Poop Color Chart: What Different Stool Colors Mean

The color of your poop (stool) can provide clues about diseases or conditions affecting the digestive tract. Some of the causes are harmless, like eating colored foods or taking certain medications, while others may be due to potentially serious causes like internal bleeding or liver disease.

A poop color chart can help narrow the possible causes based on colors ranging from white, yellow, and orange to red, green, and black. Based on the initial findings, a gastroenterologist can order tests to help diagnose the exact cause.

Brown Stool

Brown stool is generally considered a normal, healthy stool. The color is the result of a pigment called bilirubin this created when the liver breaks down red blood cells. This yellowish-green pigment is then transferred to a digestive enzyme called bile and gradually changes to a brown color as it makes its way from the liver to the gallbladder and small intestine.

Healthy stools can range from a light or medium brown to a dark brown.

Black Stool

Black stool can be caused by relatively harmless things like eating licorice or activated charcoal, both of which stain stools directly. It can also occur when you take an iron supplement or bismuth subsalicylate found in Peptol-Bismol or Kaopectate, which starts to oxidize and blacken as it passes down the intestine.

A bigger concern is the risk of upper gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding, such as in the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, and upper part of the large intestine (colon). In cases like this, iron-rich hemoglobin in red blood cells can also oxidize and turn black as it passes through the intestines.

Medical causes of black, tarry stools include:

• A tear in the esophagus from violent vomiting
• Gastritis (stomach inflammation)
• Peptic ulcers
• Traumatic injury in the upper (GI) tract
• Inflammatory bowel disease, especially ulcerative colitis
• Mesenteric ischemia (blockage of blood flow to part of the intestine)
• Variceal bleeding (caused by enlarged veins in the esophagus or stomach)
• Esophageal, stomach, or colon cancer
  

Red Stool

Stools can easily turn red whenever you eat red beets or foods made with red dyes, such as red licorice.

More concerning is blood in stools caused by colorectal bleeding. This can be caused by many of the same things as black stools. Depending on where the bleeding is situated, a stool may be dark red or maroon if the bleeding is higher up the GI tract or bright red if is nearer to the rectum.

Possible medical causes of red stool include:

• Constipation, which can lead to rectal tears and bright red blood
• Hemorrhoids (swollen veins in the rectum that can sometimes bleed)
• Anal fissures (a small tear in the thin, moist tissue lining the anus)
• Diverticulosis (inflammation of weakened pouches in the intestinal lining)
• Crohn's disease (a type of inflammatory bowel disease)
• Angiodysplasia (the weakening of aging blood vessels in the colon)
• Colorectal cancer

Green Stool

There are some harmless causes of green poop, including eating lots of dark, leafy green vegetables like kale or spinach, both of which are rich in iron.

Iron supplements and bismuth subsalicylate can also turn stool green instead of black, as can certain antibiotics like amoxicillin. Foods and beverages made with green food dye can also lead to bright green stools.

Potentially serious causes of green stool include:

• Severe diarrhea, which causes the rapid release of bile before it has the chance to turn brown
• Gastrointestinal infections that cause dysentery (diarrheal disease), like Giardia, norovirus, and Salmonella
• Graft vs. host disease (a condition affecting organ transplant recipients that can also cause watery stools)

Yellow or Orange Stool

Yellow and orange stools are most often a sign of a disease of the biliary system, involving the liver, bile ducts, gallbladder, or pancreas. It is especially common in those who eat a high-fat diet in which there may not be enough bile released to break down fat.

Potential serious causes of yellow or orange stool include:

• Liver disease, including liver cirrhosis
• Pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas)
• Bile duct obstruction, including gallstones
• Pancreatic duct obstruction, which prevents the flow of pancreatic digestive fluids into bile
• Celiac disease (CD), which speeds the passage of stool whenever gluten is eaten, reducing its exposure to bile

Yellow and orange stool can also occur the diarrheal diseases like norovirus, Giardia, and Salmonella.

Stools can also turn orange if you take beta-carotene supplements or eat foods rich in carotene, including pumpkin or carrots. Yellow poop is common in nursing babies with loose stools, caused by the residue of breast milk or baby formula.

White or Pale Stool

There are few "harmless" causes of white, pale, or clay-colored stools. The absence of color in stools (called acholic stools) is due to the partial or total lack of bile delivered to the small intestine.

Many of the same causes of yellow stool may contribute to acholic stools, but they tend to be more severe. These include:

• Viral hepatitis, including hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C
• Primary biliary cholangitis (bile obstruction from ducts inside the liver)
• Primary sclerosing cholangitis (bile obstruction from ducts inside and outside the liver)
• Cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer)
• Drug-induced hepatitis, such as caused by taking Tylenol with alcohol
• Parasitic liver infections, like malaria, Leishmania, and amoebiasis

One possible harmless cause of pale stools is a barium enema, which can cover stools with a chalky residue.

Blue Stool

Blue is an unusual color for any stool, and more often than not is caused by eating foods made with blue dye. Rare but potentially serious causes include:

• Porphyria (a rare group of disorders affecting the nervous system and/or skin that can cause red urine and blueish stool)
• Argyria (a rare condition that causes the toxic build-up of silver in the body, leading to blueish-silvery skin and stool)
• Radiogardase (also known as Prussian blue, used in people who are contaminated with radiation)
• Methylene blue (a medication used in the treatment of a blood disorder called methemoglobinemia)
  

Other Stool Characteristics

There are other stool characteristics that gastroenterologists will look out for when diagnosing digestive diseases. This includes the texture and consistency of stools as categorized by a system called the Bristol stool chart. Other factors, such as whether a stool floats or sinks, can also aid with the diagnosis.

Stool characteristics commonly noted during an investigation include:

• Sinking stools: If your stool sinks quickly, you may not be getting enough fluids or fiber in your diet. These stools often have a darker color because they stay in the intestines longer.
• Floating stools. If your stool floats, it may be because it contains excess gas due to eating gassy foods like beans, drinking carbonated sodas, or eating too much sugar. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) can cause floating, greasy stools.
• Pebble stools: Pebble or pellet stools are a sign of severe constipation. These stools are hard to pass and can contribute to hemorrhoids and rectal bleeding.
• Pencil stools: These narrow stools can occur with excessive straining but may also be a sign of a bowel obstruction or an intestinal stricture (narrowing of the colon). This can occur with conditions like colon polyps or colon cancer.
• Watery stools: The causes of diarrhea are many, including infections, food intolerances, food allergies, food poisoning, and gastrointestinal diseases like IBS and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
  

When to See Your Healthcare Provider

It's normal for bowel movements to vary from day to day depending on what you eat and drink, and most changes aren't a cause for worry. Generally, stools should leave the body with little straining or discomfort, have a clay-like consistency, and look more like a banana than a pencil or pellets.

See your healthcare provider right away if your poop color is red, black, pale, or covered with mucus or pus. You should also seek care if stool changes are accompanied by any new or unusual symptoms like severe pain or cramping.

Summary

Stool color can mean many different things, from red to black for gastrointestinal bleeding and yellow to white for biliary diseases. Color changes may be also due to the foods you eat or medications you take. These include iron supplements and Pepto-Bismol which can change your stools to black, and red beets or carrots that can change your stools to red or orange, respectively.

Changes in stool color can help diagnose digestive disorders, along with other characteristics like the texture and consistency of stools.