# How are some foods able to give me diarrhea so quickly **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 27, 2003, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-some-foods-able-to-give-me-diarrhea-so-quickly/157973 "2003-02-27T20:51:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2010, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-some-foods-able-to-give-me-diarrhea-so-quickly/157973/21 "2010-05-08T07:31:13Z")
The worst part is that foods that do this also tend to burn on the way out… My rectum won’t eat the spiciest wings on the menu at Buffalo Wild Wings anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2010, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-some-foods-able-to-give-me-diarrhea-so-quickly/157973/22 "2010-05-08T08:23:49Z")
Unfortunately I seem to suffer from IBS and it sucks. The main problems, for me, are two-fold: 1. I have no idea what causes it. Most times I am fine. I eat a very varied diet (I like lots of different kinds of food) and despite years of this and paying attention when it happens (relatively rare) I can find no rhyme or reason to it. I eat super spicy stuff with zero problems for instance. Best I have come up with is it happens when I drink from glasses that are washed at the bar. That is, I have a glass of beer and the glass was washed in the bar rinse tubs it seems more likely to happen. Even then it is not a sure thing but as a result I tend to drink from bottles while at a bar if I can. Frankly though I have no clue despite careful analysis to figure what it is. 2. Almost no one believes me (or rather they think I am making much ado about nothing and cannot believe it occurs so fast [hour or so] after eating) and almost no one understands how debilitating it is while it happens (it is painful and it is urgent). Literally there have been times when I am nowhere near a bathroom and seriously wondered if I was going to shit myself in public. Worse, those cases are usually when I am out with friends or family so the embarrassment will be with people I know well (thank Og so far that has never happened but been close a few times). It is fairly rare for it to happen to me fortunately but not so uncommon that I don’t worry about it. Totally ruins my evening if it does which can be really bad if on a first date (yep…that happened to me once). ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2010, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-some-foods-able-to-give-me-diarrhea-so-quickly/157973/23 "2010-05-08T08:38:08Z")
To add: I will say it has given me empathy for women who have monthly cramps. While being a guy I can never know for sure but after describing it to my female friends they have said that what I described sounds awfully similar to cramps they experience. All well and good to have that understanding but still; I’d be happier never knowing. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2010, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-some-foods-able-to-give-me-diarrhea-so-quickly/157973/24 "2010-05-08T09:34:27Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > My rectum won’t eat the spiciest wings on the menu at Buffalo Wild Wings anymore. Pssst. You were doing it wrong. ---
**Author:** ![simple\_homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@simple\_homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simple_homer)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2010, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-some-foods-able-to-give-me-diarrhea-so-quickly/157973/25 "2010-05-08T09:47:03Z")
I live in China and of course I eat Chinese food every day. It took months for my body to adjust to the large amount of oil used in the restaurants. My guess is that for some of the people in this thread one problem might be eating oily or greasy foods. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2010, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-some-foods-able-to-give-me-diarrhea-so-quickly/157973/26 "2010-05-08T10:33:03Z")
Does anyone find diarrhea immediately following coffee? When I have my first cup of the day, I need to be very sure a bathroom is close at hand–the weird thing is that sometimes I get an emergency while the coffee is still brewing–I haven’t literally had a drop to drink yet, but I have the diarrhea anyway. Psychological diarrhea? Conditioned diarhhrhea? It doesn’t make any sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2010, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-some-foods-able-to-give-me-diarrhea-so-quickly/157973/27 "2010-05-08T12:16:47Z")
I guess i’m somewhat more normal. This happens to me about 12-24 hours after eating ranch dressing. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2010, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-some-foods-able-to-give-me-diarrhea-so-quickly/157973/28 "2010-05-08T12:41:44Z")
