Imagine this, you’re enjoying your morning cup of coffee, taking in its beautiful aroma and slowly sipping away.
Suddenly, the next thing you know, you’re rushing to the bathroom.
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Sound familiar? Here are four explanations why we always feel like pooping after a cup of coffee:
1. It could simply be coincidence
Bowel movements after drinking your cup of coffee in the mornings may simply be a coincidence.
This is because, according to Healthline, our bowels are twice as active when we first wake up in the morning, compared to when we are asleep.
So if getting a cup of coffee immediately after waking up is a habit in the morning, so is that bowel movement.
Image via Health Clubfinder
2. It could be a reflex after eating or drinking
The gastrocolic reflex occurs when you eat or drink and it kick starts your colon to be more active – thus a natural reflex that empties your bowels to make more room for the food that the body is about to receive.
This reflex may explain why some people poop very soon after finishing their meals, and also possibly why a morning cup of coffee jump starts those bowels.
Image via Active Again
3. It could be the milk
If you drink coffee with milk, we will not discount the fact that it could be the milk, and your body’s inability to digest lactose properly, that is promoting your bowel movements.
Close to 65% of people in the world are lactose intolerant, with mostly Asians having the lactase deficiency.
Image via LaMano Coffee
4. If you are sure it is not all of the above, it could actually be coffee itself that is stimulating your bowels
It has not been proven by research that coffee can definitely induce defaecation. However, many small studies throughout the years provide some evidence that it does.
You are also not alone for thinking so. A 1990 study in Sheffield, England found 29% of its 99 participants said that coffee induced a desire to defaecate.
In the same study, the colon manometry results of 14 willing participants revealed an increase in gut motility after ingestion of both regular or decaffeinated coffee. Meanwhile, there was no increase in gut motility in subjects who were given hot water.
However, it is still considered inconclusive because 99 people was a small sample size.
Besides that, researchers have also yet to determine the particular component of coffee that causes the reaction, be it caffeine or its acidity.
Image via David Dewitt/TheCozyCoffee