Why is it that when we eat a meal, if we previously didn’t have to go number 2, we have to go number 2 very soon after the meal.

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Why is it that when we eat a meal, if we previously didn’t have to go number 2, we have to go number 2 very soon after the meal.

In: Biology

4 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

It’s called the gastrocolic reflex. When your stomach gets filled, stretch receptors send a signal to your brain telling it that you’ve eaten a good meal. Your brain quickly checks in with the rest of your intestines and if there’s something towards the end of the pipe, the brain tells it to dump some ballast.

Arguably it’s rooted in an evolutionary mechanism that tries to keep you at a stable weight so in case a lion decides to run after you, you don’t have to run away with both a full stomach *and* a full bum.. best to get rid of some of the f the weight when you’re stuffing the pipe on the other end!

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