Dark burgundy cal. What determines the color of stool and what does it mean? How to deal with the problem

Stool - black feces.

Causes. Normal stool is shaped, brown in color and has a soft consistency. Intensely black, tarry, liquid or semi-liquid stools are usually a sign of upper bleeding gastrointestinal tract.

It must be said, however, that the black color of stool can be caused by taking certain medications or certain types of food. Tablets containing iron, bismuth preparations (it is present in antacid preparations that are sold in pharmacies without a prescription), activated carbon can turn stool dark. Eating licorice, chocolate, grapes, raisins and cranberries can also cause dark-colored stool. So before you jump to the conclusion that you have internal bleeding, try to remember what you ate in the last 1-2 days.

The main reasons for the appearance of black tarry stools are bleeding from stomach and duodenal ulcers, bleeding from gastritis, bleeding from varicose veins of the esophagus; the source of blood loss may be tumors of the stomach and small intestine.

The appearance of blood in the stool can be a complication of drug therapy. There are medications that cause erosion (minor damage) or ulceration of the gastric mucosa. The main culprit is aspirin, which is prescribed for arthritis. Other so-called non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as indomethacin, can also cause bleeding.

What to do. If you have eaten the foods listed above in the last 18-24 hours, do not panic, but to be absolutely sure, go to the doctor as soon as possible.

If you suffer from stomach ulcers or other diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, then tell your doctor about any changes in the color of your stool.

The stool is scarlet blood or red in color.

The color of human stool depends on many factors. This includes diet, gastrointestinal tract activity, and use medicines. Normally, the color of stool varies from light to dark brown. It is the brown tint of feces that indicates the health of the gastrointestinal tract. In particular, we are talking about the normal secretion of bile in an adult. Why does it become black, green or yellow? When should you be concerned, and when can a change in the color of your stool be attributed to your diet?

What determines the color of stool

Feces are a product of food processing in the body and are formed after the latter passes through the digestive tract. On this path, nutrients are absorbed, which become available after complex digestive processing, mainly in the stomach and intestines. This process produces non-metabolizable waste that forms feces.

Physiologically, they are brown in color, since bile entering the intestines from the liver is metabolized by bacterial flora and turns into bilirubin, and then into stercobilin, which gives the stool a brown color.

Causes of changes in stool color

Thus, under normal conditions, stool is brown in color with shades ranging from light to dark. The indicated color may differ in some cases and this situation is not always a sign of a painful condition. The color of stool, in fact, closely depends on several factors, namely:

Consumed products. Some foods, especially those rich in natural dyes, which remain unchanged in the digestive tract, are excreted in the feces, giving it their color. Several examples can be given. All green leafy vegetables, such as broccoli, are rich in chlorophyll, which can turn stool green. Beets are high in beta-carotene, which can cause dark red stool.
Taking dyes. Food coloring may be included in some foods. For example, blue Curacao, which has an intense blue color, is used to make cocktails, and ferric ferricyanide (also blue) is used as a medicine to treat poisoning from heavy metals such as cesium.
Functionality of the gastrointestinal tract. On the way between the mouth and anus, food, as already mentioned, undergoes a number of mechanical and chemical transformations under the influence of digestive juices, enzymes and bacteria. Disturbances in the functioning of this digestive chain often lead to changes in the color of stool.
Diseases. Some diseases can cause changes in the physiological concentration of enzymes and juices that are necessary for digestive processes and, therefore, determine changes in the composition and color of stool. Such changes may be a consequence, for example, of bleeding from the wall of the stomach and/or intestines.

Based on medical practice, the following stool colors may occur: brown, yellow, green, white/clay gray, black, red.

Yellow stool

When the excrement turns yellow, it indicates the presence of abundant undigested fats. This presence is a consequence of:

Diseases of the pancreas that reduce the concentration of enzymes in the intestines. An example of such diseases is chronic pancreatitis, which is usually a consequence of alcohol abuse. There is also the possibility of a blockage of the duct through which pancreatic enzymes are released into the intestine, which is almost always caused by a tumor.
Malabsorption disease. A common example is celiac disease (gluten intolerance), which interferes with the absorption of nutrients and causes bloating, diarrhea, and discolored stool. The consequences of such diseases are especially severe in children and adolescents.

Green stool

Green stool can have both pathological and non-pathological causes.

Non-pathological ones include:

Active consumption of foods rich in chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is a green pigment found in all plants. Among the plants used for nutrition, all green leafy vegetables, such as spinach and broccoli, as well as arugula and parsley, are especially rich in chlorophyll.
Diarrhea is not of pathological etiology. Diarrhea reduces the transit time of intestinal contents. In bile, in addition to bilirubin, there is its precursor biliverdin, which has an intense green color. In the intestines, under the action of enzymes and bacteria, it is converted into bilirubin and then into stercobilin. If transit occurs too quickly (diarrhea effect), then transformation cannot occur and biliverdin turns the stool green. The most common non-pathological causes of diarrhea are antibiotics, excess non-ferrous metals, etc.

