All shades of brown and even green are considered normal. Only rarely does stool color indicate a potentially serious intestinal condition. Stool color is generally influenced by what you eat as well as by the amount of bile — a yellow-green fluid that digests fats — in your stool.
Stool Color Changes Facts
Normal stool color is brown. This is due to the presence of bile in the stool. Normal stool color can range from light yellow to brown to almost black. If stool is red, maroon, black, clay-colored, pale, yellow, or green this may signify a problem.
For the most part, poop should be brown. Some of the foods we eat change the color of poop temporarily. But if it's bright red or black, and nothing you've eaten is the culprit, let your doctor know.
A bowel movement that is hard, runny, or has an unusual color may indicate a health problem that needs attention. Sometimes, poop can vary in color, texture, amount, and odor. These differences can be concerning, but usually, these changes are not significant and will resolve in a day or two.
Stools that are pale, clay, or putty-colored may be due to problems in the biliary system. The biliary system is the drainage system of the gallbladder, liver, and pancreas. Food passes from the stomach into the small intestine. In the small intestine all nutrient absorption occurs.
The only colors that may relate to disease are red, black and white. All other colors are not due to a medical problem. Normal stools are not always dark brown. Sometimes they are light brown, tan or yellow.
When the stool is very pale, it often means that not enough bile is reaching the stool. Stools may contain low bile levels if there is a problem with the gallbladder, pancreas, or liver. People with consistently pale stools may want to talk with a doctor about conditions that affect these organs.
All shades of brown and even green are considered normal. Only rarely does stool color indicate a potentially serious intestinal condition. Stool color is generally influenced by what you eat as well as by the amount of bile — a yellow-green fluid that digests fats — in your stool.
Peanut butter-colored poop is a symptom of fat malabsorption when your digestive system has trouble breaking and absorbing the fats from food. This problem can affect your organ, so you need to be concerned. As far as the color is concerned, peanut butter with a brown hue is normal.
Healthy Poop Should Sink in the Toilet
Floating stools are often an indication of high fat content, which can be a sign of malabsorption, a condition in which you can't absorb enough fat and other nutrients from the food you're ingesting, reports Mount Sinai.
Doctors generally consider it healthy if you poop anywhere between three times a day and three times a week. Many factors can influence how often you poop, including your diet, how much water you drink, and your stress levels, among others.
Common causes include: Chronic diarrhea Constipation Hemorrhoids Crohn's disease The skin of the anus can stick to the stool and make it difficult to clean the anorectal area after a bowel movement. Leaky gut Leaky gut is also known as fecal incontinence.
The most common types of anal discharge are: Mucus – a jelly-like substance that's naturally found in the gut; white or yellow mucus may mean there's an infection, while a pink or red colour may indicate blood.
Disorders of the pancreas can cause yellow or pale stool. Some of these disorders include: chronic pancreatitis.
Fatty poops are different from normal poops. They tend to be looser, smellier and paler in color, like clay. They might float. You might have an occasional fatty poop after eating a fatty meal.
Light-Colored Poop
If your poop is light-colored, yellow, clay-colored, or very light brown, this may be a sign of: An infection or inflammation (swelling) in your gallbladder, liver, or pancreas. Alcoholic hepatitis, which is inflammation in your liver caused by alcohol consumption.
The main causes of light-colored stool include: Gallstones, or hardened deposits of bile that form in the gallbladder and block your common bile duct. Pancreatic cancer. Liver disease.
Anxiety does not specifically affect the color of stool, but it can affect how food moves through the digestive tract.
If your pale stools are caused by something structural, like blocked bile ducts, you may need surgery to remove the blockage or widen the passageway. Hepatitis may require antivirals, while a liver transplant is the only way to resolve cirrhosis.
Fatty liver disease: If you notice dark urine and pale poo, seek urgent medical attention.
White or clay-like stool is caused by a lack of bile, which may indicate a serious underlying problem. Bile is a digestive fluid produced by the liver and stored in the gallbladder. Stool gets its normal brownish color from bile, which is excreted into the small intestine during the digestive process.
Clay: a stiff, sticky fine-grained earth, typically yellow, red, or bluish-gray in color and often forming an impermeable layer in the soil. Clay colors are a family of nature inspired neutrals — that resembles earth tones.