Pancakes are a delicious type of food that many people love to eat for breakfast. You might enjoy pancakes a few times each month, but some people eat pancakes way more regularly than that.
Whether you’re someone who eats pancakes daily, weekly, or monthly, you’re going to know that they’re quite scrumptious. Fluffy pancakes with good toppings and the right amount of syrup will really hit the spot.
Have you ever felt as though you needed to rush to the bathroom immediately after eating pancakes, though? For some people, pancakes seem to make them want to have a bowel movement very fast.
Why do pancakes seem to make people need to poop, though? Keep reading to get more information on this topic so that you can understand what pancakes are really doing.
1 – It Could Simply Be a Gastrocolic Reflex
One thing to know is that it isn’t always going to be the case that you’ll need to poop after a meal specifically because you ate pancakes. Sometimes people experience what is known as a gastrocolic reflex when food enters the stomach.
Essentially, food entering the stomach triggers a response in the body that tells you that it’s time to evacuate your bowels to make room for the new food. That’s a very simple and rudimentary way of explaining things, but you get the basic idea of what’s happening.
So this could be a natural response to eating food and having it enter your stomach. It isn’t necessarily the pancakes that are causing this to happen, and it can occur when you’re eating any type of food.
Some people will have more powerful gastrocolic reflexes than others. This might mean that some people will feel the need to go to the bathroom very urgently after eating a meal, but others might only have a mild need to go to the bathroom.
2 – Lactose Intolerance
Many standard types of pancakes are made using milk, and this could mean that your body is reacting negatively to the milk. Some people are lactose intolerant, and they will experience digestion issues when they eat dairy products.
It’s also true that people often put certain types of cream on top of pancakes. Sometimes these creams that people use on pancakes will be made using dairy products too.
Your need to go to the restroom might have to do with being lactose intolerant. Some people don’t even realize that standard store-bought pancake mixes contain milk.
To be fair, not all pancake mixes or pancake recipes call for milk. In fact, you can easily eat vegan pancakes that forego using any type of dairy ingredients.
If you want to be able to eat pancakes and you’re lactose intolerant, then looking up a good vegan pancake recipe might be a good idea. It’ll give you some options to consider at the very least.
3 – Celiac Disease
People who have celiac disease aren’t supposed to eat things that contain gluten. Standard pancakes are going to contain gluten, and this could be causing you abdominal pain and making you experience bathroom issues.
If you experience pain or other problems when eating bread and things such as that, then you should speak to your doctor. It’s possible that you might have celiac disease or some type of gluten allergy that needs to be dealt with.
Either way, it’s good to talk to your doctor when something is amiss. You might be able to figure out how to treat what’s going on, and you’ll be able to get dietary advice that will help you to avoid issues moving forward.
It’s important to get treatment for celiac disease because it can be quite painful. For many people, the abdominal pain and diarrhea will be hard to manage, but others will experience the condition differently.
Keep in mind that having to go to the bathroom after eating pancakes isn’t a symptom of celiac disease. It’s just somewhat possible that you could have a condition that makes pancakes something that you shouldn’t eat.
There are gluten-free pancake recipes that you can try out, though. Some of them are quite good, but they’re definitely going to be different than the standard pancakes that you’re used to.
4 – The Fiber Is Making You Feel the Need to Poop
Finally, it could just be that the fiber content in the pancakes is making you feel the need to poop. Pancakes contain a lot of starch, and that could be contributing to you needing to use the bathroom after finishing your meal.
It’s hard to say with absolute certainty why you feel as though you need to poop after eating pancakes. However, many people do have this problem, and the fiber content of the pancakes could be a reasonable answer.
If this happens to you more often than not, then pancakes just might be a trigger food that makes you have to go. It’s likely that other foods that contain similar ingredients would also cause this to happen.
All foods have the potential to make you feel as though you need to poop. Sometimes it’s just your time to go, and that’s nothing to feel unusual about.
Final Thoughts
Pancakes definitely make some people feel as though they need to poop after they eat them. The reasons why this occurs can be somewhat hard to determine.
There are many potential causes, and some of them could be an indication that something is wrong with your body. If you feel funny and you’re experiencing abdominal pain and diarrhea symptoms, then it’s best to check with your doctor to see what’s going on.
It’s also possible that you’re just experiencing a normal gastronomical response to eating food. Some people feel as though they have to poop more often when eating things such as pancakes that contain a bit of fiber.
Use the information above to give yourself a better idea of what might be going on. Even if you don’t know 100% for sure, it might help you to make good decisions for your health.
You can always change the way that you make pancakes if you need to as well. There are gluten-free and vegan pancake recipes available for those who are interested in them.
I have a bachelor’s degree in construction engineering. When I’m not constructing or remodeling X-Ray Rooms, Cardiovascular Labs, and Pharmacies…I’m at home with my wife, two daughters and a dog. Outside of family, I love grilling and barbequing on my Big Green Egg and working on projects around the house.