Foods That Increase Motility in the Small Bowel

Bowels realize involuntary movements during the digestion process. Many factors can interfere in the normal small bowel motility, including bacterial infections caused by contaminated foods or allergies to determined nutrients. However, in the case of healthy individuals, a diet with excessive quantities of determined nutrients or food can also interfere in the small bowel's movements, increasing motility. These include caffeinated drinks and chocolate, as well as fatty and spicy foods.

Caffeinated Drinks and Chocolate

• It often takes 90 minutes to 120 minutes for the first part of an ingested meal to reach the large intestine, reports the International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders. Too much coffee can diminish this period in some people. Chocolate drinks and foods, as well as alcoholic and carbonated drinks can also increase small bowel motility, causing loose stools, according to author and researcher Melissa Bernstein in "Nutrition for the Older Adult."

Fatty Foods

• People should avoid high daily quantities of foods rich in fat, including full fat dairy products, bacon, sausages, buttery biscuits and deep fried foods. Fat not only triggers more powerful involuntary movements in the small bowel, but it is also associated with a myriad of health problems, such as hearth attack, stroke and obesity, Bernstein reports.

Spicy Foods

• Peppers have a substance called capsaicin. This chemical is responsible for the strong burning sensation in chili peppers and other plants of the genus Capsicum. According to Child Health Nursing Professor Janet Kelsey in "Clinical Skills in Child Health Practice," spicy foods can increase bowel motility in some people, therefore they should always be ingested with caution.