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left-of-center2012

(34,195 posts)
Thu Dec 2, 2021, 09:43 AM Dec 2021

Why Does Coffee Make Me Poop?

The speed of this effect suggests it’s mediated by the brain. Some studies on the topic — which tend to be small, old and limited — have suggested that it’s probably not the caffeine that triggers the urge to go. One paper published in 1998, for instance, found that decaffeinated coffee had a similar stimulatory effect on the colon as caffeinated coffee, whereas a cup of hot water did not.

One thing we do know is that coffee doesn’t affect everyone the same way. In one study published in 1990 in the journal Gut, 92 young adults filled out a questionnaire about how coffee affected their bowel habits; just 29 percent of the respondents said it “induced a desire to defecate,” and most of them — 63 percent — were female. (Though Dr. Martindale said that the percentage of people who have a bowel response after drinking coffee is likely much higher in the general population — he estimated that around 60 percent of his patients do — and he hasn’t noticed any differences between men and women.)

We also know that a gut response to coffee can happen fast. In the same study,
some volunteers agreed to have a pressure-sensing probe inserted into their colon to measure intestinal muscle contractions before and after drinking a cup of Joe. Among those who said that coffee usually stimulated a bowel movement, the probe showed a significant increase in pressure within four minutes of drinking coffee, while the so-called nonresponders had no change in colon activity.

That drinking a cup of coffee can stimulate the opposite end of the gastrointestinal tract within minutes means “it’s probably going through the gut-brain axis,” Dr. Martindale said. That is, the arrival of coffee in the stomach sends a message to the brain, which then “stimulates the colon to say, ‘Well, we’d better empty out, because things are coming downstream,’” he explained. The coffee itself would move through the intestines much more slowly, likely taking at least an hour to traverse the long path from the stomach through the small intestine and to the colon.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/30/well/eat/why-does-coffee-make-you-poop.html


19 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Why Does Coffee Make Me Poop? (Original Post) left-of-center2012 Dec 2021 OP
Things you never forget Flo Mingo Dec 2021 #1
And the OP says ... left-of-center2012 Dec 2021 #6
Maybe, maybe not Flo Mingo Dec 2021 #13
Your MIL versus the scientists left-of-center2012 Dec 2021 #14
I don't know how to respond Flo Mingo Dec 2021 #15
Not necessarily. There was a smaller study several years ago that looked at caffeine tablet intake hlthe2b Dec 2021 #16
It's the abrupt change in acidity in the colon bucolic_frolic Dec 2021 #2
Is that what the OP says? left-of-center2012 Dec 2021 #8
in my mind that article is full of it bucolic_frolic Dec 2021 #10
How about the old gastro-colic reflex? elias7 Dec 2021 #3
Actually there is direct brain impact on gastric-colic reflex-- including circadian rhythms-- hlthe2b Dec 2021 #17
Kewl... elias7 Dec 2021 #18
Well a cup of coffee works for me . .... Lovie777 Dec 2021 #4
say peristaltic 3x in a row. Tetrachloride Dec 2021 #5
Wake and bake works like a charm if that's a problem for anyone. In fact, I gotta run! LOL n/t brewens Dec 2021 #7
Ancestry collects worldwide data and thats one they survey... Historic NY Dec 2021 #9
it actually makes me vomit if i drink it too early samnsara Dec 2021 #11
drink coffee, dump a trump..... lastlib Dec 2021 #12
Dump a trump! That's a keeper... elias7 Dec 2021 #19

Flo Mingo

(494 posts)
1. Things you never forget
Thu Dec 2, 2021, 09:47 AM
Dec 2021

Your Mother-in-law, who's retired from a 40 yr nursing career, telling you she's constipated and drinking coffee because caffeine stimulates the anus.

Flo Mingo

(494 posts)
13. Maybe, maybe not
Thu Dec 2, 2021, 11:31 AM
Dec 2021

I'm no expert. Nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express.
All I'm saying is you never forget your MIL telling something stimulates the anus.

Hope it all works out.