> [@](#): > > I have no idea what causes it. Most times I am fine.I eat a very varied diet (I like lots of different kinds of food) and despite years of this and paying attention when it happens (relatively rare) I can find no rhyme or reason to it. I eat super spicy stuff with zero problems for instance. Best I have come up with is it happens when I drink from glasses that are washed at the bar. That is, I have a glass of beer and the glass was washed in the bar rinse tubs it seems more likely to happen. Even then it is not a sure thing but as a result I tend to drink from bottles while at a bar if I can. Frankly though I have no clue despite careful analysis to figure what it is. Sometimes it’s not just the ingredient, but the AMOUNT of the ingredient. I can eat a small amount of pepper. The exact amount varies from day to day, though, so I do my best to avoid ALL pepper every day. Same thing with a variety of other ingredients. Also, if the glasses are not really washed and rinsed properly, you might be having a reaction to the soap or detergent, if it doesn’t get washed off completely. Do what you need to do to protect your digestive system. Carry some Imodium AD tabs with you at all times. They are more effective than Pepto Bismol, in my experience, and they work faster, too. However, if you take too many of them, then the constipation is almost as bad as the runs. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2010, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-some-foods-able-to-give-me-diarrhea-so-quickly/157973/29 "2010-05-08T14:39:05Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > Does anyone find diarrhea immediately following coffee? When I have my first cup of the day, I need to be very sure a bathroom is close at hand–the weird thing is that sometimes I get an emergency while the coffee is still brewing–I haven’t literally had a drop to drink yet, but I have the diarrhea anyway. Psychological diarrhea? Conditioned diarhhrhea? It doesn’t make any sense to me. I had never made that connection until Tony Soprano told Carmella in one episode that the new French Roast coffee she bought “cleaned [him] right out.” ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-some-foods-able-to-give-me-diarrhea-so-quickly/157973/30 "2010-05-08T14:51:05Z")
> [@RedDawgEsq](#): > > IANAG, but I believe the major culprit here is the grease or fat. It may not be particularly apropos to the above discussion, but I am reminded of the story, perhaps apocryphal, of a modern-day comic (Robin Williams?) who had once, as a child, amused himself on a farm where geese (ducks?) were raised by tying a long string to a lump of fatty meat and feeding it to one of the fowl. Their “constitution” is such that the lump passes through in a manner of a few minutes. The lump was then passed along until in a half hour’s time there were 5 or 6 of them waddling around the barnyard in a rather odd convoy. Can anyone supply corroborative details? Was the string knotted? How come it didn’t just go through? ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-some-foods-able-to-give-me-diarrhea-so-quickly/157973/31 "2010-05-08T16:29:49Z")
The geese (or ducks) eating fat (or bacon) on a string is a Baron Munchausen story. It passes through enough birds that when the flock takes off, he’s carried along with them. He then has to strangle them in flight so that he can land. (And Robin Williams was King of the Moon, not the Baron, so it must not have been his story.) ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2010, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-some-foods-able-to-give-me-diarrhea-so-quickly/157973/32 "2010-05-08T17:16:32Z")
Coffee causes bowel irritation for some people, so it contracts quickly and dumps a load - sometimes before the water has been reabsorbed from the waste material. Sometimes it makes me poo, but I can’t remember the last time I had diarrhea. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-some-foods-able-to-give-me-diarrhea-so-quickly/157973/33 "2010-05-08T17:56:10Z")
After my husband had his gall bladder out, he has experienced the same thing - when he has to have a bowel movement, he has to have one RFN! It’s entirely possible it’s the fat in our diet that is triggering this. I’ve been dealing with stomach problems for a couple of years now, and after much testing and trying prescriptions and head-scratching from my doctor, we’ve tentatively come up with a diagnosis of IBS for me, too. My first food challenge was dairy, and my symptoms were greatly reduced when I eliminated dairy from my diet. My problems were stomach pain that wasn’t relieved by any of the usual stomach pain remedies, but my doctor has told me that he’s seeing that a lot - women who have IBS manifesting as stomach pain, rather than diarrhea or constipation. What I take from all this is that the digestive system is nowhere near as well-understood as we think it is. If I had one thing to tell young adults, it’s enjoy eating whatever you want, whenever you want, because chances are you’re going to lose that ability before too long. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2010, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-some-foods-able-to-give-me-diarrhea-so-quickly/157973/34 "2010-05-08T19:08:45Z")
My wife has an odd issue. If, for example, she eats watermelon two or more days in a row, her poo turns pink; if she has leafy greens for dinner two or more days in a row, it’s green; if it’s blueberries, it’s bluish-purplish, and so on. My poo has never reflected what I’ve just eaten, except for maybe undigested corn kernels or nuts that haven’t been chewed enough. I’ve told her to ask her doctor about it, but she says it’s always been like that for her. What could be going on? Insufficient chewing? Or some other kind of digestive problem? ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2010, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-some-foods-able-to-give-me-diarrhea-so-quickly/157973/35 "2010-05-08T19:10:02Z")
