3402: Why Does Coffee Make You Poop? by Ryan Raman with Healthline on Coffee And Digestion

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[00:01:01] Why does coffee make you poop? By Ryan Raman with Healthline.com. And I'm your host and narrator, Dr. Neal Malik. Happy Wednesday and welcome back to Optimal Health Daily, where I read to you from popular health and fitness blogs, usually to help you optimize your health. It is Wednesday, so we're due for a little inspiration. Quote, Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage.

[00:01:27] If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy. Dale Carnegie. Alright, and with that, let's get to today's post and start optimizing your life. Why does coffee make you poop? By Ryan Rumman with Healthline.com. Many people love their morning cup of joe. Not only is this caffeine-fueled beverage a great pick-me-up,

[00:01:55] it's also loaded with beneficial antioxidants and nutrients. What's more, some people find it can jumpstart the other end of their body. In fact, one study found that 29% of participants needed to use the bathroom within 20 minutes of drinking a cup of coffee. This article helps explain why coffee can make you poop. Caffeine can activate your colon. Coffee is one of the best sources of caffeine on the planet. Caffeine is a natural stimulant that helps you stay alert.

[00:02:23] A single-brewed cup provides approximately 95 milligrams of caffeine. While caffeine is a great energy booster, it may also stimulate the urge to poop. Several studies have shown that it can activate contractions in your colon and intestinal muscles. Contractions in the colon push contents towards the rectum, which is the final section of your digestive tract. Research has shown that caffeine makes the colon 60% more active when compared with water

[00:02:50] and 23% more active when compared with decaf coffee. However, studies have shown that decaf coffee can also stimulate the urge to poop. This indicates that other compounds or factors may be responsible. Summary Coffee is a rich source of caffeine, which can make your colon and intestinal muscles more active. This helps your body push food quickly to the rectum. Decaf can also make you poop. It was initially believed that the caffeine in coffee makes you poop.

[00:03:19] However, studies show that decaf can also do the trick. This means there must be other factors at work. Chlorogenic acids and N-alkanoil-5-hydroxytryptamides are both compounds of interest. Studies have found that they can stimulate the production of stomach acid. Stomach acid helps churn food and move it quickly through the gut. Several other factors may explain why your morning cup of java can make you poop. For example, the act of drinking can make the colon more active.

[00:03:48] This is called the gastrocolic reflex. It's the same reflex that activates the colon after you eat a meal. While coffee isn't considered a meal, it may have a similar influence on your bowels. On the other hand, coffee-induced bowel movements may simply be a coincidence. This is because the bowels are twice as active when you first wake up compared to while you're asleep, so they're primed and ready to go. Your body's internal clock, known as the circadian rhythm, helps regulate many processes, including bowel movements.

[00:04:18] That said, it's still not clear how much of an impact these other factors have on stimulating your colon. More research in this area would help determine their significance. Summary Other compounds in coffee, such as chlorogenic acids and N-alkanoil-5-hydroxytryptamides, may stimulate bowel activity. Additional factors include the gastrocolic reflex and your body's internal clock. Coffee can stimulate hormones.

[00:04:46] Coffee has also been shown to stimulate hormones that help push food through the gut. For example, it can increase levels of the hormone gastrin. Like caffeine, gastrin makes the colon more active. One study found that drinking regular or decaf coffee raised gastrin levels by 2.3 and 1.7 times respectively, compared to drinking water. What's more, coffee may raise levels of the digestive hormone cholecystokinin, or CCK.

[00:05:14] Not only can this hormone increase the movement of food through the colon, but it's also linked to the gastrocolic reflex, which makes the colon more active. Summary Coffee has been shown to raise levels of gastrin and cholecystokinin, two hormones linked to increased colon activity. Milk or cream may promote bowel movements. Freshly brewed coffee is naturally free of additives and preservatives.

