Are you noticing a peculiar coffee-like smell wafting from your bathroom visits? Wondering why does my poop smell like coffee? As a coffee lover, you may love to live in a world of coffee and appreciate it everywhere except in poop. It’s such an irritating experience due to drinking lots of coffee and eating dark food. Following we’ve unraveled the mystery behind coffee-scented poop along with the most effective solutions.
Content Summary
Reasons of Poop Smells like Coffee
Poops may smell like coffee due to plenty of reasons including eating food and beverages, medications, and diseases. Below we’ve discussed all possible underlying reasons and helped solve the issue accordingly:
1. Coffee itself
Obviously, your poop smells like coffee because you drink coffee. It’s simple. The food we eat is come out through the gut and seems like the eaten food. In terms of the coffee-like smell, the ingredients of the coffee named polyphenols are responsible.
Our digestive system absorbs the polyphenols and they come out later in form of a face with a coffee smell. It’s especially true for people who drink too much coffee. High consumption of coffee also makes us dehydrated and makes poop smell like coffee.
2. Dark-Colored Foods
If you eat lots of coffee beans frequently, your poop may smell like coffee. This reason is particularly true for you if you don’t have other signs of a health condition. In general, it’s not a concerning issue.
Following are various types of food that can cause your poop to smell like coffee:
| Type | Food Name |
| Black foods | dark puddings, black beans, black pepper |
| Artificial food colors | black licorice, Chocolate puddings |
| Fruits | cherries, blackberries, bananas, blueberries, plums, |
| Vegetables | Green leafy options |
| Iron-rich foods | kidney beans, oysters, spinach, red meat, Beets, molasses, beetroot, |
| Undercooked meat |
3. Parosmia
Parosmias mean smelling something differently than its supposed to. If you have parosmia, you may smell your coffee gasoline instead of delicious when sniffing it. if you are allergic to food, consume an infection, or take medication, you may have this illness. The cholecystokinin and gastrin of coffee help in fertility and good health.
Roasted head coffee may smell feces. You may also smell coffee in your urine if get dehydrated. If you have GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) breathe, you may also smell feces. Parasomnia can prevent you from detecting fire or poison and make you vulnerable to danger.
4. Infection
Infection can also make your poop smell like coffee. If you have other signs like vomiting, diarrhea, blood in the stool, or a painful abdomen, it’s particularly true for you. If you are suffering from any of these problems, it means bacteria are present in the small intestines. The bacteria is causing the infection and producing a coffee-like smell.
5. Dark-Colored Medication
If you take dark-colored medicine, you may excrete coffee-like poop that may also smell like coffee. Pepto Bismol is one of the medicines that are responsible for coffee like poop. These medications are usually used to treat gastritis and diarrhea. It also contains a large number of antacids. Another medication is an iron supplement. You may have a coffee-like spool during taking iron supplements to treat anemia.
6. Covid
Seems like the impact of covid 19 has not been finishing very quickly. A recent research found that around 80% of patients who get COVID have changes in taste or smell. So if you had covid, you may smell the poop like coffee.
Altered smell with Covid 19 can cause harsh disruption to daily living and it may impact physical health, psychological well-being, and sense of self. You can’t view the covid-19’s impact on sense as a mild effect as it can last for months.
7. Diabetic
Typically, the smell of diabetic poop varies. However, some people experience that the diabetic poop odor can be fruity, sweet, or nail polish remover. If you have uninhibited diabetes, you may produce sweet-smelling poop and a strong odor of breath and urine.
Therefore you can suffer from harsh problems like toxic megacolons and perforation in the short term. If you don’t treat C. Diff, it can make you dehydrate and cause kidney injury.
Apart from the coffee smelled poop, diabetics can also release sweet-smelling urine and waste products with a sweet scents. However, it’s not a serious medical issue. But if you don’t want persists the odor, visit a doctor for more examination.
Treatments for Poop that Looks Like Coffee Grounds
If your poop smells like coffee, you have to treat it based on the underlying reason. If it’s the result of food, find out the food you have eaten over the last few days that may produce a coffee-like smell.
After identifying, stop eating that food and replace them with food that doesn’t cause a coffee-like smell. When experimenting, don’t be fearful or anxious. You won’t require any medication as it isn’t a result of any drug or medical condition.
But if your poop smells like coffee due to GI bleeding, you’ll need the attention of a doctor immediately. You may need to go through some lab tests like blood count checks, blood tests in the poop, EGD, and colonoscopy.
In addition, if a parasitic infection is responsible for coffee-like poop, the doctor may recommend you blood test or stool test. After confirming the parasitic infection, your doctor will suggest the ideal medication. Luckily there are lots of effective medications that can treat parasitic infections.
Poop Smells like Coffee without Drinking Coffee
It isn’t surprising that your poop may smell like coffee even when you didn’t drink any coffee. Poop can smell like coffee for plenty of reasons. If you eat lots of coffee-flavored food or products, your poop may smell like coffee. Even some underlying medical issues can also be responsible.
Your poop may also smell like coffee if you eat meat and dairy product. These food contain sulfur which produces a coffee-like smell or other horrible smell from the gut.
As a result, you can produce odor urine. If your stool changes frequently, talk to a doctor.
Is it Bad if your Poop Smells like Coffee?
In most cases, coffee smells poop aren’t concerning. But if you have diarrhoea, abdominal pain, or blood in stool and produce smelly poop, you should be aware. In this case, visit to a doctor to determine the underlying health issues.
Caffeine consumption produces a sweet odor that is the body’s response to caffeine. If the smell becomes more pronounced, it means you consuming lots of caffeine. If you are worrying about coffee consumption, consult with a doctor to make a proper caffeine-containing diet.
FAQs on Why does My Poop Smell like Coffee
Why does the smell of coffee in the morning make me poop?
Coffee has lots of compounds that may encourage your bowels to poop in the morning after smelling coffee. The stimulation ingredients present in the coffee are N-alkanoyl-5-hydroxytryptamine and chlorogenic acids and caffeine. If you add cream or milk to the coffee, the effect may be increased. It’s particularly true if you are lactose intolerant.
Why do my poop and pee smell like coffee?
If you drink coffee excessively, your poop and pee may smell like coffee. The digestive tract in our body absorbed the polyphenols contained in coffee, breaks them down, and excretes them in urine. So if you drink lots of coffee, your urine will contain plenty of polyphenols and other coffee ingredients. These ingredients make the urine smell like coffee.
When should I be worried about my poop smell?
In most cases, smelly poop isn’t concerning. But if you have other diseases like fever, diarrhoea, weight loss, or chills and experience smelly poop, you should visit a doctor.
Final Words
Hope you’ve understood why does your poop smell like coffee. Though consumption of too much coffee is the main reason, your poop may smell like coffee due to eating certain foods, medications, or supplements.
The coffee smelled poop can be intriguing to experience but isn’t concerning unless accompanied by other symptoms. But if it comes with other signs, consult a healthcare professional for further guidance. In most cases, reducing coffee consumption is good enough to handle this problem.
