# laxative question

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laxative-question/64901>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 9, 2001, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laxative-question/64901 "2001-05-09T20:00:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![loislane138](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f19dbf/32.png) [@loislane138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/loislane138)\
**Post date:** [May 9, 2001, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laxative-question/64901/1 "2001-05-09T20:00:04Z")

</div>

I’ve heard of people with eating disorders taking laxatives to lose weight.

Is this possible? If so how does this work? I’m not planning on utilizing this idea or anything. It just seems like a half baked idea to me, not to me mention dangerous.

LP

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\
**Post date:** [May 9, 2001, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laxative-question/64901/2 "2001-05-09T22:05:01Z")

</div>

Well, I think the general idea is that the less time food spends in your gut, the less food value you get out of it.

If you really want to lose weight and eat at the same time, my recommendation is a tapeworm.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\
**Post date:** [May 9, 2001, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laxative-question/64901/3 "2001-05-09T22:11:47Z")

</div>

Specifically, people with bulimia will often take laxatives. I think the idea is to get the food out of the digestive system before the small intestines have a chance to absorb any nutrients etc. from the food.

Yes, it’s very dangerous. Besides depriving your body of vitamins and such, excessive use of laxatives interrupts the natural muscular motion (peristalsis) that causes food material, and later waste products, through the intestinal tract.

Throwing up after eating, sometimes known as binging and purging, is just as dangerous. Excessive vomiting of this nature can seriously damage the esophagus; there are numerous cases in which a person’s esophagus has ruptured from the constant vomiting. The acid from the expelled stomach contents can cause serious damage to the teeth as well.

(Learned about this in health class, not from experience.)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dbc845/32.png) [@jmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jmonster)\
**Post date:** [May 9, 2001, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laxative-question/64901/4 "2001-05-09T22:20:58Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by loislane138 \*  
> \*\*It just seems like a half baked idea to me, not to mention dangerous.  
> \*\*

Which is why they call it an eating _disorder_ instead of an _alternative dieting method_. 🙂

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\
**Post date:** [May 10, 2001, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laxative-question/64901/5 "2001-05-10T03:30:57Z")

</div>

And, according to [this old reference](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=6190422&dopt=Abstract)\* at least, it’s not terribly effective.

[sub]\* - click on author’s name to bring up the abstract[/sub]

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\
**Post date:** [May 10, 2001, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laxative-question/64901/6 "2001-05-10T15:14:24Z")

</div>

You also lose a lot of water…