We all know that you all love coffee for its taste, for its therapeutic value, or just the ritual of drinking a cup of coffee in the morning while waiting for the day to begin. There are a thousand different reasons why we drink this caffeine drink during the day.
Some people are just used to it, and they can’t imagine their morning without coffee. All in all, coffee is a very loved drink that we are all grateful for. But, besides its values, we all know and love, there is one special value, on the biologic level. Most of the people who are regular coffee drinkers know it, it makes you poop!
How it Affects Your Digestive System
Now, drinks that make you go do the old number 2 are called laxatives. On Reddit, we asked is coffee a laxative? A lot of people confirmed it, it’s not just about some special reaction that the drink has on someone’s digestive system, but it is probably the world’s most used drink for helping bowel movement.
Very simple, just have the normal cup that you have every time! The optimal would be black coffee, of course. Liquids generally help everything move faster through the system, but scientists have examined and determined that some special compounds alter the digestive system a bit, making changes in the action of your colon. This digestive system includes everything your foods or liquids pass through, from the mouth to the throat, to the stomach, small, big intestines, colon and finally your so-called behind!
The chemicals that affect the digestive system also affect the triggering of hormones. So it’s true what they say, coffee is a drug in some way. It alters the way your body works, and mind too.
Just because all of these things are true, doesn’t mean you have to get worried over anything. It is not unhealthy, but rather the opposite! It’s normal and necessary for your system to flush itself. The condition called constipation is like clogging your body with all the stuff you put into it, and getting rid of it is very important. Coffee can maybe help you establish a normal routine for going to the bathroom if you pair it with a regular eating schedule, which is even healthier than drinking or consuming some products for a bowel movement.
When you have a consistent and healthy diet every day, there are big chances that you don’t need any “helpers”. But for some people, it’s maybe not that possible, because of their daily rescheduling, so a cup or two may help them with establishing a more consistent system flushing.
Most Common Questions People Have About Coffee Being a Laxative:
So for starters, many other drinks contain caffeine that is generally accepted to have some laxative effects on the body.
Yes, it is. Black tea, for example, contains more caffeine than some coffee drinks, so if someone doesn’t like drinking coffee, maybe this is the option for them if they want to help their system flush out a bit.
This may not be the same for all people, because we do all function differently, but the pattern is clear: it makes you go at some point.
Maybe you had a strong breakfast(which is recommended), and you didn’t eat the night before, and now you drank a cup of caffeine-infused drink. You need to know that your digestive system is slowed down during the night, and then as you wake up, your system wakes up with you.
Since you didn’t have anything last night, your fully-refreshed system now has all the time and the energy to process your breakfast. There is maybe a perfect time for you to achieve this because although the system wakes up and starts its thing if you wait a little bit, it will be 100% active and you may feel the urge to go immediately after eating and then drinking. This will for sure make your way lighter for the day you have yet to experience.
Indeed it is. It contains all the sugars in it that can create the effect if you have just finished an exercise, plus the caffeine amount in it will help the situation. But, even if it is, try to avoid the energy drinks, honestly not the best way to make yourself go.
Well, maybe you had changed your timeline for eating and drinking, maybe you’re not eating the right amount of foods that contain fiber, or it may mean that you just have to amplify the strength of the coffee you drink. It can be a lot of other stuff as well, but generally try to compare what you did when you could go poop after drinking, and now when you can’t. It most definitely has to do with something you changed in your diet.
More in-depth Analysis of the Effects That it has on Your System:
As we said, it’s healthy! So don’t be worried that it alters the way everything flows. When you drink coffee, it makes your stomach release something called gastric acid secretion. The clearest way of saying it, it’s some kind of chemically-infused liquid substance that your body uses to break down food, separating the things you need to be absorbed into the system, and discarding everything you don’t need, flushing it to the rest of the digestive system, that will eventually come down to your behind.
But remember, coffee is not always good for you, even though it works the same way every time. If you drink it on an empty stomach, you end up having a stomach full of acid with nothing to hold it down, so you may feel some stomachaches. It can also alter your body’s way to absorb sugars, and of course making differences in your blood sugar levels, that regulate when you want to eat can be bad because then it may cause you to skip a meal, or to overeat, both of which are bad for you.
The way this works is that coffee affects your hormones, and hormones are responsible for regulating blood sugar levels. So, all in all, drink when it’s necessary since it disrupts your natural digestive cycle, not the best thing since you can feel bloated from overeating or weak and crampy from not eating.
For all the people who drink decaffeinated coffee, the same thing for you as well. It’s not the caffeine that makes you go, but that acid we just talked about. Since this coffee, in general, is maybe one of the most consumed drinks out there, it’s very well documented that some doctors will recommend it to people who had abdominal surgery who are suffering from gut peristalsis.
Of course, it may be the most widely accepted constipation cure. There are other natural laxatives like foods rich in fiber, foods rich in water. Some of those are chia seeds, berries, kefir, leafy greens, apples, olive oil, kiwifruits and of course water. If you are feeling full, go out for an exercise, that one for sure will activate your stomach and your digestive system as well!
Frequently Asked Questions: FAQs
Does coffee make you poop more?
Some compounds inside the drink make the colon more active, so yes, but you will not poop more if you don’t have anything to poop out.
Does coffee give you diarrhea?
More than 2 or 3 cups of it(or tea) daily can often cause diarrhea.
Is coffee good for digestion?
Drinking it will help digest food, and hence, boosts gut health.
Conclusion
There is not much to say about this except the fact if you enjoy drinking coffee, and you have some stomach issues or constipation, your favorite drink will be your medication. It is healthy if you drink it when it’s the time for it when you have something to digest down.
We covered the entire digestive system in a few short bars, giving you the instructions when to drink this beverage so that you can make the most out of it. All in all, we hope that this short text will help you understand the nature of coffee a little better, adjusting it in your life to make it healthier!