Pathological causes include celiac disease, intestinal inflammation and tumors. Green stool may also indicate liver problems. With the massive breakdown of red blood cells in the liver, a large amount of a substance is produced from their hemoglobin - the so-called bilirubin, which then enters the intestines and can give the stool a green or darker, even dark brown, color.

White or clay-gray feces

Food significantly influences the color of excrement. Sudden light color of stool can be caused by heavy consumption of fatty foods (butter, sour cream). Potatoes and white rice can have the same properties if you eat a lot of them the day before and without adding other foods. If the diet consisted more of meat foods, and you suddenly ate a large amount of plant foods, then the feces will become much lighter. When changing shade, first of all, remember your diet in previous days. It was probably nutrition that caused this phenomenon.

There are a number of medications that can cause lightening of excrement. These include:

antibiotics;
anti-inflammatory drugs;
antipyretics (Aspirin, Ibuprofen, Paracetamol);
antifungal agents;
drugs for the treatment of tuberculosis;
gout medications;
drugs for the treatment of epilepsy.

If you have undergone an examination such as an X-ray of the gastrointestinal tract or other procedures in which it is necessary to take barium sulfate, then 2-3 days after the stool will very sharply lighten. When the barium is completely removed from the body, the excrement will return to its normal color.

The gray color of stool in combination with urine the color of “strong tea” is an alarming sign of the acute phase of hepatitis. Inflammation of the liver leads to disruption of the function of bile formation, which causes whitening of stool. With hepatitis, the bilirubin produced by the body is excreted through the kidneys and skin, so the urine becomes dark and the skin turns yellow.

This case suggests a lack or absence of bile in the intestines. Bile deficiency leads to a deficiency of bilirubin and, consequently, strecobilin, which determines the brown color of stool. This situation may be due to blockage of the bile ducts or pancreatic duct. The reasons for this may be gallstones or pancreatic tumors.

Black feces

Possible causes of black stool:

Excessive consumption of licorice. Liquorice is black in color and excessive consumption can stain excrement.
Taking iron supplements. They give the stool a black-gray color.
Therapy based on bismuth subsalicylate. Used to treat gastritis and abdominal pain. It turns black when it combines with sulfur in saliva.
Bleeding in the upper gastrointestinal tract. Bleeding from the walls of the esophagus, stomach and small intestine turns the stool black. The reason is that the blood has time to be partially digested. The causes of bleeding can be ulcers and tumors.

Red stool

Why does stool turn red? Possible reasons include:

Excessive consumption of foods containing natural red dye, i.e. tomatoes, beets and red fruits.
Bleeding of the lower gastrointestinal tract. The reasons that can lead to bleeding are varied. Some of the possibilities are intestinal polyps, colon cancer, hemorrhoids and anal fissures.
If the stool is dark red/brick in color, the bleeding is occurring in the upper part of the intestine just below the small intestine.

Symptoms associated with changes in stool color

The symptoms that accompany a change in stool color usually depend on the reasons that led to this situation. There are quite a few reasons, as we have seen. However, the most common symptoms are:

Diarrhea. Reduces intestinal transit time and is accompanied by green stool.
Stomach ache. May be associated with bleeding, which is most often accompanied by dark and tarry or red stool.
Weakness, dizziness and shortness of breath. As a result of anemia, which develops as a result of intestinal bleeding.
Jaundice. This disease is associated with blockage of the bile ducts and thus greyish-white stool.
Rumbling stomach and flatulence. Associated with malabsorption problems and therefore yellow and greasy stool.

Stool color in children

In newborns, in the first three days, bowel movements differ from normal feces, which appear by the 4-5th day of life. During breastfeeding, feces have a golden-yellow color, due to the presence of bilirubin in it (from the 4th month, bilirubin is gradually replaced by stercobilin). When artificially fed with milk formulas, it acquires a thicker consistency, whitish color, a sharper odor, and an alkaline reaction; Its flora is diverse, E. coli predominates.

Depending on the age of the child, the nature of feeding, and the functional state of the intestines, feces have their own characteristics. So:

When fed with breast milk, which contains a lot of water and few nutrients, the stool is yellow, watery, and odorless.
When fed with insufficiently diluted cow's milk, the stool is silvery in color, shiny (soapy stool), soft, and contains small lumps of mucus on the surface.
with predominantly protein feeding, the feces are dirty gray in color, mushy, with a strong unpleasant odor (putrid feces).
when eating excess amounts of fatty foods or malabsorption of fat, the stool is whitish (fatty stool), with a sour odor, and a small amount of mucus.
With constipation, the stool is hard, gray, with a putrid odor.
with increased peristalsis and insufficient absorption of fat, the feces contain lumps of soap and an admixture of mucus (curdled feces).
When a breastfed child is hungry or undernourished, dark-colored “hungry stool” appears, sometimes liquid, with an unpleasant odor and an alkaline reaction.

