Coffee as a laxative?

Wayne Rust said:

Anyone have any experience with coffee as a laxative?
If so, how much did you drink and how much do you
weigh? I would like an edge in getting good weigh-ins.

I don't drink coffee (can't stand the taste), but I often have a caffeine
pill in the morning, and it definitely works as a laxative.
--
Why does "slow down" and "slow up" mean the same thing?

Now playing: "Black Sabbath - A National Acrobat"

Wayne Rust said:

Anyone have any experience with coffee as a laxative?
If so, how much did you drink and how much do you
weigh? I would like an edge in getting good weigh-ins.
Nothing exrtreme mind you, I'd just want nature working
for me, not against me.

This effect varies a lot from person to person. All of this discussion
is IMHO, YMMV and so on. Since you're talking about weigh-ins, that
suggests wrestling weight groups (who are notorious for taking things
to extremes) - but lets look at it anyway.

For some people caffeine does tend to stimulate the body to eliminate
wastes. This includes both solid and liquid wastes. It's not going
to make you eliminate =extra= material, but if something is pretty
close to being ready to be eliminated it can tip the scales and signal
the body "let's do it now". It can stimulate both the bladder and the
bowels.

The caffeine in coffee is what does it. The same effect can be seen
in colas, teas, and "stay awake" caffeine pills like Vivarin or
No-Doz.

The effect varies a lot from person to person. In general, IF it works
for you it will tend to work fairly quickly, and the dose needed is
fairly small. Since you are looking to lose weight for a weigh-in,
you are not looking to drink 8 oz. of liquid coffee (hoping it will
stimulate the loss of more than 8 oz.). Instead, you'd want to keep
your fluid intake prior to the weigh-in to a minimum.

I'd suggest that you buy a box of No-Doz (100 mg caffeine per pill)
and test yourself for the effect on some day when there is no
weigh-in, an hour before the time a weigh-in would normally be. Try
one pill (the equivalent of 1 cup of coffee) and see if there is a
noticeable effect. If it's going to happen, it's usually going to
happen in 30-60 minutes.

If there is no noticeable effect, it might be that you are not one of
those who are affected this way or it might simply be that there was
nothing much ready to go. Try again the next day, doubling the dose
to 200 mg (2 cups of coffee). (Note - some of the pills like Vivarin
come in this dosage to begin with.) Again, see how your body reacts.
Once you know that, you will know how much to take and when.

IF this is going to be helpful, most likely a 100 mg pill (swallowed
with a minimum amount of water) will be sufficient, taken about an
hour before the weigh-in. IF it works you might reduce your weight by
a quarter of a pound, or maybe even a half a pound (though if that
much was ready to go you probably didn't need a stimulant to empty the
holding areas).

This won't "clear out your whole system." It won't push things
through the intestines (or the kidneys) any faster than they were
going to go, so taking a dose 6 hours ahead of time (or every day)
doesn't help you any. It simply helps you clean out the "holding
area" of what has already made it to the end of the line (something
you've probably already been trying if you're worried about
weigh-ins).

"Wayne Rust" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Anyone have any experience with coffee as a laxative?
If so, how much did you drink and how much do you
weigh? I would like an edge in getting good weigh-ins.
Nothing exrtreme mind you, I'd just want nature working
for me, not against me.

--
Lori

(Atkins 1/16/2003) 220-144 from Jan to Nov
restart Jan 1. 2005
170/160/145

Devoted wife of Curtis diagnosed with Metastatic Prostate Cancer 12/31/2004
40 yr and 1 day old
failed Hormone deprivation therapy in 9 mo (instead of the usual 18-24 mo)
now on Radiation for pain(done)
starting Chemo for the rest of his life in ?. (hoping for a clinical trial
in 1 month)http://community.webshots.com/user/lorismiller

Lori

(Atkins 1/16/2003) 220-144 from Jan to Nov
restart Jan 1. 2005
170/160/145

Devoted wife of Curtis diagnosed with Metastatic Prostate Cancer 12/31/2004
failed Hormone deprivation therapy in 9 mo (instead of the usual 18-24 mo)
now on Radiation for pain(done)
starting Chemo for the rest of his life in ?. (hoping for a clinical trial
in 1 month)http://community.webshots.com/user/lorismiller

Quoted message said:

My DH isn't on LC. I don't think Laffy Taffy is LC LOL but his usual morning
routine is a cup of coffee and a bathroom break before he leaves for the
day. seems to work pretty fast on an empty stomach. (for him) YMMV

Some sugar free candy with lactitol can be a powerful laxative. However,
it is quite unpleasant.

