Plain Talk About Poop

This is not for the feint of heart, but it’s a situation no one wants to be in: You look down after a bowel movement and see a very unexpected color or substance. When should you worry?

A change in stool color can certainly be alarming. After getting tested for acid reflux disease, I was shocked to see only white in the bowl. This was due to the barium concoction I had to drink for the Upper GI (Gastrointestinal) Series test. They really should have warned me!

Generally, I’m a lucky guy. So I’ve been treated to the all the colors of the rainbow in ways that I’d rather not! I also experienced orange feces (for my first few days on Nexium, an acid-reducing drug), green (ever try a diet that was a bit too heavy on the spinach and broccoli rabe?), jet black (after a throat surgery, indicating bleeding above the intestines), and bright red (indicating bleeding below the intestines).

The red was obviously the scariest to me, as there’s no mistaking blood. But still, each time, I kept my cool and called my doctor. Each time, it was related to some specific recent change in my diet or a medical procedure. Each time, it paid off to just keep simple notes about what I ate or changed, and then note what the results were. We took a wait and see approach for all, except for the red, which required a doctor’s visit, then more water and more soluble fiber in my diet to fix.

It’s definitely reassuring to consult a medical professional when your stool color changes, and I recommend you do. But you may need a starting point to discuss possible causes with your doctor. So what does each color mean?

Brown stool - standard, expected color. But watch for changes in consistency!
Gray stool - possible issues with bile ducts, liver, or gallbladder.
Black stool that smells worse than usual - bleeding above the intestines.
Black stool with no peculiar smell - too much iron in the diet or bismuth medicines (Pepto Bismol, for example).
Red stool - bleeding in the lower intestines or colon, or hemorrhoids.
Green stool - possible issues with bile production/removal. Food may be moving through too quickly.
Yellow stool that smells worse than usual - May indicate too much fat in the diet or a malabsorption disorder (such as Celiac Disease).
Greasy stool or mucus in the stool - indication that the pancreas may not be functioning properly.

This is just a sampling - many variations are possible. I must stress again to consult your doctor ASAP with any change in stool color. In some cases, the change is relatively harmless; you may have eaten too much of a deeply-colored fruit, or too much food dye. In other cases, it might be your only early warning of a much bigger problem. Take heed!

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