Many people would love to have a cup of coffee in the morning. This caffeinated beverage is not only refreshing but also full of beneficial antioxidants and nutrients. What's more, some people find that it kick-starts the other end of the body! One study showed that 29% of participants needed to go to the bathroom within 20 minutes after drinking a cup of coffee.
Why?
Scientists have no reason to make a summary explanation, but there is a lot of research on how coffee causes bowel movements.
Next, I'll learn with you: why do you want to poop after drinking coffee?
Caffeine is not the culprit
You may think that this must be caused by caffeine because coffee is coffee precisely because it contains caffeine. But this is not the truth. Carbonated or functional drinks may also contain caffeine, but they don't make you want to go to the bathroom.
In addition, studies have found that decaffeinated coffee has a similar effect. A cup of hot coffee with caffeine has the same effect on bowel movements as a 1,000-calorie meal of rice. This is 60% stronger than hot water and 23% stronger than decaffeinated coffee. Therefore, decaffeinated coffee has a similar effect, but is not as obvious.
Someone studied the relationship between coffee and bowel movements, they hired 99 healthy volunteers, 28 of whom said they wanted to defecate after drinking coffee. This was a small but significant sample size. In addition, they felt the urge to poop after 4 minutes of drinking coffee. In this short period, coffee does not quickly reach the colon through the intestine or blood, which means that coffee is indirectly triggered by defecation.
What exactly is it that causes pooping?
Research has suggested two principles. The first principle claims that stomach acid is the culprit: coffee contains gastrin, a peptide hormone that promotes gastric acid secretion; stomach acid sends signals to gastric epithelial receptors, accelerating gastric emptying.
Some studies point out that hot coffee helps with bowel movements, more so than drinking more water.
Constipation is many people often encounter gastrointestinal problems, most of us will drink more water and eat more fiber to improve the situation, but there are foreign medical experts pointed out that the effect can be changed to drinking hot coffee than drinking water is stronger, more promote the intestinal peristalsis, to solve the constipation problem.
According to the "United Newspaper Yuan Qi Network" pointed out that the United States Ouixta University Digestive Health Center Director physician Rao Ou (Dr. Michael Ruscio) said that hot drinks stimulate the digestive system, start intestinal peristalsis so that the large intestinal muscles to push feces to the rectum, so any hot drinks, including hot water, can help solve the bowel movement.
However, the latest study found that among all hot drinks, coffee triggers intestinal peristalsis, 60% stronger than hot water, but also stronger than decaffeinated coffee 23%, according to statistics, most people drink hot coffee, will be 20 minutes to feel the desire to poop, become one of the good things to solve constipation.
But there are physicians reminded that although the effect of drinking coffee to stimulate bowel movements similar to taking laxatives, constipated people can not be happy too early, long-term laxatives by drinking coffee, easy to let the intestines gradually paralyzed, losing the ability to move on their own, and eventually evolved into the situation of constipation without coffee, so people can not use coffee for a long time to help defecate.
So the first set of experiments we did, intestinal peristalsis is critical in the digestion process. The smooth muscle tissue in the stomach and intestines will contract one after another to move the food. But sometimes, even if there is no food in the stomach and intestines, the stomach and intestines will be "tricked" and start to contract. Coffee triggers a bowel movement, which is a reflex of the gastrointestinal system. The gastrocolic reflex refers to the signal sent by the stomach and intestines to the colon to "make some room" upon waking up in the morning.
To sum up:
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30% of people want to poop after drinking coffee.
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If you are one of the lucky ones, then coffee in your body will promote the secretion of stomach acids, brown peptides, or other substances that cause a burst of contractions in the colon. Some people will gradually become immune to this.
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Coffee helps with bowel movements, more so than drinking more water.
Decaffeinated coffee can also stimulate poop
Initially, it was thought that the caffeine in coffee would promote bowel movements. However, studies have shown that decaffeinated coffee can also serve this purpose. Meaning, there must be other factors at play. Chlorogenic acid and n-alkyl-5-hydroxytryptamine stimulate the production of stomach acid.
