Why Does Coffee Make You Poop?

It may also be because most people drink coffee at breakfast, and have last night’s dinner in their system.

I don’t experience the poop effect from coffee (unless I’ve had more than a few cups), but it, or any hot beverage for that matter, will have me taking pee breaks every 15 minutes for at least the next hour and a half.

Yes. But there is also a definite psychological component involved as well because I often only need literally a sip or two of my first cup before I’m off to the shitter. There’s just no way anything is making it’s way through my digestive system that quickly.

I don’t have what you’d call a regular bowel… sometimes I’ll shit 2-3 times a day, sometimes every other day. I drink at least 20oz of coffee every morning. So whatever its effect, I would say it doesn’t work on me.

And it’s likely the OP would stop being affected if he toughed it out and drank coffee every day. Whether he wants to bother getting to that point is another matter.

Morning shits are common. But I agree, sounds like there is a psychological component.

This is a honest-to-goodness, in-all-sincerity question meant with no snark or sarcasm: did you actually read this OP of which you speak? :confused: Because I am a bit more than perplexed as to how you arrived at this response if so.

WTF? The OP contains no information relevant to that. If you are offended by the “tough it out” part I am sorry, but I wasn’t suggesting you were a wimp or anything like that. It means: continue drinking despite the problems.

The response is completely to RearEchelon. S/he drinks a good amount of coffee. You were not a topic of the post except as an acknowledgment as the person who started the thread. If you only drink it a couple times per year when a free pot is out (you do not say how much you drink). It is very likely that anyone with poop-related problems will find that it lessens if they keep drinking it despite the gastric issues, and eventually their body will get used to it.

Nicotine definitely stimulates peristalis. Some people who quit smoking have trouble moving their bowels because they’ve become dependent on nicotine for that stimulation.

Fiber does not stimulate peristalis. Instead, it softens the stool and makes it flow through the system easier.

I only drink cold-processed coffee and I can tell you it still works.

Do you drink more coffee during the day though?

Oh, then don’t refer to RearEchelon’s post as the “OP” and you won’t get this sort of confusion in the future. By doing so, I thought you were referring to the actual OP.

Dracoi, I have a hard time believing there’s 1-2 g of fiber in a cup of coffee- regular filtered coffee anyway. I guess there could be some in French press or or other unfiltered types.

That’s because there isn’t nearly that much in regular coffee. The actual amounts vary from 0.47 grams/0.75 grams per 100 milligrams of coffee (a cup).

I’m with the OP. I drink coffee daily. I usually only drink it in the morning, before eating anything. I drink it strong (typical drink is 4 shots of espresso over ice.) Within 10 minutes of my first sip, the engine is churning. If I miss my morning coffee for some reason, all I need to do is have it at a later time to start the process. It’s quite useful, actually.

No, just in the mornings. Mon-Fri I have a 20oz travel mug which I fill at home and take to work, and that’s all the coffee I’ll drink that day. The rest of the day I’ll drink water or gatorade or iced tea or water, and then maybe a beer or three when I get home. On weekends I’ll drink half a pot at least, but still, only in the mornings.

Ambivalid, 100 mg of brewed coffee would be a few drops. Perhaps you meant milliliters? :slight_smile:

Lance years ago I had irregularity, sometimes only one bowel movement in a week. I drank plenty of coffee. Dr. advised me to sit at table when I drink my coffee, good posture and relax, maybe read the paper but no TV, I did that and it worked the first time and every time since, takes me just about 1 full cup of coffee or a tad more when I refill but always works.

Cecil covered the nicotine effect here. Strange, we have cells in the stomach whose purpose is to respond only to nicotine:

For what it’s worth, I doubt caffeine is to blame - I drink decaf and it works. I also have a few squares of chocolate daily, which don’t make me have to go (chocolate has caffeine as well). Finally, spicy foods (especially with capsaicin, which I think is regarded as a stimulant) don’t automatically make me go either - so the caffeine being a stimulant probably ain’t a factor. Coffee has been proven to have some antioxidant compounds, so maybe 1 of these works on the sphincters - I read somewhere there are 3 involuntary & 1 voluntary. Possibly just the right substance making those sphincters vibrate does the trick.

For heaven’s sake people… it’s the damned caffeine. http://www.livestrong.com/article/414580-the-effects-of-caffeine-on-bowel-movements/

It’s no kind of logic to say soda doesn’t work or chocolate doesn’t work, because these things have tiny (<30mg) amounts of caffeine. A cup of coffee has at least 200mg. And FWIW, caffeine works for me.

Anything you drink, eat, or read first thing in the morning is likely to be followed by a bowel movement. See if you can spot the common factor in the previous sentence.

So people who don’t drink caffeinated coffee don’t poop? What happens, they hold it in til they explode?