I believe it’s pretty well known that if you have your gallbladder out a real fatty meal can lead to diarrhea. It happens more in some people than others. I had mine out but it doesn’t happen much to me. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2010, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-some-foods-able-to-give-me-diarrhea-so-quickly/157973/36 "2010-05-08T22:17:21Z")
Amazing that an admin’s posted twice in this thread and been so preoccupied with talking about her bowels that she’s not noticed it’s been resurrected from 2003. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2010, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-some-foods-able-to-give-me-diarrhea-so-quickly/157973/37 "2010-05-08T23:00:55Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > Not to dogpile but there’s just no way the “it’s not the food you just ate” thing is 100% true. > > I think my record was like an hour.. maybe 2? Spinach heavy first course at a restaurant… stopped at the bathroom on the way out of the restaurant… nothing but spinach. Yeah, I can sign on to this. I have definitely - many many many times in my life - shit out something that could not possibly have been anything other than what I ate an hour or 2 beforehand. I think it’s been as quick as 45 minutes before. I won’t say it’s a “regular” occurance, but it’s not exactly seldom, either. > [@Malacandra](#): > > Amazing that an admin’s posted twice in this thread and been so preoccupied with talking about her bowels that she’s not noticed it’s been resurrected from 2003. :rolleyes: Amazing that you took the time out of your day to post something so rude. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Urban\_Spaceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@The\_Urban\_Spaceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Urban_Spaceman)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2010, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-some-foods-able-to-give-me-diarrhea-so-quickly/157973/38 "2010-05-08T23:56:44Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > My wife has an odd issue. If, for example, she eats watermelon two or more days in a row, her poo turns pink; if she has leafy greens for dinner two or more days in a row, it’s green; if it’s blueberries, it’s bluish-purplish, and so on. My poo has never reflected what I’ve just eaten, except for maybe undigested corn kernels or nuts that haven’t been chewed enough. I’ve told her to ask her doctor about it, but she says it’s always been like that for her. What could be going on? Insufficient chewing? Or some other kind of digestive problem? It’s not uncommon for otherwise healthy individuals to have different shades of colour according to the diet that they eat. Leafy greens do indeed produce green hues, and other shades can result from food colourants. Given the concentration of the pigments contained in blueberries I can easily imagine they impart colour too. Obviously if it comes out a tarry-black it could well involve partially digested blood, and a good reason to see a doctor (or blood-red of course). Colours are more apparent in yellower feces, which result from the liver and marrow processing fewer red blood cells, hence less bilirubin and its byproducts that normally stain the feces brown. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-some-foods-able-to-give-me-diarrhea-so-quickly/157973/39 "2010-05-09T06:20:58Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > Amazing that an admin’s posted twice in this thread and been so preoccupied with talking about her bowels that she’s not noticed it’s been resurrected from 2003. :rolleyes: Zombie diarrhea! Or maybe in this case, constipation. Hmmm. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2010, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-some-foods-able-to-give-me-diarrhea-so-quickly/157973/40 "2010-05-09T18:14:52Z")
Add me to the “it can’t just be food from yesterday” crowd. I love bakery frosting, but it goes right through me. Colorfully so if the frosting was blue or purple. > [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > To add: > > I will say it has given me empathy for women who have monthly cramps. While being a guy I can never know for sure but after describing it to my female friends they have said that what I described sounds awfully similar to cramps they experience. > > All well and good to have that understanding but still; I’d be happier never knowing. Yep, you’re right they can feel _a lot_ alike, but the worst kind of either type tends to feel bad in different ways (to me, anyway. the worst of intestinal cramps are a knife-like stabbing pain vs the worst menstrual cramps feeling like someone invisible doing [psychic surgery](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychic_surgery) on you and tearing your insides apart). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-some-foods-able-to-give-me-diarrhea-so-quickly/157973.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-some-foods-able-to-give-me-diarrhea-so-quickly/157973.md?page=3)