Can Chocolate Cause Diverticulitis?

Diet can play a role in helping to prevent diverticulitis. But can you eat chocolate with diverticulitis? As it turns out, it’s less important to eliminate foods, like chocolate, than it is to eat a diet with plenty of fiber and fluids.

In fact, chocolate and many other foods have no known effect on the development of diverticulitis. We spoke with a proctologist and a registered dietitian to understand why.

What Is Diverticulitis?

Diverticulitis is inflammation that causes irregular, bulging pouches in the wall of your colon (the large intestine).

In most people, the wall of the colon is a smooth surface. The presence of a bulging, irregular pouch in your colon is known as a diverticulum. If you have multiple pouches, doctors refer to them as diverticula.

Diverticula are common, especially after you reach the age 50, according to the Mayo Clinic. They often occur in the lower part of your colon and typically do not cause problems. The presence of diverticula is known as diverticulosis. Diverticulosis is not a disease condition.

Diverticulitis is a medical condition that can occur if the pouches become inflamed. Diverticula inflammation can cause several symptoms according to the Cleveland Clinic:

• Severe abdominal pain
• Fever
• Nausea
• Changes in bowel movements, such as diarrhea or constipation
• Blood in your stool
• Distended abdomen

The exact cause of diverticulitis is not clear, though two possible causes exist, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

The first is that the diverticula create an ideal spot for bacteria to get trapped and multiply. This leads to the inflammation that can cause the pouches to swell and tear.

Jaclyn Morris, RD, says that eating a diet that’s high in fiber and fluid helps to bulk up your stool “enough that small particles of digested food do not get into the pockets and cause inflammation.”

The second possibility is that another force causes a tear in the colon that then becomes inflamed. The external factor could be a hard stool passing by, an infection affecting the colon, or aggravation from general colitis (inflammation of the colon).

“Diverticulitis develops when one or more diverticula or small pouches within the colon wall become inflamed or infected, typically due to food or debris getting lodged in the diverticula (stool impaction within a diverticula),” says Maz Ghodsian, MD, a board-certified proctologist in Beverly Hills, California. “The exact cause of diverticulosis is unknown. However, factors that can lead to diverticulitis include changes in gut microbiota, immune response, and similar conditions.”

Diverticulitis occurs by chance and develops naturally over the course of a person’s life, but some evidence suggests that people of European or Asian descent have a higher chance of developing it, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

The symptoms associated with diverticulitis are nonspecific, meaning several different conditions can cause similar symptoms. To diagnose the condition, your doctor will need to rule out other possible causes.

Diagnosis often starts with a physical examination of your abdomen, testing for tender or painful areas, according to the Mayo Clinic. In women, doctors will also likely examine the pelvis to rule out possible issues with the female reproductive organs.

A computed tomography scan can show inflamed diverticula, abscesses, fistulas, and other areas of concern. A doctor may also order lab tests to help check for other possible causes. Tests can include:

• Urine tests
• Blood tests checking for signs of immune activity
• Pregnancy test
• Stool test
• Liver enzyme test to rule out liver issues

Doctors may treat mild diverticulitis with rest, antibiotics, and dietary changes. “Once the inflammation happens and you are in diverticulitis, it’s recommended that you go on a low fiber diet, which helps cause diarrhea and flush out the intestines to help eliminate whatever materials are exacerbating the inflammation,” Morris says.

If you have severe disease, you may need to be hospitalized for intravenous antibiotics, drainage of an abscess (pus pocket), or even surgery to remove the piece of diseased colon.

Can Chocolate Cause Diverticulitis?

When it comes to diverticulosis and chocolate, “chocolate does not affect diverticulitis at all,” Morris says. You can include chocolate in any well-balanced diet, she adds. “There’s no available information on how much chocolate would be safe to eat in general, but if you’re eating chocolate as part of a well balanced diet, then you are likely not overeating chocolate regardless.”

Dr. Ghodsian shares similar views, noting that “pure chocolate does not directly cause diverticulitis.”

However, while pure chocolate in and of itself doesn’t cause diverticulitis, processed foods can increase the risk of diverticulitis because they are often low in fiber and high in refined sugars and saturated fats, Ghodsian explains.

“Additionally, processed foods may also contain other possible inflammatory ingredients, which can contribute to poor overall colon health and can influence the risk of diverticular disease progression,” he says.

If you are concerned about what foods to eat, Morris suggests eating a high-fiber diet with plenty of fluids. This causes well-formed, bulky stools that have less of a chance of getting stuck in the diverticula and causing inflammation.

In the past, a common practice was to reduce seeds, nuts, and other foods with hard shells. This is no longer the practice.

“What is recommended if you personally have an issue where you notice that eating nuts and seeds causes your diverticulitis, then yes, you should eliminate those things,” Morris says. “But there’s no research that suggests that eating nuts and seeds is correlated with a higher incidence of diverticulitis in people with diverticulosis.”

Ghodsian also notes that you can consume chocolate with nuts, in moderation, assuming you’re not in a flare. During a flare, he suggests not consuming any chocolate, with or without nuts. Once you start to recover, you can reintroduce chocolate with nuts slowly.

A study published in June 2025 also suggests that seeds and nuts have no impact on the development of diverticulitis. Instead, women (the subject of the study) can reduce their risk of diverticulitis through a healthy diet.

But not all chocolates are created equal when it comes to diet. “Dark chocolate is rich in antioxidants such as flavanols, minerals such as magnesium, copper, iron, and zinc, as well as a moderate amount of fiber that is beneficial for digestion,” Ghodsian says.

Dark chocolate containing 90 percent cocoa may contain up to 7 grams of fiber per 100 grams, Ghodsian notes.

How to Prevent Diverticulitis

A healthy diet that includes a lot of fluid, like water, and fiber is a good way to prevent diverticulitis from occurring, Morris says. Some healthy foods that are high in fiber include:

• Fruits, like apples and pears
• Berries, including blueberries and raspberries
• Vegetables such as leafy greens and broccoli
• Legumes and beans
• Whole grains, such as oats, brown rice, and quinoa
• Nuts and seeds

And yes, you can include chocolate in your diet. But like any other treat, you may want to enjoy it in moderation.

Ghodsian generally recommends dark chocolate with 70 percent cocoa or higher, in moderation, rather than milk chocolate or white chocolate. Milk contains more sugar and dairy, which can be upsetting to the stomach for some people. White chocolate is not real chocolate and contains processed ingredients that can also cause some issues in sensitive people.

Additionally, the Mayo Clinic recommends the following to prevent diverticulitis:

• Get regular exercise.
• Quit smoking (or never start).
• Maintain a healthy weight.
• Limit alcohol use.

It’s important to note that even if you take the above precautions, you may still develop diverticulitis, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

The Takeaway

• There’s no link between chocolate and diverticulitis.
• Eating a high-fiber diet, drinking lots of fluids, getting regular exercise, maintaining a healthy weight, and avoiding smoking and alcohol can all help prevent diverticulitis from developing.
• If you develop diverticulitis, your doctor may recommend reducing fiber temporarily to help flush out your system. You may also require hospitalization and surgery if it is severe.