Flo Mingo

(494 posts)
15. I don't know how to respond
Thu Dec 2, 2021, 11:46 AM
Dec 2021

I'm not sure if you really think I'm supporting my MIL's statement. I drink coffee. I poop. I don't over think it.

It seems obvious to me that I'm just making light of a moment that was a bit awkward in a this-is-kinda-funny way. Maybe you had to be there.

hlthe2b

(106,585 posts)
16. Not necessarily. There was a smaller study several years ago that looked at caffeine tablet intake
Thu Dec 2, 2021, 05:34 PM
Dec 2021

100-200mg--the equivalent in a large cup of brewed coffee. They found a similar effect. I don't have time to search for it, but I think this current research should have included an additional comparison group to better explore the caffeine link. Caffeine's stimulatory effects on the brain could still be quite compatible with the impacts on gastrocolic reflex. We DO know that caffeine is NOT the ONLY stimulatory chemical in coffee and tea (theanine, for example), so the old study mentioned that found that decaf coffee can have a similar effect to caffeinated coffee is not contradictory. There is nothing from this study that rules out stimulatory effects as being the cause.

bucolic_frolic

(47,365 posts)
2. It's the abrupt change in acidity in the colon
Thu Dec 2, 2021, 09:51 AM
Dec 2021

The same thing can happen with small amount of magnesium, epsom salts, or so called ph drops - acid neutralizers - and even green powdered drinks.

elias7

(4,202 posts)
3. How about the old gastro-colic reflex?
Thu Dec 2, 2021, 09:54 AM
Dec 2021

First thing in your stomach in the morning often triggers defecation in a process known as the gastro-colic reflex. It is not mediated by the brain. For many, the first thing in their stomach is coffee, but really any food (or a stimulant like tea or coffee) in your stomach begins the process of digestion, which is part chemical (secretion of digestive enzymes and bile) and part mechanical (intestinal peristalsis). Some of that peristaltic process is in the sigmoid colon which warehouses the stool for your next bowel movement. This colic peristalsis can also be induced by cigarettes (another stimulant), and I reckon you’ll find folks, especially those who are regular, that their first cigarette, first cup of coffee or first meal of the day will often be followed by a sh*t…

hlthe2b

(106,585 posts)
17. Actually there is direct brain impact on gastric-colic reflex-- including circadian rhythms--
Fri Dec 3, 2021, 07:57 AM
Dec 2021

for which a central clock or “pacemaker” is located in the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), which receives photic input via the retinohypothalamic tract. While peripheral tissues have some effect even with damage to these hypothalamic centers-- such that timed feedings can still induce gastric motility and thus some "regularity," there are impacts (and thus the issues frequently seen with gastric motility among shift workers).

The brain has influence on everything quite frankly. Thus, stimulants should not be expected to be unrelated to such signals. It is not merely local innervation detecting a "filling effect," though that surely has some impact as well.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2950682/


elias7

(4,202 posts)
18. Kewl...
Mon Dec 6, 2021, 09:12 AM
Dec 2021

The retinothalamic tract might help explain why every time I see TFG, I feel the urge to puke. Although, perhaps there are otic as well as photic input, since I feel that way whenever I hear him too. 🙂

Lovie777

(15,141 posts)
4. Well a cup of coffee works for me . ....
Thu Dec 2, 2021, 09:59 AM
Dec 2021

it takes of an hour or longer but 99% of the time it works. If not, later that day 1/3 cup of prune juice.

 

brewens

(15,359 posts)
7. Wake and bake works like a charm if that's a problem for anyone. In fact, I gotta run! LOL n/t
Thu Dec 2, 2021, 10:14 AM
Dec 2021

Historic NY

(37,983 posts)
9. Ancestry collects worldwide data and thats one they survey...
Thu Dec 2, 2021, 10:18 AM
Dec 2021

they also looked at minutes for the effect.

Things are coming downstream....

lastlib

(24,964 posts)
12. drink coffee, dump a trump.....
Thu Dec 2, 2021, 10:58 AM
Dec 2021

that's how it works for me. I'm fine with it. Caffeine IS a diuretic.

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