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9 Weird Pooping Habits, Explained By Science
You know you’ve wondered these questions about your bowel movements. We talked to poop doctors for the scoop.
You wake up at night to pee, but not to poop
The sophisticated, intelligent neurons in your gut that control colon contractions, which push out waste, are also influenced by your body’s circadian rhythm, the internal clock that wakes you when it’s light out and makes you feel sleepy at night, says Pankaj J. Pasricha, MD, director of neurogastroenterology at Johns Hopkins Center for Neurogastroenterology. So most people don’t have the urge to empty their colon in the middle of the night. On the other hand, the bladder, which acts a reservoir for the continuous flow of urine produced in the kidneys, can stretch only up to a certain volume before you gotta go. Normally, you can sleep six to eight hours without having to urinate, but certain medical conditions or drinking too much water before bed can wake you to use the bathroom at night.
You’re extra gassy first thing in the morning
The colon is fairly dormant during the middle of the night, but it gets revved up and starts contracting when you wake up, sweeping out the gas that’s been trapped there all night. “The highest volume and longest emission of the day is usually in the morning when the colon wakes up,” says gastroenterologist Anish Sheth, MD, author of What’s Your Poo Telling You?.
Drinking coffee gives you the urge to go
It’s not just you: Some 30 percent of people feel the urge to have a bowel movement after their morning java. Don’t blame the caffeine, says the Washington Post. According to the paper, scientists have observed—through some very invasive studies!—that coffee stimulates the distal colon, which speeds up waste removal, so to speak. Coffee’s acidity may be a factor. Its chlorogenic acid causes the stomach to produce more gastric acid, which could cause the stomach to get rid of its contents more quickly than normal.
Pooping sometimes gives you the chills
Dr. Sheth calls the feel-good sensation “poo-phoria.” It occurs when your bowel movement stimulates the vagus nerve, which runs from the brainstem to the colon, reports Outsidemagazine. When the vagus nerve is stimulated, it can cause sweating and chills, as well as a drop in blood pressure and heart rate. It takes a large amount of poop to trigger poo-phoria, which is why it might not occur every time you head to the john.
rd.com
You know you’ve wondered these questions about your bowel movements. We talked to poop doctors for the scoop.
You wake up at night to pee, but not to poop
The sophisticated, intelligent neurons in your gut that control colon contractions, which push out waste, are also influenced by your body’s circadian rhythm, the internal clock that wakes you when it’s light out and makes you feel sleepy at night, says Pankaj J. Pasricha, MD, director of neurogastroenterology at Johns Hopkins Center for Neurogastroenterology. So most people don’t have the urge to empty their colon in the middle of the night. On the other hand, the bladder, which acts a reservoir for the continuous flow of urine produced in the kidneys, can stretch only up to a certain volume before you gotta go. Normally, you can sleep six to eight hours without having to urinate, but certain medical conditions or drinking too much water before bed can wake you to use the bathroom at night.
You’re extra gassy first thing in the morning
The colon is fairly dormant during the middle of the night, but it gets revved up and starts contracting when you wake up, sweeping out the gas that’s been trapped there all night. “The highest volume and longest emission of the day is usually in the morning when the colon wakes up,” says gastroenterologist Anish Sheth, MD, author of What’s Your Poo Telling You?.
Drinking coffee gives you the urge to go
It’s not just you: Some 30 percent of people feel the urge to have a bowel movement after their morning java. Don’t blame the caffeine, says the Washington Post. According to the paper, scientists have observed—through some very invasive studies!—that coffee stimulates the distal colon, which speeds up waste removal, so to speak. Coffee’s acidity may be a factor. Its chlorogenic acid causes the stomach to produce more gastric acid, which could cause the stomach to get rid of its contents more quickly than normal.
Pooping sometimes gives you the chills
Dr. Sheth calls the feel-good sensation “poo-phoria.” It occurs when your bowel movement stimulates the vagus nerve, which runs from the brainstem to the colon, reports Outsidemagazine. When the vagus nerve is stimulated, it can cause sweating and chills, as well as a drop in blood pressure and heart rate. It takes a large amount of poop to trigger poo-phoria, which is why it might not occur every time you head to the john.
rd.com
