Does Drinking Coffee Help Relieve Constipation?

Before proceeding to look into this question, I would like to point out the following: please be sure to ask your doctor if it’s safe for you to use coffee in any form to obtain relief from constipation. While coffee is safe for most people, some people are at risk of having adverse effects.

At a minimum, constipation can be very uncomfortable. It can also lead to some serious medical conditions. The opposite may also be true, it can be a symptom of an underlying medical condition. I’ll be looking into one of the potential benefits of coffee, which is known to help many to alleviate constipation.

Is it Safe to Drink Coffee for Constipation?

Once a doctor has determined that coffee doesn’t present potential health threats, the other things to consider are the general guidelines pertaining to coffee. For example, doctors recommend not exceeding 400 milligrams of caffeine daily.

Caffeine is a stimulant, and within the recommended guidelines this stimulant is healthy in general (beyond helping with constipation). Yet too much of it will do harm instead of good. This is the main additional consideration.

As a stimulant, one of the benefits of caffeine is that it is a natural laxative. In this way, it can be viewed as a healthy alternative

How Does Coffee Compare to Other Possible Remedies?

Natural Remedies

Compared to other natural remedies, caffeinated coffee is not necessarily superior or inferior in helping with constipation. No two human bodies are exactly alike, what works for one person may not for another.

The way I view this is not to focus too much on any particular natural remedy. Staying hydrated in general is known to help. Castor oil and prune juice are commonly accepted as other natural laxatives. Much like a balanced diet is healthy in many other ways, the same is true in helping with constipation.

Over the Counter and Prescription Laxatives

Sometimes constipation can become difficult to overcome with natural remedies alone. I think it’s always a good idea to check with a doctor before proceeding with other types of laxatives. If natural laxatives alone aren’t being effective, there may be other things that need to be looked at.
To me, therefore, there is no direct comparison between coffee (or any other natural laxative) and these other types of laxatives. Though coffee and other natural laxatives aren’t going to have the same exact effect day in and day out, they still tend to work over the course of several days when the body is generally healthy.
That’s the distinction I make. Natural remedies work under normal conditions. When the body fluctuates from these normal conditions, then it’s necessary to consider other alternatives.
Even when doctors recommend these other alternative, it is very important to use them only as directed. Here is a pretty comprehensive article dealing with this topic: Laxative Use Information.

How Can Coffee Be Used, and Will It Always Help?

It may come as a surprise to some that coffee isn’t used in one particular way by everyone. I’ll be discussing the one way that usually comes to mind (the one I would recommend), and I will also mention a somewhat popular alternate way (that I definitely don’t recommend!).

Drinking Coffee

This is by far the most common way (and some may also say that it’s the only logical way) to use coffee to help with constipation. While by itself it can be very effective, it can be even more so if viewed as only part of the solution.

As mentioned above, caffeinated coffee as part of a balanced diet boosts the potential benefits. The same is true when considering other things that contribute to overall good health, such as regular exercise.
Enemas

There is no scientific evidence demonstrating that coffee enemas are effective or beneficial in any way for bowel health. However, there are plenty of risks associated with using coffee this way.

Burns, inflammation, and tears are some examples of these. In extreme cases, coffee enemas have been identified in autopsies as the cause of death.

Therefore, there appears to be no upside to using coffee this way. I’m just mentioning it to cover the topic of coffee use completely, because in spite of the evidence this way of using coffee remains popular.

What Types of Coffee Are Best For Constipation?

This may come as a surprise to some, but there are some types of coffee that are generally far healthier than others. Everything from the characteristics of the seeds, to the cultivation of the coffee beans, and finally to harvesting and processing can affect coffee quality.

Single Origin Coffee Beans

One of the best ways to assure the quality of coffee is to ensure only beans of a particular single source are used. Arabica coffee beans not only taste better than Robusta, they are generally far easier on the gastrointestinal tract due to more favorable levels of acidity.

Many things in the environment where the Arabica coffee beans are grown can contribute to not only superior taste but also how healthy overall the coffee will be. Without getting into all of the specifics that could be mentioned regarding the better types of coffee such as organic, specialty, and gourmet, there are some general things that can be said.

The Role of Cultivation in Producing High Quality Coffee
The cultivation of the coffee beans is of particular importance to the resulting quality of the harvested coffee beans. Pesticides and other toxins must be avoided to end up with the highest quality and healthiest coffee possible.

Quality Control After Harvesting
Beyond cultivation, specialty coffee (coffee that is awarded 80 or better by Q graders) guarantees that the coffee will have zero primary defects (such as sour beans) and a negligible amount of secondary defects (such as broken beans).

Other Considerations

Many other things can potentially affect how healthy for the stomach and bowels a particular coffee will turn out to be. Among them is everything that happens from the time the green coffee beans are graded to the time that the coffee is brewed and served (for example the roasting of the coffee beans).

The final thought is that generally the purer the cup of brewed coffee is, the healthier it will turn out to be. This includes no artificial flavors added to the coffee prior to packaging, and it also includes adding nothing to the coffee after it is brewed. Pure single source, specialty black coffee (without anything added like milk or sugar) is the way to go for the best results.
If you have additional thoughts on coffee as a natural way to get relief from constipation, please leave a comment below.