Do you know why after coffee you want to go to the toilet?
Miscellaneous / / November 02, 2023
If this sounds familiar to you, rest assured that you are not alone.
Many of us start our day with a cup of aromatic coffee. And almost immediately after this, some people feel an urgent urge to go to the toilet. One experiment showedthat 29% of subjects feel the need to empty their bowels in the next 20 minutes.
Other, newer study confirmed the connection between drinking coffee and the desire to relieve oneself. It even recommended drinking it in moderate doses to patients whose gastrointestinal tract is recovering after abdominal surgery. (Of course, only under the supervision of a doctor.)
But why does coffee have such an effect on our organism? In fact, scientists don't know for sure, but they have some good theories.
First of all, the drink contains a lot of caffeine - and it not only invigorates, but can also activate contraction of the intestinal muscles in particular - colon. This is called the "gastrocolic reflex" and it triggers the urge to have a bowel movement.
One study from the University of Iowa College of Medicine
showedthat black coffee increases colonic motility 23% more than the same drink cafein free. And as much as 60% more effective than water.But wait. That is, decaffeinated coffee also leads to the urge to defecate. So it's not just this substance?
Other research showsthat coffee contains chlorogenic acid, as well as an amino acid with an unpronounceable name N‑alkanoyl‑5‑hydroxytryptamine. When ingested, they increase the level of the hormone gastrin. And it increases the acidity of gastric juice, and also stimulates involuntary contractions of the stomach muscles, which move the intestines.
Drinking regular coffee increases gastrin level is 2.3 times, and without caffeine - 1.7 times compared with drinking water. Therefore, by the way, the drink is contraindicated for people with gastritis or ulcers. Moreover, he raises the body contains cholecystokinin, a hormone that also causes the gastrocolic reflex.
However, there is another option: the desire to defecate can be caused by cream or milk, which many people add to coffee. According to statistics, do so two-thirds of lovers of this drink. Wherein order 65% of adults in the world have problems digesting dairy products. And lactose intolerance is often causes craving for defecation.
Finally, here's another plausible explanation. In the morning, as soon as you wake up, your intestines is declining approximately twice as active as in the afternoon. Circadian rhythms influence on many processes in our body, including defecation. So perhaps your desire to go to the toilet after coffee is a coincidence and you would still want to do it even if you just drank a glass of water.
Although, most likely, to your intestines nevertheless, all these factors influence at once: caffeine, chlorogenic acid, and early time of day. And if it’s difficult for you to go to the toilet in the morning and you don’t have gastritis, heartburn or other contraindications, a cup of coffee won’t hurt.
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