Does Coffee Make Everyone Poop?

"Does coffee make everyone poop?" is a question that I am asked quite often in my professional life. 

As a pelvic floor expert and pelvic floor physical therapist, I can confidently tell you that the answer is no, coffee does not make EVERYONE poop. No-one reacts 'the same' to anything in life, and coffee is no exception. But coffee does make some people poop, and in some groups, like women, it might even make MOST people poop within 30 minutes of consumption, and I think that's fascinating.

Join me for a 3-5 minute read to discover the actual science behind why and how coffee can do this, as well as to learn what to do if 'the dreaded urge' strikes you!  

Are you ready? Hold onto your butts, people, and let's break down this exciting topic!

Is getting the urge to poop after drinking coffee 'normal'?

Oh the dreaded 'normal'.

Let's save the conversation for if 'common' and 'normal' mean the same thing for another time, and I will answer you that YES, getting the urge to poop after ingesting coffee (even decaffeinated coffee!) is common for MANY individuals.

In fact, there was a super fun study in the viral April of 1990 edition of the journal Gut (access the article) that actually studied this. The researchers asked nearly 100 healthy 17-27 year olds (58 men, 34 women...I guess it was harder to get gals to chat about their bowel habits) if coffee 'got their motors running' when it came to pooping.

They found...that overall, YES!!! 29 % overall reported an urge to defecate (fancy word for poop), including 63% of the women!!! Wow!!! That's something!!!

Coffee caused MORE THAN HALF of the women to get an urge to poop??

Yep. Now, granted the sample size was small, and maybe the responders were inclined to participate in a study about poop and coffee because they were 'responders' and wondered about their urgency, but it's still telling. And if a sample size of my friends with vaginas is any comparison, the study was under-reporting, if anything.

So, to answer your question, yes, getting the urge to poop after ingesting coffee is indeed common. Whether it's 'normal' or not depends on the strength of the urge. If it's a healthy, calm, "Yeah, I get to poop!", then it's normal. If it's a Holy CRAP, I need to RUN to the bathroom, or I'm going to poop my pants!" then, it's not normal, and you should chat with a Pelvic PT.

And this is PRESENT IN MORE THAN HALF OF WOMEN THE RESEARCHERS TALKED TO!!!

But WHY does the coffee make us want to poop? Is it the Caffeine??

Nope. Not the caffeine. Other studies have studied the effects of decaf and full caffeine coffee, and find that urgency occurs in both groups, so it's not just the caffeine.

Also, if it was "just" the caffeine, then we'd have to rush to the bathroom after Red Bull, and you never hear about that, do you?? (Made you think, didn't I? I know I'm right, because I get the urge to poop after coffee, but never after Red Bull or Monster. You're welcome).

So what is it about coffee that makes us poop?

The Germans studied this long ago (Article summary here) and those smarty-pants compared the effects of putting coffee, decaf coffee and pure caffeine into humans' stomachs, and then studied the effect on 'gastric secretion', which is fancy speak for goop that gets your digestion moving. (Side note, where can I sign up for the pure caffeine? It sounds amazing.)

They found, much to my dismay, that instilling pure caffeine to the stomach did not effect the basal serum gastrin concentration levels.

Again, for those in the back, it wasn't the caffeine. The pure caffeine didn't get the digestive juices flowing :(.

BUT...full caffeinated coffee, AND decaffeinated coffee? Yep. There was SIGNIFICANT increase in gastrin levels. Meaning the motors were accelerated, and thus, the urge to poop.

That first study studied HOW the colon moved after coffee, and found that the levels of gastrin, a hormone that moves the colon around, was significantly HIGHER in "responders" after coffee, meaning that responders levels of gastrin were stimulated MORE after ingesting coffee than "non-responders".  So their colons were "HYERCHARGED" by the coffee in a way that non-responders were not. 

I, personally, think that is AMAZING.

So what's the moral of the story?

Being a "responder" to coffee can be a double edged sword, really. For some of us, who are responders, we can use coffee responsibly, to help initiate a poop-response, and we know that it will happen within 30 minutes of ingestion, if it's going to happen. So we could use this as a tool to plan our poops.

Being a responder, though, could CAUSE a poop-mergency, if paired with a big meal on an empty stomach (activating that gastro-colic reflex)...and COULD result in pooping your pants if you are NOT responsibly managing your reflexes (speaking from experience...I absolutely HAVE pooped my pants twice in my life...both times after coffee AND eating a big meal on an empty stomach.  It was mortifying.)

For non-responders (60% of all people and 30% of people with vaginas), read this with curiosity, and wonder what it would be like to drink something and then get an urge to poop...

For "Hyper-Responders", those who get THE URGE and fear they might poop their pants, first go see a PT (read this post to learn more), because the urge should NOT be this bad.

Hyper responders should drink coffee cautiously. Be aware of your surrounds and choose to imbibe when a bathroom is accessible. And if it's not accessible, choose a tea or milk-based drink, (or Red Bull), which won't have the same urgency response.

I hope this summary of Why Coffee Makes us Poop is Interesting to you

Watch this video and learn tips from a pro. Or this silly Instagram Reel summarizing the study about how coffee causes urgency in women.  Yes, you're welcome, and no, you can't have my Christmas-dinosaur sweater (but you can buy a similar one from Amazon here!) 

Thanks for reading!  Please share to your circles or on your socials, as most people are VERY curious about poop-related content!!!

XOXO

Dr. Kelly 

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 It's True, You Can Look It Up...And Yes....The study is by Brown & Cann..... Tee..hee..

Brown SR, Cann PA, Read NW. Effect of coffee on distal colon function. Gut. 1990 Apr;31(4):450-3. doi: 10.1136/gut.31.4.450. PMID: 2338272; PMCID: PMC1378422.