"Wayne Rust" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Anyone have any experience with coffee as a laxative?
If so, how much did you drink and how much do you
weigh? I would like an edge in getting good weigh-ins.
Nothing exrtreme mind you, I'd just want nature working
for me, not against me.

have you considered maybe just taking a laxative? if you're low
carbing, caffeine can stall you. i dont know what kind of weigh ins
your doing, but if youre thinking about taking drugs to weigh less,
thats just stupid.

Quoted message said:

"Wayne Rust" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Anyone have any experience with coffee as a laxative?
If so, how much did you drink and how much do you
weigh? I would like an edge in getting good weigh-ins.
Nothing exrtreme mind you, I'd just want nature working
for me, not against me.

Wayne, based on what you've said previously and in this post, you seem
to be overly focused on the scale and what it shows to someone ELSE.
Are you the same guy in the contest?

--
Saffire
205/144/125 - 5'1.5"
Atkins since 6/14/03
Progress photo: http://photos.yahoo.com/saffire333

"Harold Groot" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Tue, 18 Jan 2005 20:06:31 -0600, "Wayne Rust"
<[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

For some people caffeine does tend to stimulate the body to eliminate
wastes. This includes both solid and liquid wastes. It's not going
to make you eliminate =extra= material,

Actually, I think it does, where liquid is concerned. I believe caffeine is
a mild diuretic and dehydrates you a tad.

"tia" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

have you considered maybe just taking a laxative? if you're low
carbing, caffeine can stall you. i dont know what kind of weigh ins
your doing, but if youre thinking about taking drugs to weigh less,
thats just stupid.

That is a very good point, Tia. Though many people don't consider caffeine
a drug, it most certainly is.

Coffee is not a laxative.

Sorry, it really is, but he hadn't said it yet, and I couldn't resist.
🙂)))))))

Skinny
who had caffeine at lunch and a low-carb brownie later and is simpled out

Ok, now he can say:

Brownies are not low carb.

GDR GDR GDR

On Thu, 20 Jan 2005 12:30:00 -0600, "Ernie Sty" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

"Harold Groot" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Tue, 18 Jan 2005 20:06:31 -0600, "Wayne Rust"
<[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

For some people caffeine does tend to stimulate the body to eliminate
wastes. This includes both solid and liquid wastes. It's not going
to make you eliminate =extra= material,

Actually, I think it does, where liquid is concerned. I believe caffeine is
a mild diuretic and dehydrates you a tad.

That was the common feeling many people (including doctors) had and
that was the way many diet groups advised people for a long time. It
apparently started because many people noticed that soon after taking
caffeine they had the urge to pee. But there were no studies that
actually took a controlled look at it. Then more recently (maybe 5
years ago?) they did actual double blind studies that measured daily
liquids in and liquids out and compared caffeine to placebos. No
significant difference in daily average. They concluded that it's a
bladder stimulant, that it urges the body to void what is already
there waiting, but that it doesn't increase the amount of urine per
day or dehydrate the body. But the big diet advisory groups tend to
move with glacial slowness in accepting and incorporating actual test
results when it conflicts with what they think they already know.

This falls into much the same category as the "Everyone should have 8
glasses of water per day" thing. When you go back and research it, it
turns out there never was any scientific data to back that up, it was
non-scientific advice that spread, and spread, and spread, until
nobody questioned it because it had been around for so long.

"Harold Groot" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Thu, 20 Jan 2005 12:30:00 -0600, "Ernie Sty" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

"Harold Groot" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Tue, 18 Jan 2005 20:06:31 -0600, "Wayne Rust"
<[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

For some people caffeine does tend to stimulate the body to eliminate
wastes. This includes both solid and liquid wastes. It's not going
to make you eliminate =extra= material,

Actually, I think it does, where liquid is concerned. I believe caffeine
is
a mild diuretic and dehydrates you a tad.

That was the common feeling many people (including doctors) had and
that was the way many diet groups advised people for a long time. It
apparently started because many people noticed that soon after taking
caffeine they had the urge to pee. But there were no studies that
actually took a controlled look at it. Then more recently (maybe 5
years ago?) they did actual double blind studies that measured daily
liquids in and liquids out and compared caffeine to placebos. No
significant difference in daily average. They concluded that it's a
bladder stimulant, that it urges the body to void what is already
there waiting, but that it doesn't increase the amount of urine per
day or dehydrate the body. But the big diet advisory groups tend to
move with glacial slowness in accepting and incorporating actual test
results when it conflicts with what they think they already know.

This falls into much the same category as the "Everyone should have 8
glasses of water per day" thing. When you go back and research it, it
turns out there never was any scientific data to back that up, it was
non-scientific advice that spread, and spread, and spread, until
nobody questioned it because it had been around for so long.

Interesting! Thanks for the information!