For a long period of time people at risk of developing diverticulitis have been advised to avoid the consumption of corn, popcorn, and nuts. But a new study finds no evidence linking the digestive disease with these rough foods.

To conduct the study, which was published in the Aug. 27 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers looked at more than 47,000 men aged between 40 and 75, who had no history of diverticulosis or diverticular complications.

None of them had the disease in the beginning, but during the 18 years of follow-up, 801 cases of diverticulitis and 383 cases of diverticular bleeding were reported.

Men who ate corn, popcorn, nuts or various seeds at least twice a week weren’t more likely to develop diverticulitis or intestinal bleeding than men who ate the same foodstuff only once a month or even less, the findings showed.

As stated by study lead author Dr. Lisa Strate, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, “contrary to current recommendations, that actually, consumption of these foods did not increase the risk of diverticulitis or diverticular bleeding and didn't appear to increase the risk of developing diverticulosis or its complications."

One-third of the U.S. inhabitants will develop diverticulosis by the age of 60 and two-thirds of people will develop the disease by the age of 85, the U.S. National Institutes of Health said.

According to Dr. Anthony Starpoli, an attending gastroenterologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, the findings of the study may not apply to each person suffering from diverticulosis. "There are probably going to be a subset of people where perhaps a more restrictive diet does benefit them," he asserted.