What is the color of normal stool? ( courtecy;-medicine net )

     

Stool Color, Changes in Color, Texture, and Form

• Stool color, texture, and form changes facts
• What are symptoms of stool color changes?
• What does it mean when your stool color changes in color, texture, or form?
• What is the color of normal stool?
• What are the causes of stool color, texture, and form changes?
• Green stools
• Yellow, greasy, and foul smelling stool
• Bright red stools
• Black tarry stools
• Light-colored white or clay-colored stools
• Maroon stools
• Mucous in the stool
• Drugs that change stool color
• Stool that floats
• Changes in the size and shape of stool
• What kind of doctor treats stool color changes?
• How is the cause of stool color changes diagnosed?
• When should I contact my doctor about stool color or texture changes?
• Stool color chart

Stool color, texture, and form changes facts

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• The normal stool (poop, feces) usually is light to dark brown.
• Although changes in stool color or texture may be normal, most changes should be evaluated.
• The symptoms associated with stool color changes, if any, are the symptoms of the underlying cause of the change, for example, foods, drinks, or illnesses such as:
  • Diet (beets, diets rich in green vegetables, licorice)
  • Bismuth (for example, Pepto-Bismol)
  • Gallbladder disease
  • Celiac disease
  • Ulcerative colitis
  • Crohn's disease
  • Tumors
  • Diverticular disease
  • Cancers
  • Hemorrhoids
• Changes in stool color may be due to diarrhea; bleeding in the intestine; diseases of the intestines, liver, or pancreas; and medications
• Green stool or poop is a common stool color change. It may be due to bile pigment in the stool because diarrhea moves food too quickly thorough the intestine so the intestinal chemicals and bacteria can't break down the bile pigment to its normal brown color, or the green color may be due to certain foods like green, leafy vegetables or green food coloring.
• Red or black colored stool may be a sign of bleeding in the GI tract (from the esophagus, stomach, small intestine or colon) and should not be ignored.
• When stool color changes, what tests need to be done depends upon what cause is suspected for the stool color change. For example, gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy may be required to evaluate red or black stools if bleeding is suspected.
• The treatment for stool color changes is the treatment of the underlying cause.

Rectal Bleeding (Blood in Stool, Hematochezia)

Causes of Blood in Stool

Blood in the stool can be bright red, maroon in color, black and tarry, or occult (not visible to the naked eye). Causes of blood in stool range from harmless, annoying conditions of the gastrointestinal tract such as hemorrhoids to serious conditions such as cancer.

Read more about rectal bleeding (blood in Stool) symptoms and causes »

What does it mean when your stool color changes in color, texture, or form?What are symptoms of stool color changes?

Changes in stool color alone do not cause symptoms. The underlying cause of the change in stool color, texture, or form is responsible for any symptoms.

Bowel movements are usually light to dark brown in color, and there is moderate variation among individuals with respect to stool color, quantity and form. When these changes in stool do occur, it can mean that there may be an illness affecting the gastrointestinal (GI) tract or the entire body.

What is the color of normal stool?

Stool (feces, poop) color is most commonly brown. When stool color changes, a person, parent, or caregiver often becomes concerned. The presence of the bilirubin in the bile (a breakdown product of the hemoglobin in red blood cells that are normally destroyed after a useful life of several weeks) is generally responsible for stool color. Bilirubin concentration can vary the color of stool from light yellow to almost black. Changes in the chemical structure of the bilirubin can cause stool to turn green or yellow. Yellow stool also may occur if stool is dilute or there is a reduction in the amount of bilirubin that is produced by the liver. Bacteria and digestive enzymes in the intestine can act on the bilirubin and change its color. Most stool-to-stool changes in color have little meaning. However, some changes, particularly if the changes are consistent over time and not present in only one stool may mean something needs to be investigated.

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What are the causes of stool color, texture, and form changes?

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In most cases, stool color changes are not symptoms of disease. Changes in stool color may be due to:

• Diarrhea may cause green or yellow stools.
• Some foods (beets, Jell-O, licorice, green leafy vegetables)
• A few over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription medications
• Diseases affecting the liver, pancreas, and intestines
• Bleeding from the intestinal tract

Green stools

If stool passes through the intestine too quickly, there might not be enough time for bile to be digested and broken down to provide the normal brownish stool color. Normally bile is chemically changed by bacteria in the intestine to a greenish-brown color. It takes time for the bile to be fully changed in the intestine and become brown again, and if the transit time is short, for example, when a person has diarrhea, the stool remains green colored.

Green stools may be a normal variant. They also can be caused by a diet rich in green vegetables, especially spinach. Iron supplements also may be a cause, though iron often turns stool black.

Yellow, greasy, and foul smelling stool

There are a variety of reasons why stool will be yellow, greasy, and foul smelling. It can be due to the intestine's inability to digest and absorb fat because of diseases of the intestinal lining (such as in celiac disease and cystic fibrosis) because the pancreas is unable to manufacture adequate digestive enzymes (such as with chronic pancreatitis or pancreatic cancer that blocks the pancreatic duct, or there is not enough bile being delivered to the intestine (such as in cancer of the liver or bile ducts that are blocked). The yellowness, greasiness, and foul smell is due to the undigested fat.

Bright red stools

• The most common cause of bright red stool in adults is bleeding from hemorrhoids.
• In infants, the most common cause is an anal fissure or tear in the tissue surrounding the anus.
• Other causes for bright red blood in the stool may be more serious such as:
• Infections of the intestines
• Inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis)
• Diverticular bleeding
• Tumors
• Arteriovenous malformations (abnormal communications between arteries and veins in the wall of the intestine that rupture).
• Brisk bleeding from the an ulcer in the esophagus, stomach, or duodenum also may cause stools to be red instead of black if there has not been enough time for the red blood cells to be digested.
• Red food coloring and beets can also give a reddish hue to the stool.

Black tarry stools

Black stools are a worrisome symptom because it may be due to a large amount of bleeding into the GI tract, most often from the upper GI tract including the esophagus, stomach, and duodenum. Red blood cells are broken down by digestive enzymes in the intestine and turn the stool black. These stools tend to be tarry (sticky), and foul smelling. This can be a medical emergency; black tarry stools should not be ignored.

Blood from nosebleeds or from dental procedures or mouth injuries can be swallowed and may be the cause of black stool, but the amount of bleeding usually is not substantial enough to do this.