Why do I poop right after I eat?

+62 votes
asked May 3, 2019 in Health & Wellness by ImaSimonson9 (220 points)
edited Jun 7, 2019
Recently, I have the urge to poop right after I eat a meal. Usually right after the three major meals of the day, breakfast, lunch and dinner. Never had that problem before. Should I be worried? It is pretty troublesome and embarrassing that I have to excuse myself to go after every meal, especially when I’m with my colleagues and family. So why do I poop right after I eat?

2 Answers

+10 votes
answered Aug 10, 2019 by HallieK10212 (390 points)
edited Aug 12, 2019
Pooping right after eating is a very common problem. The urge to poop does increase whenever you ate something. When the food you eat, it goes to your stomach and when it is beginning to go through your small bowel, then signals the brain and the poop begins to move more rapidly in the colon of the small bowel to the big intestine. If you eat some food recently, it makes your entire intestine movement to increase as well, because your body has a reflex between the stomach and the colon. It’s called the gastrocolic reflex. It’s pretty normal, you get rid of the old nutrients to make room for the new ones. The problem, however, happens when you have a change in the consistency of your poop.

Let’s say you don’t change your poop routine at all, like from twice a day to thrice a day, then observe if your poop floats. If it floats, it means you have extra fat in the poop, which either means you ate a lot of fat or you are not absorbing the fat. If you are not absorbing the fat, that is one of the reasons why you are going more constantly and we don’t want that. If that is the case, then make your way to the doctor or change your eating habits to include more fruits and vegetables, and fewer fats.
commented Feb 15, 2016 by LexandriahStyles (100 points)
I'm having a similar problem except i think mine is worse because I couldnt even finish my meal without going to the cr. I dont know if i this is common or not
+4 votes
answered Jun 17, 2019 by TameraPoe868 (480 points)
edited Jul 21, 2019
So you asking “why do I poop right after I eat”, first, you should know it is really normal to poop right after eating. It is, however, an issue if the poop is not very, say, solid. Whenever we eat something, our body has a gastrocolic reflex that signals for more activity in the intestine as the food passes from the stomach. However, if the result of your poop is more soft or liquid than what we are used to, it might be caused by the irritable bowel syndrome. The contractions of your colon don’t work as it should, a longer contractions lead to diarrhea as water isn’t absorbed properly, or constipations for the lack of any contraction. Interestingly, the problem could be stemmed from stress, depression, anxiety and even a change in daily routine, so it is directly related to the brain. Do visit the doctor, keep in mind that there is no medicine that directly cure this problem yet.
Welcome to Instant Answer, where you can ask questions and receive answers from other members of the community.
...