# Is coffee a laxative? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 15, 2000, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coffee-a-laxative/16015 "2000-04-15T12:42:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2000, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coffee-a-laxative/16015/1 "2000-04-15T12:42:00Z")
I have just started drinking coffee for the first time in my life and I’ve noticed that after a cup (of 1/2 caf), I always have [feigning embarrassment] remarkable poops [/feigning embarrassment]. Is there a connection or am I just weird? Anybody else have a food/drink that seems to do this to them. * * * That what does not kill me, postpones the inevitable. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2000, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coffee-a-laxative/16015/2 "2000-04-15T12:47:00Z")
Last night I had some sugar-free lollies (candy, US folks). Weeeeeeellllllllll, knock me down and call me Susan, did it ever affect my intestines in a madly desperate way - sluiced me clean they did! Ugh! Well, is this a TMI thread or what? * * * [The Legend Of PigeonMan](http://www.hotkey.net.au/~guanolad/pigeonman/) - **Shadow of the Pigeon** - Weirdo of the Night ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2000, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coffee-a-laxative/16015/3 "2000-04-15T12:49:00Z")
It will stimulate peristolisis (sp?). Whether that classifies as a laxative, I’m not sure. IIRC, laxatives make the stool softer so that it’ll move easier. * * * Wrong thinking is punished, right thinking is just as swiftly rewarded. You’ll find it an effective combination. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2000, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coffee-a-laxative/16015/4 "2000-04-15T12:51:00Z")
:o :o Yep. I drink a cuppa and about 1/2 hour later I have a remarkable poo. :o :o ---
**Author:** ![SoMoMom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@SoMoMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoMoMom)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2000, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coffee-a-laxative/16015/5 "2000-04-15T13:03:00Z")
It’s a stimulant, well the caffeine technically. Any stimulant will do that to you. After you’re addicted it and you want to quit, you’ll have the opposite problem. Your body will forget how to move your bowels normally. ---
**Author:** ![GaWd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2000, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coffee-a-laxative/16015/6 "2000-04-15T13:29:00Z")
It is a stimulant, but not a laxative. If you want to get technical about it, it’s actually classed as a Diuretic. So, it’ll clean your kidneys out too. The laxative effect is just an added bonus 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2000, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coffee-a-laxative/16015/7 "2000-04-15T13:46:00Z")
Maybe not by definition, but in practical terms, it’s second only to McDonald’s food. * * * “We are here for this – to make mistakes and to correct ourselves, to withstand the blows and to hand them out.” Primo Levi ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2000, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coffee-a-laxative/16015/8 "2000-04-15T15:10:00Z")
I used to drink coffee by the gallon and it did have that effect. Usually it was the morning coffee. I quit about 3 months ago and I have not suffered from constipation (I do eat a high fiber diet). ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2000, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coffee-a-laxative/16015/9 "2000-04-15T15:20:00Z")
Yes, coffee does that to me too. Dairy products affect me strangely, too. Maybe I should post this in the SuperPowers thread, but my consumption of ice cream always seems to give my cat _really_ bad gas. * * * Cristi, Slayer of Peeps I made my husband join a bridge club. He jumps next Tuesday. (title & sig courtesy of UncleBeer and WallyM7!) ---
**Author:** ![Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f04885/32.png) [@Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghost)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2000, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coffee-a-laxative/16015/10 "2000-04-15T15:26:00Z")
You betcha, I just went ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2000, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coffee-a-laxative/16015/11 "2000-04-15T16:07:00Z")
1 cup strong coffee & 2 bran muffins should get things going. Shirley Ujest, sometimes its the try of coffee, try another brand. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2000, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coffee-a-laxative/16015/12 "2000-04-15T16:09:00Z")
Originally posted by handy: 1 cup strong coffee & 2 bran muffins should get things going. Shirley Ujest, sometimes its the type of coffee, try another brand. ---
**Author:** ![Whammo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8dc957/32.png) [@Whammo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whammo)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2000, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coffee-a-laxative/16015/13 "2000-04-15T16:11:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Shirley Ujest: > \*\*I always have remarkable poops. > \*\* I think Shirley has a new sig line! and… define remarkable in this instance please… _L_ no… dont. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2000, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coffee-a-laxative/16015/14 "2000-04-15T18:13:00Z")
I thought that McDoggies was an emetic! ---
**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2000, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coffee-a-laxative/16015/15 "2000-04-15T18:26:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Cristi: > \*\*. . .my consumption of ice cream always seems to give my cat _really_ bad gas. > \*\* LOL 😃😃😃 ---
**Author:** ![Prose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Prose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prose)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2000, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coffee-a-laxative/16015/16 "2000-04-15T18:39:00Z")
[minor hijack] Cristi, I don’t mean to be mean, but feeding your cat ice cream could give him/her worms because it’s a dairy product, even if they are on meds so that he/she dosen’t get them[hijack off] Yep, coffee does the same to me. * * * When he was ready, it was already far too late, to go back. There will never be another. He is lost to me, as surely as if he had died. Standing alone, I stare into the flames trying to remember what went wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2000, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coffee-a-laxative/16015/17 "2000-04-15T21:13:00Z")
Prose: Thanks for not being mean! But I don’t feed my cat ice cream. My cat gets gas every time **I** eat ice cream. Get it now? 😃 * * * Cristi, Slayer of Peeps I made my husband join a bridge club. He jumps next Tuesday. (title & sig courtesy of UncleBeer and WallyM7!) ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2000, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coffee-a-laxative/16015/18 "2000-04-15T21:28:00Z")
Erm, I’m intrigued. Into which end are you pouring the coffee? Doesn’t it burn? Don’t try it with Mulligitawney soup! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Silo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@Silo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silo)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2000, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coffee-a-laxative/16015/19 "2000-04-15T21:31:00Z")
Coffee is a diretic (makes you go to the bathroom, pee more often) as is beer. It is not a laxative…nope. It very well could be your diet causing the quote “remarkable poops.” Try adding fiber to it. But it could be a hereditary intestinal problem, but i’ll stop there. Happy pooping 🙂 * * * Two wrongs do not make a right…but three lefts do. ---
**Author:** ![MissMonica7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@MissMonica7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissMonica7)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2000, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coffee-a-laxative/16015/20 "2000-04-15T21:59:00Z")
could the same idea that the caffeine being a stimulant be applied to nicotine? i swear, sometimes after i smoke (and this happens to some people i know too), im going to the bathroom (not #1). does anyone know about this phenomenon? * * * “I am so smart, I am so smart, s-m-r-t, i mean s-m-a-r-t” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-coffee-a-laxative/16015.md?page=2)