What are Bowel Irritants?

A Bowel Irritant is anything that makes your bowels a bit "antsy-in-your-pantsy" and give you that not so good feeling of "Uh, Oh. Where's the nearest toilet." But have no fear, Dr. Kelly is here to teach you all about what bowel irritants are, and what to do if you get that "oh so irritable" feeling down there.

What are some main bowel irritants?

 Too many to count, but let's start with 4 big ones...

1. Coffee!!

This is a big one. You have ONE SIP of your iced coffee, and two minutes later, YIKES, we gotta go! This is because coffee does stimulate the smooth muscles of the colon AND it boosts the levels of something called "Gastrin" inside our bodies, accelerating the speed of the 'stuff that will be poop in a moment' through our digestive tract.

This blog post gets into the nitty gritty of why coffee gives some of us the urge to purge, but for now, just know that for 30% of humans, and up to 70% of Vagina Owners, coffee (decaf OR regular) can stimulate the bowels to move more rapidly for 30 minutes after ingestion. In short, for the 30% of humans, and 70% of "vagina owners" who are "responders to coffee", coffee ingestions increases levels of gastrin, which leads to that BEAUTIFUL poop 30 minutes after ingestion of coffee, especially noticeable on an empty stomach.  

So, in essence...KNOW if you are a RESPONDER, and be RESPONSIBLE.  Be near a toilet if this is you.  Nobody likes poop in their pants!!!

2. Greasy, Fatty, Meals

Digestion is complicated, but if we eat a fatty meal, it is going to signal the intestines to "get a moving" to make room for the inbound nutrients. Therefore eating this large meal at anytime can stimulate a poop soon after.

AND furthermore, eating this big meal on an empty stomach?? LOOK OUT BELOW, as you might be setting yourself up for diarrhea 20 minutes later ;).   There's a WORLD of further explanation into WHY eating a big meal on an empty stomach can be an irritant, but it comes down to something called the Gastro-Colic Reflex, which is actually AWESOME!

The Gastro-Colic Reflex is a built in way for our body to "clear-out shop" when we eat a big meal.  So when the stomach gets a "quick big stretch", especially from an empty position, the Gastro-Colic Reflex is activated.  This reflex "speeds up" colic transit, to "move the poop through the colon, to "make space" for the "new stuff coming in.".  THIS IS GREAT...except if it's not.  If you tend to be "on the more irritable end, this could cause a poop-mergency.  

So again, understand your body.  Avoid activating this reflex, if you know you're prone to poop-mergencies! 

3. A large amount of anything on an empty stomach

The technical name for this large amount of anything is a bolus. Say it with me, "bolus", it rhymes with "pole-us."

The bolus stimulates a poop because of a rapid stretch of the lower stomach, which again tells the intestines to "get a moving" to make room for whatever is coming down.  SAME thing as above, because it activates the gastro-colic reflex--even 1L of water within 20-30 minutes.  Constipated folks can use this in the morning to TRY to have a bowel movement, but irritated folks could have a poop-mergency from it, so need to be aware of the risks. I have a fun instagram post on this here, if you're interested.  

4. Any known bowel trigger, FOR YOU!

It's true, everyone's gut is unique.  Folks with SIBO, fiber can be a trigger.  Other people can't have nightshade vegetables.  Some people can't handle spice.  My husband can't eat raw fruits and vegetables (okay, his is a true allergy, not a gut issue, but true none-the-less).  KNOW YOUR BODY.  You are NOT crazy.  You have an AMAZING, unique microbiome of literally BILLIONS of tiny bugs, digesting your food for you, making the nutrients available toy, and what THEY want to eat, is what is nourishing to you.  So what they DON'T WANT TO EAT is IRRITATING to you.  And if THEY GET IRRITATED, there are ramifications FAR beyond "just a poop-mergency" (although pooping your pants is pretty terrible in itself, I think we can all admit)...

But in all seriousness, irritable bowels leads to irritable and foggy brains, leads to disrupted sleep, which leads to altered moods and memory functions...so this IS something for you to be aware of.

What to do about it?

Just being aware of the fact that these items can be bowel irritants prepares you for the potential "big urge." But if you ever DO get "the Urge" to poop, read and watch this blog post, where I ever so festively teach you how to not poop your pants. You're welcome.  And stay tuned to my socials for lots more fun AND education information about everything you never knew, you never knew, about your down there :).

And if you enjoyed this post...please share it, even just ONE FACT...or one of my silly reels from my instagram, with your social circle, you might just save someone you love from pooping their pants, and they'll love you forever for it :) 

 Thanks :) 
XOXO
Dr. Kelly

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