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Coffee Tips

Why Does Coffee Make You Pee?

Coffee is among the most consumed beverages in the world with over 2.25 billion cups consumed every day.

Coffee statistics show that over 50% of the American population drink coffee, whether it’s a cappuccino, mocha, latte, iced or cold coffee. An average American drinks 3 to 4 cups of coffee every day.

 

woman wanting to pee after drinking coffee

 

65% of coffee is consumed during the morning hours to help most of you stay awake and energized. In short, a cup of coffee is a great way to kick-start any day.

Apart from giving you the psyche for the day, other benefits are associated with coffee consumption. They include:

  • Coffee can help you burn calories
  • Coffee can help you improve your physical performance
  • Coffee can help you lower the risk of certain diseases
  • Coffee can help you get more antioxidants

 

Those are but a few benefits of coffee. There are also side effects linked with coffee consumption, and they include:

  • Coffee can cause insomnia and restlessness
  • Coffee can cause anxiety and abnormal heart rhythm
  • Coffee can cause indigestion and heartburn
  • Coffee can cause the frequent urge to urinate

In this article, we will focus on the frequent urge to urinate side effects. Why do you feel a frequent urge to pee when you consume coffee? This article answers the question. Let’s begin!

 

Reasons Why You Pee after Consuming Coffee?

One of the reasons why you pee after consuming coffee is because the caffeine in coffee affects your brain and bladder.

After you take a cup of coffee, the caffeine present in it inhibits the production of anti-diuretic hormone. The anti-diuretic hormone is responsible for regulating the amount of water reabsorbed by your kidney as it filters out waste from your blood.

The anti-diuretic hormone is produced by the pituitary gland in the brain. The hormone then circulates to the kidneys through the bloodstream.

In the kidney, the hormone signals the kidney for the production of aquaporin. The function of aquaporin is to absorb water in the kidney and distribute the water through the bloodstream. This helps ensure that the rest of your body is rehydrated.

Caffeine in coffee is a diuretic and a bladder irritant. So when you drink coffee, the brain signals the pituitary glands inhibit the production of the anti-diuretic hormone. This means that the kidney will not reabsorb water.

An increase in water in your body gives you the urge to urinate and, this is why you feel the urge to pee after drinking coffee.

Another reason why you pee after consuming coffee is that liquids are quickly digested by the body compared to solids.

When you take that cup of coffee – depending on whether your stomach was empty or full, the coffee will be absorbed by the small intestines through osmosis to the kidney, and later to the bladder.

When it comes to coffee, the process becomes faster than other liquids. This is because the caffeine in coffee is a natural stimulant. Caffeine stimulates the detrusor muscle – which is a smooth muscle in the bladder that is responsible for the relaxation and contraction of the bladder.

This is how it works – the muscle relaxes so that the bladder can store up the urine. When the time comes for the passing of urine, the muscle contracts. Once the muscle is stimulated, you then feel the urge to pee.

This process is even faster for those people who have an overactive bladder.

However, studies show that those who consume a lot of caffeine – whether in coffee, other drinks, foods, or medications, may build up a resistance towards caffeine and the urgency to pee.

At the same time, the more coffee or caffeine you drink, the more the urgency to pee. Caffeine being a diuretic means that you can feel the urge to pee more than what you’ve consumed.

This is because the kidney may be flushing out more fluids from your body than what you consumed. This will happen due to the reduced absorption of water by the kidney and increased blood flow to the kidney.

Caffeine in coffee can also cause dehydration when the body releases more fluids than the intake. You should therefore be careful when drinking coffee or consuming any caffeinated product.

The recommended amount of coffee you should take is 400 milligrams in a day. The 400 milligrams or more milligrams of coffee in a short period can cause more havoc. Remember that caffeine is present in many other products and drinks besides coffee.

Another reason why you pee after consuming coffee is high blood pressure. Caffeine being a stimulant stimulates the circulatory system raising blood pressure. High blood pressure makes the bladder overactive hence the need to pee after consuming coffee.

An extreme effect of caffeine on your bladder is urine leakage. Caffeine in coffee tends to dull the nerves responsible for transmitting messages between your brain and bladder.

Once you have consumed a cup of coffee, the nerves fail to recognize that the bladder is full, which results in urine leakage as a result of the overflowing bladder.

Now let’s talk about caffeine dehydration. So, how do you tell if the caffeine is dehydrating you?

 

How to Tell of Coffee or Caffeine Dehydration?

If you are not sure whether caffeine is dehydrating you, this is how to go about it.

Check the color of your urine. If your urine is dark yellow, this means that you need to consume or ingest more fluids in your body.

If your urine is clear, this means that you are drinking a lot of fluids.

If your urine is yellow to lemonade color, this means that there is a perfect fluid balance in your body.

 

How to Reduce Coffee Intake in Your Body?

If you think that the frequent washroom visits are because of the coffee or caffeine you’re consuming, then reducing the intake is important.

Here are some of the ways you can achieve that.

  • Reduce the amount of coffee you are taking. For example, if you are used to taking 2 cups of coffee in the morning, feel free to reduce the amount to one cup or balance between one cup of coffee and another cup of decaf coffee. This also applies to other caffeinated products.
  • As you work on reducing the amount of coffee you are taking, do this for two weeks. This will help you avoid coffee or caffeine withdrawal symptoms such as headaches.
  • Try replacing coffee or caffeinated drinks. Some of the alternatives are lemon water, diluted apple cider vinegar, fruit juice, milk, other decaf drinks, and vegetables.
  • Since caffeine is a diuretic, drink a lot of water to keep your system hydrated.
  • Consider changing your lifestyle especially if coffee or caffeine is affecting your sleep. Examples of lifestyle changes are getting enough sleep for yourself, exercising, meditation, healthy eating.

If you suffer from an overactive bladder, then the best option is to eliminate coffee or caffeine at all costs to avoid urine leakage. Do this gradually to avoid any withdrawal symptoms.

 

How Long Does it Take For Coffee to Make You Pee?

The caffeine in coffee takes 4 to 6 hours to metabolize depending on the individual. Some factors can either increase or decrease caffeine metabolism. So the timing can vary from one person to another.

A bladder that is considered healthy will hold 2 cups of pee until it is considered full. It takes about 9 to 10 hours for your body to produce the two cups of pee.

When you drink coffee, it takes 15 minutes to 45 minutes for you to pee. During this period, the caffeine in coffee is at peak levels. However, since caffeine is a diuretic, you may pee more often.

Most people pee almost six to 10 times a day, depending on the amount of fluid they have consumed. However, caffeine will increase the number of times you visit the washrooms.

 

How to Stop Peeing Often?

If you don’t have an overactive bladder, there are ways you can reduce the number of times you are visiting the washroom. They include:

  • Avoid diuretics. These are drinks and foods that will make you pee more often. Examples of diuretics are coffee, caffeinated products, carbonated drinks, acidic fruits and juices, spicy foods, alcohol, and chocolate.
  • Eat more fiber. Fiber reduces constipation. Constipation may lead to frequent washroom visits due to the pressure exerted on bladder muscles.
  • This will help get rid of excess water through sweat and reduce pee times. Exercising will also make the pelvic muscle stronger.
  • Drink water. Drink at least 8-ounces glasses in a day to balance the fluids in your body.
  • Reduce tension. Tension tends to make you pee a lot. One way to do this is to practice deep breathing.
  • Take control of your mind and imagination. Your mind is so powerful that you can control how frequently you pee.

 

Bottom line

If you have trouble controlling your bladder despite trying all that you’ve learned, consider visiting a urologist for more diagnoses. The recommendations given by the urologist will help you out.