Does nicotine make you poop?
Less than smokers think. Plenty of people swear by the morning cigarette, but in lab tests nicotine on its own didn't get the bowel going. Quitting is another story: it can back you up for weeks.
Did nicotine make you go?
The meter says what should happen. Your bowels get a vote too.
What the tests show
In the lab, nicotine barely moved the needle
In a small study, 2 mg of nicotine under the tongue didn't tighten the rectum any more than a placebo. Coffee did, and so did a cup of warm water.
Another test found it relaxes the bowel
When researchers put a nicotine solution straight into the lower bowel of 17 volunteers, its muscle tone and squeezing dropped rather than rose.
Quitting can bind you up
In a study of over 1,000 people quitting smoking, about 1 in 6 became constipated, and about 1 in 11 badly. It peaked around 2 weeks in and stayed raised for the month they were followed.
Sources: Sloots et al., Scand J Gastroenterol 2005; Green et al., Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol 1999; Hajek, Gillison & McRobbie, Addiction 2003.