Stomach acid helps to stir food and move it quickly through the intestines. For example, the act of drinking alcohol can make the colon more active, which is known as the colic reflex. This is the same reflex that activates your colon after a meal.
On the other hand, coffee-induced bowel movements may just be a coincidence. This is because when waking up in the morning, the bowels are twice as active as when sleeping. The body's internal biological clock, also known as the circadian rhythm, helps regulate many processes, including bowel movements.
Does coffee make everyone poop?
Drinking coffee will not make everyone poop, but if you drink coffee in the following two cases (expired or poor-quality coffee factors are not taken into account), more likely to poop it.
1. Stomach stimulation
Coffee contains chlorogenic acid and caffeine, the gastric mucosa will produce a certain amount of stimulation, and each person's physique will cause different physiological feelings. In addition, the experiment also found that coffee promotes the role of intestinal peristalsis, and this promotion in the early morning has the strongest performance.
So try to avoid drinking coffee on an empty stomach in the morning. Of course, some people use coffee as a great tool to cleanse their intestines in the morning, but it is not recommended to do so to avoid causing intestinal discomfort
2. Weak caffeine tolerance
After entering the body, caffeine is mainly metabolized by CYP enzymes. Normally, the concentration of caffeine will drop to half in 2-4 hours after entering the body.
The CYP1A2 gene plays a vital role in the entire metabolic process. Individuals with mutations in the CYP1A2 gene will result in weaker caffeine tolerance, requiring eight hours or more to reduce caffeine concentration to half, and will therefore experience symptoms of diarrhea after drinking coffee, which may be accompanied by a rapid heartbeat, euphoria, and inability to sleep.
1️⃣Weak caffeine tolerance is not not to drink coffee, on the contrary, drinking coffee will have a better refreshing effect.
2️⃣We all have the experience that the first time we drink coffee the refreshing effect is very good, and after drinking more the effect gradually diminishes: as we get into the habit of drinking coffee, our body gradually adapts to the high caffeine levels. This is also the reason why some people can fall asleep after drinking coffee: the body has become numb to the high caffeine levels, but once you stop drinking coffee, it is extremely easy to get sleepy.
3️⃣For those of us with weak caffeine tolerance, but who need a boost at work, we may want to place our coffee intake before noon and try it from small cups, and drinks with milk (the amount of espresso used in drinks with milk in the same cup size will be less than Americano). After the body has adapted for a while, the minor symptoms of discomfort will disappear. As long as caffeine intake is kept to 400mg/day, there are no negative health effects.
4️⃣When we face important things such as exams, interviews, and meetings, we choose beverages such as coffee to keep our minds clear. If you have a weak caffeine tolerance and are not used to drinking coffee before, doing so may in turn cause you physical discomfort and affect your performance.
Also, remember that almost all functional drinks contain caffeine as an ingredient.
To sum up:
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Caffeine intake not exceeding 400mg/day will not hurt health.
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Diarrhea is mostly due to stomach irritation or weak tolerance to caffeine.
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Coffee on an empty stomach is not recommended.
Coffee stimulates hormones
Research has also shown that coffee also stimulates hormones that drive food through the intestines. For example, it increases gastrin levels. Like caffeine, gastrin makes the colon more active. In addition, coffee increases levels of the digestive hormone cholecystokinin (CCK). This hormone not only increases the movement of food through the colon but is also associated with the gastrocolic reflex, making the colon more active.
Final Summary
Proper coffee consumption is good for you, but drinking too much can still be harmful.
Also, based on the fact that many of our current studies do not have an accurate conclusion and many are still in an observational stage, it cannot be proven that coffee causes these benefits or harms. Keep in mind that caffeine intake should not exceed 400mg/day, otherwise it tends to hurt your body. Also, caffeine can affect your sleep, so try not to drink it after 5 pm.
