The explanation is more complex than you might think.
A qualified doctor with a large social media following has addressed the question of what is going on within our bowels when we feel the need to dash to the loo shortly after finishing a meal.
While some people who experience this weird occurrence seem to harbour the thought that “food passes right through them” as an explanation, Dr Joseph Salhab has provided the medical reasoning behind why what goes in seems to come back out again so rapidly.
@thestomachdoc Do you poop immediately after eating? This is why it happens. #diarrhea #poop #ibs #ibstok #guthealth #guttok ♬ original sound – Dr. Joseph Salhab
Speaking to his 1.8 million followers on TikTok, Dr Salhab – a gastroenterologist who describes himself as ‘The Stomach Doc’ in his bio – revealed that, despite popular opinion, the immediate bowel movement is not happening because food is “moving instantly throughout your GI tract”.
Instead, he explains: “When you eat and you feel like you have to use the restroom right after, this is something called the gastrocolic reflex.
“What this means is that when food enters your stomach, your stomach stretches and sends signals to your brain which then sends signals to your colon,” he added. “This causes the colon to contract in order to make room for the food, and that reflex makes you feel like you have to use the restroom right after you eat.”
So, there you have it. It isn’t a case of what you’ve just consumed passing right through you, but instead your gut cleverly and independently making room by moving around some furniture.
Confirming the point made by Dr Salhab, the NHS website states that this “is a physiological reflex that occurs in response to stretching of the stomach after eating a meal and the arrival of by-products of digestion in the small intestine.”
Dr Salhab recommends trying a low FODMAP diet to reduce these symptoms. The Low FODMAP diet is a temporary eating plan that helps people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) identify foods that trigger symptoms.
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The diet cuts out foods such as garlic, onions, asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, leeks, mushrooms, apples, avocados, bananas, cherries, dried fruit, fruit juice, grapes, peaches, cow’s milk, custard, evaporated milk, ice cream, yogurt, and more.
After two to six weeks, those on the diet start to reintroduce some of these foods in order to monitor their body’s reaction to them more closely.
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