What Does It Mean When You Poop Green or Another Color?

Discolored stool is usually more of a surprise than a health concern, but it can provide valuable clues about your digestive health. Stool discoloration from certain foods and medication tends to be temporary, but different colors of feces could indicate potential issues like bleeding or nutrient malabsorption.

Learn a bit more about discolored poop and when it may be time to talk to your healthcare provider. 

What Does the Color of Your Poop Mean?

In most cases, an unusual color in the stool is simply the result of what you ate or drank in the past several hours or preceding days. What we eat sometimes alters the consistency and coloring of our stool. If you think for a minute, you might determine why you’re experiencing orange-tinted stool; ; you probably had a big serving of sweet potatoes or steamed carrots recently. Green-colored stool tends to be associated with a diet rich in leafy greens or artificial food coloring.

Besides food, a few other factors affect the color of your poop. Ingesting medications and antibiotics can alter the composition of healthy bacteria in your gut. These microbial changes can affect the color and density of stool in the short term and dissipate as your gut’s biosphere returns to normal after you’ve finished your prescription.

We’ll cover what causes discolored poop in detail below.

What Color of Feces Is Normal?

Every individual has a different normal. Most people experience brown stool, which is caused by bile, a natural and totally healthy fluid excreted by the liver that breaks down certain kinds of dietary fats. Normal levels of bile turn your business from yellowish to that familiar brown color by the time it has been excreted.

What Poop Color Means: Green, Black, Red, and Yellow Poop

Most will experience these colors of poop occasionally throughout their lives. Here are the likely underlying causes of different colors of feces across the lavatory spectrum.  

Why Is My Poop Green?

Green stool could indicate you’ve been eating your leafy greens! The color may be more pronounced if you don’t eat green vegetables like spinach regularly, making it more noticeable. What else would cause your stool to be green? A lot! 

• Some types of green food coloring (hello, St. Patrick’s Day) can also produce green stool.
• Dietary supplements, such as iron supplements, are a common cause of green stool.
• Antibiotics may also cause blue poop or green poop, depending on the exact medication, dosage, and other factors.

When to Worry: 

Green poop isn’t usually associated with a digestive health issue, but if discoloration continues for more than a few days, speak with a healthcare professional. 

Why Is My Poop Black?

The most common causes of black poop are dark foods like black licorice and blueberries. If you have recently eaten black or dark-colored foods, your stool will probably revert to normal in a few days. Many diarrhea medicines, specifically Pepto-Bismol and Kaopectate, are also well known to cause black feces. As with green poop, black poop can also be caused by high levels of iron from your diet or supplements.

When to Seek Help

If you experience black or dark stool consistently over several days, it could be be a sign of illness and disease. Internal bleeding, ulcers, esophageal sores, or other gastrointestinal issues sometimes cause black stools. Talk to a healthcare provider to rule out any of these problems as soon as you can

Read more: How to Improve Gastrointestinal Health

Why Is My Poop Red?

Red poop is caused by several foods, including beets and processed foods with red dyes. Beets can cause red poop, but it’s usually only noticeable for a day or two. The discoloration is caused by a natural pigment called betalain, which can’t be completely digested by the body and adds a reddish-brown color to urine and stool. 

Other foods that cause red poop include tomatoes, watermelon, red berries (including cranberries and cherries), and anything with red food coloring; red frosting on cakes is a common culprit.

When to Worry About Red Stool

Like black feces, red feces can also signal the presence of blood in your stool. While darker stool typically indicates blood sourced from the upper GI tract, red stool is usually caused by blood in the lower GI tract, such as in the large intestine, colon, or rectum.

You may also notice traces of red in otherwise normal-looking stool. This may also indicate there’s blood in your stool. If you experience red stool that you don’t believe was caused by your food, talk to your healthcare provider immediately.

What Does Yellow Poop Mean?

Subtle, spotted, or bright yellow poop is usually diet-related. The most common causes of yellow poop are yellow or orange foods (think carrots, sweet potatoes, or spices like turmeric), or a high-fat diet.

Yellow stool may also be a sign of digestive issues. When food moves through your digestive tract too quickly, the bile content in your poop doesn’t have time to break down completely. This often leads to yellow stool and diarrhea. 

When to Worry About Yellow Stool

If you experience yellow stool consistently over several days, talk to your healthcare provider. While it may be caused by minor issues that will pass, you could be ill. Yellow, greasy stool is also a sign of steatorrhea, or malabsorption. This can be caused by one of several underlying health conditions, including:

• Celiac disease
• Pancreatic disorders
• Gallbladder disorders
• Stress
  

When to Worry About Discolored Stool of Any Hue

Occasional changes to the coloring of your stool are rarely a sign of a serious health problem. Still, don’t let discolored poop go unaddressed for too long.  

You should contact your doctor if:

• You experience symptoms for more than a few days
• Symptoms don’t align with likely foods that would influence stool color
• Your stool is bright red or dark black, which may indicate the presence of blood
• Changes in your stool color are accompanied by stomach or abdominal pain, changes in appetite or your overall health
• Your symptoms correspond with fever or unexplained weight loss
• You experience other symptoms of discoloration, such as yellowing skin or eyes
  

Your Digestive Health Matters

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