“The Scoop on Poop” Chantal’s Fun Fact #2:

Why Does Coffee Make You Poop?

Ever take a few sips of your morning coffee and suddenly realize… it’s time?

You’re definitely not imagining it.

Coffee can stimulate activity in your digestive tract and trigger what’s known as the gastrocolic reflex—a natural response that tells your colon to start moving when something enters your stomach.

• Think of it as your digestive system saying, “Something new is coming in… time to make some room!”

• Interestingly, it isn’t just the caffeine. Decaffeinated coffee can stimulate colon activity too, suggesting that other components of coffee play a role.

• And timing matters! The colon is naturally more active after waking and after eating or drinking, which is one reason that morning cup can have such impressive timing.

Not a coffee drinker? Try this instead.

• You don’t need coffee to take advantage of your body’s natural morning rhythm.

• Try starting your day with a glass of warm water—or warm water with fresh lemon—before breakfast.The fluid entering and stretching the stomach can help engage the gastrocolic reflex, while also giving you a head start on your morning hydration.

• Follow it with breakfast, a little movement and some unhurried bathroom time, and you’re essentially giving your digestive system several natural cues that say: “Good morning. Time to get moving!”

Is relying on coffee to poop a problem?

• For many people, morning coffee simply works alongside the body’s natural digestive rhythm and helps initiate a bowel movement.

• But here’s the important distinction: Coffee helping you poop is different from needing coffee in order to poop.

Ideally, healthy bowel function shouldn’t depend entirely on caffeine or another stimulant to get things moving.

• Supporting regularity with adequate hydration, fibre, movement, healthy fats, nervous-system regulation and good bathroom habits can help your bowels develop a rhythm of their own.

• So whether it’s your morning coffee or a mug of warm lemon water, use that morning window to work with your body’s natural digestive rhythm.

So if you’re halfway through your coffee when nature suddenly calls… you can thank your gastrocolic reflex. 

Chantal David, LPN, CT

Natural Nurses | VitaCare