# Coffee and Regularity (TMI, IMHO) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 20, 2002, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-and-regularity-tmi-imho/144034 "2002-12-20T15:48:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-and-regularity-tmi-imho/144034/1 "2002-12-20T15:48:14Z")
Even though this is the SDMB, I still sorta can’t believe I am asking about this on a public message board, but here goes: Do any of you know how coffee consumption - either occasional or long term - is supposed to affect regularity? My experience (the TMI part): - As an adult, I previously rarely drank coffee. - When I did occasionally drank coffee, I might as well have been drinking Ex-lax – a very big laxative effect. - Over the past six months, my coffee intake increased (basically I developed the habit and enjoyed the caffeine buzz). After consuming 4 - 5 cups 3 - 4 times a week, I now find the opposite effect - I appear to be more constipated, a problem I have rarely encountered in the past. Obviously, I am backing off the java consumption, but what is the medical basis for this “first one extreme, then the other” effect? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-and-regularity-tmi-imho/144034/2 "2002-12-20T15:52:11Z")
Every morning I have coffee and a cigarette, and that bathroom had better be free within 30 seconds of me finishing the cup. Don’t know whether or not it’s the coffee that causes this effect, but I do have Irritable Bowel Syndrome. The “first one extreme, then the other” actually sounds like classic IBS - maybe coffee is your trigger? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-and-regularity-tmi-imho/144034/3 "2002-12-20T16:08:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > \*\*The “first one extreme, then the other” actually sounds like classic IBS - maybe coffee is your trigger? \*\* Well, if that is true - that coffee and daily stress combine to give me IBS - I guess I won’t be drinking coffee ever again… ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-and-regularity-tmi-imho/144034/4 "2002-12-20T16:18:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by WordMan \* > \*\*Well, if that is true - that coffee and daily stress combine to give me IBS - I guess I won’t be drinking coffee ever again… \*\* Good luck trying to quit. That stuff’s worse than heroin. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-and-regularity-tmi-imho/144034/5 "2002-12-20T16:22:18Z")
Coffee contains caffeine, which has laxative properties. Consider decaf if you’re not a fan of regularity. ---
**Author:** ![CastleAnthrax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@CastleAnthrax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CastleAnthrax)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-and-regularity-tmi-imho/144034/6 "2002-12-20T17:08:54Z")
It’s pretty simple and happpens with any caffeinated drink. Caffeine dehydrates you. If you drink a cup of water with each cup of coffee, you should have no further problems. What I try to do is put a cup in the bathroom and take a swig whenever I pee. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-and-regularity-tmi-imho/144034/7 "2002-12-20T17:29:57Z")
See? This is my source of confusion: **Dogzilla** - caffeine has laxative properties (I knew that) - hence the rush to the toilet - at least when I used coffee occasionally… **HennaDancer** (cool name, btw - does it mean something?) - Coffee dehydrates; hence it contributes to constipation - therefore drink water… So it sounds like caffeine has an \*immediate \* laxative effect, but, over time, if I let coffee offset my water consumption, then that leads to constipation. Does this sound correct - Qadcop or any other medically-trained Dopers who can comment? ---
**Author:** ![Doctordec](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Doctordec](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctordec)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coffee-and-regularity-tmi-imho/144034/8 "2002-12-20T20:52:44Z")
Try a cup of plain hot water instead of coffee. I know a nurse that told me drinking hot water for laxative purposes is very popular with older folks. It may be that any hot liquid will work for you.