[00:05:38] However, over two-thirds of Americans stir in milk, cream, sweeteners, sugar, or other additives. In particular, milk and cream may promote bowel movements as they contain lactose. Close to 65% of people worldwide cannot digest lactose properly. People who are lactose intolerant experience symptoms such as bloating, stomach cramps, or diarrhea soon after consuming dairy. This means lactose can trigger the urge to poop in people with lactose intolerance.

[00:06:09] Summary Coffee that contains milk or cream may trigger digestive issues in people with lactose intolerance. This may increase gut activity and stimulate the urge to poop. Does coffee make everybody poop? According to one leading study on this topic, 29% of participants experienced increased urge to poop within 20 minutes of drinking coffee. Surprisingly, 53% of all the women in the study were affected by this urge.

[00:06:35] Women may be more prone to this symptom, as digestive conditions like irritable bowel syndrome or IBS are more common in women than in men. While the post-coffee urge to go appears to be common, it doesn't affect everyone. In addition, it's not clear if this symptom fades away in regular drinkers. People with IBS and older adults may be more prone to it because their bowels are more sensitive to the effects of coffee.

[00:07:00] Those who are lactose intolerant may also be affected by this symptom if they add milk, cream, or other dairy products to their coffee. Summary Not everyone needs to visit the bathroom after a cup of coffee, but it may be quite common. People with digestive conditions such as IBS and those who are lactose intolerant may be more prone to this experience. The Bottom Line Coffee contains a variety of compounds that may stimulate your bowels.

[00:07:28] These include caffeine, chlorogenic acids, and N-alkanoil-5-hydroxytryptamides. Adding milk or cream may further increase this effect, especially if you're lactose intolerant. However, it's unclear which of these has the greatest impact. If you struggle to go to the bathroom regularly, a cup of coffee may be the solution.

[00:07:52] You just listened to the post titled, Why Does Coffee Make You Poop? by Ryan Ruman with Healthline.com. And I'll be right back with my commentary. If you're a small business, the right hire can be make or break. Hope the right people see your job posting isn't the best growth strategy. When the pressure's on and you need the right hire, this is a job for sponsored jobs. Join the 3.3 million employers worldwide that use Indeed to connect with quality talent that fits their needs.

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[00:09:16] We're going to take this city back. Over Medicaid. In an all new season now streaming only on Disney Plus. They're hunting us. It's time we started hunting them. I can work with them. There's no way to do this. This should be tons of fun. Marvel Television's Daredevil Born Again now streaming only on Disney Plus. Dr. Neal Malik here for my commentary. While it's true that if you have irregular bowel movements, if you suffer from like chronic constipation, consuming caffeine may help with that.

[00:09:45] But of course, you want to make sure that you know how your body responds to caffeine. You don't want to make something a brand new habit when it may cause you to feel worse than you currently do. So everyone responds to caffeine a little bit differently. As the article mentioned, for some it increases bowel movement frequency, but for others it may keep them up at night or make them jittery. Luckily, when we look at the research, we're finding that for most people,

[00:10:12] when they consume caffeine in the form of coffee or tea especially, the risks or side effects are very, very minimal. And in fact, caffeine use in the form of coffee and teas especially, seems to prevent many chronic diseases. So some of these diseases would be things like colon cancer. That may be due in part to the increased bowel movement frequency. We're not sure.

[00:10:36] But regular caffeine use has also been associated with a lower risk of dementia and Alzheimer's disease, which is kind of like later stages of dementia. Regular caffeine use may also reduce the risk for type 2 diabetes. But again, if caffeine doesn't make you feel your best and it makes you feel worse, then definitely avoid it. It's simply not worth it. Oh, and I want to be sure I'm clear about this.

[00:11:00] As often as we can, if we consume our coffee black without too many added sugars, too much cream, that would be ideal. Same goes for tea. Try not to add too much sugar or too much cream to that tea. That way we get the majority of the benefits without some of those unnecessary, potentially harmful other ingredients. All right, that'll do it for another edition of Optimal Health Daily.

[00:11:26] Thank you so much for listening, and I'll see you back here tomorrow where your optimal life awaits.