How come drinking alcohol has

[supernova]

a laxative effect? I've never understood this phenomenon. :shrug:

[jellybelly]

1. gross!

Now the goal of a man's night out is to not get the girl drunk:P

[RagingInMiami]

2. Alcohol doesn't have that effect on me

But coffee does.

[democracyindanger]

3. Alcohol is a diuretic

like coffee.

[mike_c]

9. by itself that would tend to have the opposite of a laxative effect...

...since water uptake by the colon is partly dependent upon overall hydration state (blood solute concentration, more precisely). Diuretics normally increase water absorption in the colon, resulting in dryer feces. Ethyl alcohol in itself should not have a direct laxative effect, but I can think of at least two possibilities. First, other ingredients might have a laxative effect. Live yeasts in beer, for example, or perhaps botanicals or other flavoring agents in liquer. Second, since it's a broad metabolic depressant, alcohol might be causing incomplete digestion in your upper intestine, leading to both greater water retention and increased gas production in the lower GI tract. Looser stool and higher gas pressure..., well, I'm sure you get the picture.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to pour myself a drink....

[democracyindanger]

11. Blecch

All I know is that once you break the seal, it remains broken.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

4. I thought it was a diuretic not a laxative?

Either way you end up in the same place. :P

[Calanus]

5. Well, shit.

I guess.

[Maple]

6. It does?

:shrug:

[Redneck Socialist]

7. Only the next day and...

then only if I've been drinking nasty shit ass beer.

[hickman1937]

8. Beer does that. Usually if your doing shots too.

[sleipnir]

10. If it tastes like shit, it will come out like shit.

That's some good sage advice from Pappy, here.