Why your post-lunch office routine includes a sudden toilet trip: 5 reasons

The digestive system is responsible for more than just digesting the food. It is a vital indicator of the body's health and it shows you through multiple signs what is exactly wrong with your body. A lot of times, when we go on sudden toilet trips post-lunch, we attribute it to the digestive system being just that quick in process or the food being a bit unhealthy. But did you know there can be other reasons beyond the efficiency of your digestive systems that lead you to pressurised toilet trips post-lunch?

Here are 5 reasons why you need to go to the toilet urgently after eating.

Gastrocolic reflex

In the human body, ingestion and excretion are linked to each other. When you put something inside the body, it begins removing something out. This natural response is called the gastrocolic reflex. Filling the stomach stimulates movement in the large intestine which can cause you a toilet trip in as little as 15 minutes. This is done by the stomach to make way for the food coming in. “Stretch receptors in the wall of your stomach sense its increasing size, and that creates signals within the autonomic nervous system, which connect to the colon, causing rhythmic contractions,” said Kyle Staller, a board-certified gastroenterologist and director of the GI Motility Laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital to SELF.

Dietary triggers

The consumption of certain food items can speed up digestion and thus stimulate bowel movements. Eating foods rich in fiber, such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains can accelerate digestion. Additionally, those containing spice, artificial sweeteners, and lactose also factor in.

Emotional and mental distress

Emotional stress like high anxiety and stress can also affect the digestive system. The gut-to-brain axis links emotions with gastrointestinal health and thus excessive anxiety makes you feel like vomiting or going to the toilet. Here, the intensity of the gastrocolic reflex increases thus causing pressure for the toilet.

Existing health conditions

Underlying health conditions could also create pressure on the digestive system to move things speedily. You could be suffering from Irritable Bowel Syndrome which affects the large intestine and increases the gastrocolic reflex. Conditions such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis can cause inflammation in the digestive system, thus causing the urgent need to defecate after eating.

Circadian rhythms and routine

When you make a routine, your body follows it. The body's internal clock co-ordinated physiological processes including digestion. Thus, for many, a post-lunch period could mean an increase in digestive activity and make toilet trips normal during that time.


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