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During intestinal surgery, intestinal motility usually stops, and it takes 2 or 3 days for it to restart (I've experienced it myself). Coffee apparently helps to restore normal bowel function.
The researchers recruited 80 patients with colon cancer, diverticular disease (a structural problem in the wall of their colon), inflammatory bowel disease or another condition. The patients were an average of 61 years old and slightly more than half were men.
Participants were divided into two groups: those who drank coffee and those who drank water after colon surgery. The patients were given 100 milliliters (about half a cup) of coffee or water at three different times during the day.
Coffee drinkers took slightly more than 60 hours to make their first bowel movement after surgery, the study found. Water drinkers, on the other hand, took 74 hours.
The coffee group also tolerated solid food in just more than 49 hours after surgery. The water drinkers took 56 hours to do the same. The coffee drinkers were also able to pass wind within 41 hours after surgery compared with 46 hours for water drinkers.
How about that? We've been right all along, and the doctors who recommend that patients with IBDs should avoid drinking coffee have apparently been wrong.
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
But if coffee makes you "go", and we are trying to NOT go as much, doesn't that mean we should avoid it? All i know is that it was the very first thing that started to bother me way before MC dx.
You're missing the point. It doesn't just make us "go". It helps to regulate motility. Note that coffee drinkers in the study were able to eat solid food sooner, and they were able to pass wind sooner.
Part of the problem with MC is a loss of motility regulation. As many members have noted, once a flare starts, it refuses to stop, because we seem to lose the ability to regulate motility during a flare. IOW, we just can't seem to get back on track with our BMs, due to seemingly never-ending rapid transit.
Back when I was reacting, I didn't drink coffee. One of my worst problems was that I was never able to get rid of the gas. I swelled up like a toad frog and stayed that way for days at a time. The pain kept me from sleeping, and it made life miserable. If I had known about this, back then, I would have at least tried coffee, to see if I could tolerate it. It couldn't have caused D, because I already had world-class D.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
I started taking pure green coffee bean extract about a month ago.
I have been able to manage my D symptoms fairly well since stopping entocort about a year ago but Norman never came to visit.
I have seen Norman about 10 times since I started taking the green coffee supplement. I was going to post about it but I wanted to make sure it wasn't a fluke. I drink a small amount of coffee everyday but it never helped with the D.
I was taking the supplement hoping for an energy boost after seeing it on Dr. Oz.
I completely gave up coffee (high powered Starbucks) after a few weeks of WD when MC came to visit. When I was drinking Starbucks it never slowed down my WD but once I stopped it I noticed that I didn't have these little heart palputations/skips anymore. I wondered if it was the caffeine so once Norman came after starting entocort.......I started drinking decaf Caribou and don't have the heart skips anymore. The other day I decided to try a Starbucks strong caffeinated and bingo........heart palputations/skips were there again. I'm guessing its the caffeine for me so decaf it is. I love my coffee but it is like taking water pills sometimes. Can't stay out of the bathroom but at least it's the #1 and not the WD.
I have no idea whether decaf would make a difference. Apparently the researchers didn't distinguish between any such options. Coffee contains a lot of ingredients that are not available in most other drinks. I have a hunch that something other than caffeine helps to regulate motility. Caffeine would seem to be more likely to accelerate motility, but I don't know that for a fact.
Hi Lucky,
That's an interesting observation. Since no one knows which ingredients in coffee provide the benefits that are attributed to it, it's certainly possible that green coffee bean extract might contain a stronger dose of those particular ingredients than brewed coffee. At any rate, I sure wouldn't rule out a connection.
Hi Cathy,
I'm sure you're aware that a cup of coffee sends many people to the bathroom for a BM regardless of whether or not they have MC or any other GI disease. Some people are just strongly affected by it.
That's interesting about the heart palpitations. Did you notice that my niece posted about having heart palpitations as a result of an accidental glutening a few days ago?
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Hi Tex,
Thanks for the coffee report. At first, I thought, "oh here we go again, yet another thing I have to cut out of my life" but as I read on I felt comforted. I drink one decaf coffee in the morning and during the day I drink several cups of green tea(which has caffeine but I mix with 'decaf' black).
I was not having gut rumbles so I had not eliminated either beverage and so it was validating to read this research.
Cory
CoryGut
Age 71
Diagnosed with Lymphocytic Colitis Sept. 2010
On and off Entocort(Currently Off)
Hi Tex,
Yep I did see that she posted something about the heart palpitations. I found that interesting. I know mine isn't from Gluten because I am totally anal about NO GLUTEN. OCD almost about it.......I get teased a bit but we laugh and I tell my friends.........look either I make sure of NO Gluten........or I spend my time on the toilet. Now that I am so much better and can leave the house and do things again................we all agree.....no gluten for Cathy!!!!
I notice my heart palpitations/skips with coffee or chocolate usually.
And I mislead you in previous post...I don't get BM from coffee.......I have to pee all the time but wasn't sure how to put that in words.......I felt funny saying that and I'm not sure why because we've talked about everything else on this site......lol
I am, for the most part, in LC remission. However, the one thing that seems to stimulate my colon and make it sensitive like in the days when the LC was most active is coffee. On the flipside, when I was in the hospital after surgery for a ruptured appendix and the motility all but not existent, coffee did get things, uhm, moving.
If my gut is slowed down by other meds or during my cycle, that's seems to do the trick. However, all other times when that particular purpose is not necessary, I can't drink it. I really, really miss it.
I really miss it also. It actually hurts my stomach when i drink it- even decaf. I even had to give up black tea. One day, i am going to try a cup of real tea. i miss it immensely.
Some days I can drink a couple of cups of coffee in the morning and I'm fine. Other days my stomach hurts, or I'm running to the bathroom. I tried cutting it out completely, but the headaches and difficulty staying vertical were too much.
