We answer why caffeine affects your bowel movements.
Since the very beginning of your coffee-drinking days, you would have discovered that a cup of java can affect your bowel movements. Not every time, but often enough for you to um, notice. And if you’ve ever wondered why, you’re not alone.
The issue was so intriguing to a group of scientists that they wrote a research paper on the issue called ‘Effect of coffee on distal colon function‘ published back in 1990.
Firstly, the paper concluded that the issue wasn’t well, an issue for the majority of people. Time of day, diurnal rhythms, and even gender played a role in coffee sensitivity. Secondly, the researchers discovered that “drinking coffee can stimulate a motor response of the distal colon in some normal people”.
Through an experiment, they saw that within four minutes of ingesting regular coffee, the intensity and duration of pressure in the rectosigmoid colon increased rapidly, and remained higher than the basal period for at least thirty minutes. This meant that the coffee-drinkers would be more likely head to the loo with number two within FOUR minutes of drinking a cup of joe.
Makes sense. But most interesting to note, however, was that they found a similar increase was seen following consumption of decaffeinated coffee. While there haven’t been any definitive answers on why exactly this is, it’s believed that the bowel-stimulating quality of coffee isn’t necessarily caffeine.
And that’s your TMI for the day.
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