It's been just under a week since the diagnosis, and he hasn't had his follow up consultation yet, so the advice we're going on is generic advice from places like the NHS website, web MD and the Bupa site. All we've done so far is to switch him to higher fibre wholewheat products, cut out the red meat (he still plans to eat fish) and fried foods.

In the past, some of those vegetables you mention (notably the tomatoes and okra) would also have been on the no-no list, because they theorised that small indigestible seeds would get stuck in the pouches / diverticuli and cause infection, however this theory has more recently been ditched as they've not found any substantial evidence to support it. It's possible your neighbour may believe she can't eat seedy foods, and I'm also unsure as to what kind of other advice she may have been given by her own doctor so I'd find out from her what she thinks she's 'allowed' - we're cutting out red meat as most articles suggest it is linked (though I'm unsure how), as is alcohol and caffeine, but I've known other people with diverticulitis who've continued to eat meat.

If I had your produce I'd have a go at a vegetarian gumbo, as the plentiful soluble fibre contained in the mucilage that okra releases, would be good for smoothing the flow of waste through the colon. Other substances with plenty of 'soluble fibre' have a similar effect, such as oats, leeks and pears. Indeed all vegetables are good really, so you can't really go wrong there. Herbal supplements such as 'slippery elm' and 'aloe vera' are also suggested for the same reason. I'm sorry not to be much help, the web can be very useful and very confusing.