I've got a bowel problem that was not correctly dignosed for years, and which turned out to be diverticulitis.

All I have to do is avoid eating nuts and seeds and I'm OK. If I eat the wrong stuff, the result is like having diarrhea and constipation at the same time. I'll spare the gory details, but if anyone wants details via PM (no pun intended), I'll oblige.

Before I learned what was really going on, I would try to help myself by eating maximum roughage, including lots of the very stuff that made my condition worse (e.g., coarse heavy bread with plenty of seeds and wheatberries, etc.)

The condition has to do with having small "potholes" in the lining of the lower intestine. When little hard things get lodged in these pockets, your autonomic nervous system thinks you have to "go," even when there's nothing there, or when what's there is not fully processed and therefore not really ready to be excreted.

I have looked up internet resources that say the traditional advice to avoid nuts and seeds is outdated and false. Don't believe it ~ I know what happens to me when I eat that stuff and when I don't.

The toughest things to give up have been strawberries, tomatoes, popcorn, and corn-on-the-cob.