segment of the U.K. population addressed whether dietary fiber or vegetarianism lowers the risk for diverticular disease.

During a mean of 11.6 years of follow-up of 47,033 men and women (33% of whom were vegetarians), researchers documented 812 cases of symptomatic diverticular disease (806 among hospital admissions and 6 from death records). Overall, vegetarians and vegans had a 31% lower risk for diverticular disease compared with participants who ate meat. The absolute risk for diverticular disease among participants aged 50 to 70 was 3.0% for vegetarians and vegans and 4.4% for meat eaters. With regard to dietary fiber consumption, participants in the highest quintile for intake had a 41% lower risk than those in the lowest quintile.


Citation(s):

Crowe FL et al. Diet and risk of diverticular disease in Oxford cohort of European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC): Prospective study of British vegetarians and non-vegetarians. BMJ 2011 Jul 19; 343:d4131.