Question: Are diverticulitis and alcohol consumption related? I mean will consuming alcohol make my diverticulitis worse? Thank you for your help.

Answer: No direct link between diverticulitis and alcohol consumption has been shown, however alcohol can make the symptoms of diverticulitis worse. So in that sense it should be avoided if you are experiencing complication of diverticulitis.

Let us explain, diverticulitis is not that uncommon and some estimates have more than 50% of the over fifty crowd as having diverticulitis. However, most of these people will not experience any symptoms and therefore are able to tolerate more foods and beverages, including alcohol.

If your case of diverticulitis is presenting you with problems we would recommend staying away from alcohol until the symptoms decrease. There is no sense in making the problem more uncomfortable.

After your symptoms pass there is no reason you cannot consume alcohol, in moderation, once in a while.

You should see your physician if the symptoms of your diverticulitis do not lessen over a period of a week to ten days as untreated diverticulitis flare ups can cause an infection, which left untreated, can become serious.

The relationship between alcohol and diverticulitis is stormy in the bad times, but generally OK while you are not experiencing a flare up. Thank you for your question and we hope this helped to clear things up.