Chocolate And Serious Gut Issues

[bk_]

Hi all,

I’ve been struggling for weeks with constipation (up to 2.5 days) and disgusting, dark, sticky, foul, tar-like stools that refuse to flush and stick to the toilet bowl. My bowels would not completely empty because it would stick to me on the inside. This is a sign of internal bleeding. Around the same time my eczema also erupted and went completely out of control in spite of all my usual interventions, the worst it’s been in a year.

I finally correlated it directly with my daily dark chocolate or bakers unsweetened chocolate (no soy lecithin) consumption that started weeks ago. For the first week I started chocolate I felt great but then things went downhill. When I went clean of all chocolate my stools returned to normal and my constipation ceased within 3 days and my eczema began to calm.

Could anyone explain why chcocolate is so hard on the gut? It did much worse damage than nuts, gluten, and starch do to me. I doubt it’s an allergy because I often ate chocolate before finasteride and never had this problem. Is it too much serotonin, too much indigestible carbs (it’s considered SCD illegal), or something else in the chocolate that can damage the gut?

 

[tara]

Just speculating about simple possibilities.
Did you displace other foods from your diet when you introduced the chocolate? If so, maybe reduced something that was helping keep things moving.
Do you normally eat other complex carbs? If you do some kind of starch avoidance or SCD diet because complex carbs bother you, then that could be a factor.
Could be a personal intolerance/reaction to something in the chocolate.
I think theobromine can can take a little work for the liver to process. For most humans that's not much of a noticable issue. Some people are more sensitive to it. Chocolate is dangerous for dogs.

 

[Rafael Lao Wai]

The oxalates could be irritating your intestines. Maybe using a much smaller amount of cocoa powder with lots of sugar and milk( if you tolerate it) can work. Or you could try anti-serotonin things as well as antihistamine substances. I think cyproheptadine would fit these roles well. Theanine is good too, but high dosages tend to make me constipated, so small dosages are safer. If even then you still get gut problems from chocolate, you could switch to cocoa butter instead.

 

[Kartoffel]

Cocoa is very high in fiber. Depending on the bacterial composition in your intestine, getting a lot of chocolate fiber can be very upsetting. A few years ago my intestines were really irritable, and eating more than a little dark chocolate would upset my digestion for days.

 

[tca300]

Phytic acid, oxalic acid, and tannins all have a high potential in irritating the gut. Chocolate is also high in endotoxin and other fermentation by products.

 

[bk_]

Hi all thank you for your intelligent replies.

@tara I did not change anything in my diet besides adding chocolate and eating rice on occassion. I thought maybe it was too many banana chips and sweets. I am on the SCD diet because my IgG test showed i was sensitive to just about every starch and I do better without starch and “fiber” like those found in grains.

@Kartoffel, @Rafael Lao Wai, @tca300, yes fiber oxalic, tannins, and phytic acid could all be potential irritants for me so i will try to see if theres a correlation to other foods that irritate my gut. I’ve switched to coffee for now which hasnt given me any issue thus far.

 

[tara]

@tara I did not change anything in my diet besides adding chocolate and eating rice on occassion. I thought maybe it was too many banana chips and sweets. I am on the SCD diet because my IgG test showed i was sensitive to just about every starch and I do better without starch and “fiber” like those found in grains.

Maybe the fibre then. If you love the taste, you could try brewing some cocoa in hot water and then filtering it before adding milk and sugar or whatever, and see if that works better?

 

[LUH 3417]

Lindt extra dark seems to really irritate my intestines even though it has no additives and appears innocuous according to rp standards. I really like the alter eco brand of chocolate. Seems less irritating for me.

 

[bk_]

Thanks all for your comments. Just an update I have switched to coffee with honey for the past two weeks and avoided all forms of chocolate, I have not had any gut issues thus far. If I had to conclude what it is about chocolate I would say it is the fiber content which is 33% according to some sources. And this kind of fiber must feed pathogens in the gut and cause endotoxin overload. I suspect I may still have SIBO or gut disbiosis.

 

[moa]

i have very dark brown stools almost black, very sticky and soft. They don't smell much, they sink, they are a bit soft like foam. they stick but easy to clean with water.

I've been eating dark chocolate this past few days.

i just did an occult blood test, negative.

So yes, dark chocolate causes dark brown stools and i think it's the fiber content that gives that sticky look, maybe it stimulates bile secretion too.

it also gave me some light GERD like symptoms yesterday, acid reflux.

 

[bk_]

As an update to curious readers:

Over the years I've re-introduced all foods, including those rich in fiber and carbs, back into my diet without issue. The only food that still causes issues is chocolate. It must not be the fiber itself but some substance in it that is toxic to my gut. I remember as a child encountering days of constipation while consuming lots of chocolate.

I don't feel that chocolate is particularly healthy or beneficial to gut health. For centuries it has been notorious for causing constipation, see the link to studies below.

Link between diet and chemotherapy related gastrointestinal side effects

To evaluate an association between food products consumption, dietary intake and the incidence of selected gastrointestinal symptoms (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and constipation) in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.Fifty six women receiving chemotherapy ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

The perceived effect of various foods and beverages on stool consistency - PubMed

Several foodstuffs may exert an effect on stool consistency. Chocolate, bananas and black tea are perceived to cause constipation, while prunes are perceived to soften stools in many people. Coffee, wine and beer were perceived to soften stools in a minority of people. Cigarettes are perceived...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

[Chocolate in some french pharmaceutical or medicinal books from XVIIth, XVIIIth and XIXth centuries. Its beneficent and inconvenient, proved or imaginary, effects] - PubMed

Rapidly after its appearance in France, interesting properties were attributed to chocolate and it was used in medicine,often wrongly, to treat digestive, pulmonary, nervous, even infectious diseases, and also for its nutritive and aphrodisiacal capability... But it was already charged with...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[LA]

Hi all,

I’ve been struggling for weeks with constipation (up to 2.5 days) and disgusting, dark, sticky, foul, tar-like stools that refuse to flush and stick to the toilet bowl. My bowels would not completely empty because it would stick to me on the inside. This is a sign of internal bleeding. Around the same time my eczema also erupted and went completely out of control in spite of all my usual interventions, the worst it’s been in a year.

I finally correlated it directly with my daily dark chocolate or bakers unsweetened chocolate (no soy lecithin) consumption that started weeks ago. For the first week I started chocolate I felt great but then things went downhill. When I went clean of all chocolate my stools returned to normal and my constipation ceased within 3 days and my eczema began to calm.

Could anyone explain why chcocolate is so hard on the gut? It did much worse damage than nuts, gluten, and starch do to me. I doubt it’s an allergy because I often ate chocolate before finasteride and never had this problem. Is it too much serotonin, too much indigestible carbs (it’s considered SCD illegal), or something else in the chocolate that can damage the gut?

OH WOW are you serious?
You ate "Baker's Chocolate"?

Baker's Chocolate is what some people in the rowdy areas wrap in meat and toss to barking dogs who will not stop barking and who have owners who do not care if their dogs keep everyone awake night and day.

I would never eat Bakers Chocolate. We tried it once and spit it out. It is horrible tasting and IF it can k - ll dogs, in a large enough dose, how could it be okay for humans?

Personally I enjoy and tolerate Organic Dark Chocolate made with Organic Cocoa Mass, Organic Cane Sugar and Organic Cocoa Butter and nothing else. Sometimes during Jewish Holidays (I am not Jewish) stores which have many of them as customers will also carry some great, safe chocolate although it is not available all the time and not in many stores. Chocolate does not agree with everyone so perhaps you cannot eat *any* type of it
I hope you get better!!!