Changes in feces in children are also observed in various diseases of the gastrointestinal tract:

With overfeeding, errors in nutrition, feeding that is not appropriate for age, dyspeptic stools appear, frequent, abundant, with mushy or watery foamy yellow-green stools containing white lumps of soaps and fatty acids, mucus.
With congenital atresia of the biliary tract, viral hepatitis, the feces are discolored, fatty, clayey (acholic feces).
With dysentery, the stool is thin, watery, and contains mucus and blood.
With celiac disease, the stool is light yellow or grayish, shiny, foamy, mushy, and extremely abundant.
In cystic fibrosis, stool is copious, light-colored, foul-smelling, and contains a lot of neutral fat.
Melena in newborns is characterized by liquid, dark, crimson-tinged stool.

When to see a doctor

As we have seen, a change in the physiological color of feces is not always a disease; indeed, in many cases, there is a nutritional problem, without any consequences. However, this symptom should not be ignored in any case, because it may indicate serious illnesses.

Symptoms accompanying stool disorders require special attention:

pain syndrome (in any area of the abdomen);
yellowness of the skin and icterus of the mucous membranes;
increased body temperature;
nausea and vomiting;
darkening of urine;
weight loss, loss of appetite;
bloating, increased abdominal volume;
noticeable deterioration in condition.

Identification of these symptoms is an indication for immediate consultation with a doctor and undergoing the necessary tests (bacteriological and biochemical analysis of stool, extended coprogram).

You should also contact your doctor immediately if:

Changes in stool color are permanent.
Changes in stool color recur periodically, after periods of stagnation.

Diagnosis of changes in stool color

Diagnosing the causes of changes in the color of feces is often a long and complex process. It assumes:

Anamnestic analysis.
Analysis of symptoms and signs.
Physical examination of the patient.
Blood tests, in particular, a complete blood count (to rule out anemia), liver function tests, and pancreatic enzyme levels.
Test for occult blood in the stool to find out if there is any bleeding.
Esophagogastroduodenoscopy. Clinical examination using an endoscope allows you to examine the esophagus, stomach and duodenum from the inside.
Colonoscopy. Using an endoscope can reveal polyps, injuries or tumors inside the colon.
Sometimes a CT scan or MRI may be needed to confirm the diagnosis of a tumor lesion.

Given the heterogeneity of the reasons that determine the color of stool, it is impossible to indicate a single remedy for the situation: therefore, first of all, we must determine the disease or habit that causes changes in the color of stool.

If you notice any changes in your stool, do not despair. You need to calmly figure everything out, and if necessary, resort to additional diagnostic methods (laboratory, instrumental studies) and the help of qualified specialists. They will be able to make a final diagnosis and prescribe effective treatment, if necessary.

Children's problems are perceived with the greatest trepidation, but fortunately, most often they are not serious. They consist of irrational nutrition, and for healing you just need to choose the right diet. And in good condition, just observation is enough, and after a few days the stool will recover on its own.

Every normal person after a bowel movement is interested in the color of his feces. Anyone who claims not to do this is probably a bigot or blind. But we are not talking about personality traits and limited capabilities, but about what the color of personal excrement can tell an earthling. Sometimes their abnormal color indicates deviations in health, which cannot be ignored.

Stool is not only brown or brownish. Often this substance acquires a green, red, yellow, white or black color. In most cases, slight changes in the color of excrement are associated with dietary patterns. We don't eat the same thing every day. But sometimes a change in the color of feces indicates some kind of health problem, and in rare cases, that the digestive system is experiencing serious problems in its functioning.

If the color of your own waste worries you, it would be a good idea to consult a doctor.

Feces are brown, adults and children, Russians and Americans, vegetarians and meat-eaters know this. The color of feces is due to bile, a fluid produced by the liver to digest fats. Fresh bile has a yellowish-green color. Moving along with food masses through the intestines, bile undergoes chemical transformations and turns brown.

Green feces

In general, green or greenish poop is quite normal. This shade of substance is given by:

Green vegetables (spinach, broccoli, etc.)
Green food coloring (in drinks, ice cream, etc.)
Nutritional supplements containing iron.

If you are suddenly puzzled by green diarrhea, then the color of the food eaten has nothing to do with it. The food probably rushed through the intestinal tract so quickly that the fat-digesting bile did not have time to turn brown.

Yellow feces

For many people, the yellow tint of excrement is the norm. For example, for young children, especially those who are breastfed. But if the stool looks oily and smells very bad, then it contains too much fat. This may mean that the body is not doing a good enough job of digesting food.

For example, if a person has celiac disease (gluten intolerance to wheat, rice or barley) and consumes food containing gluten (various types of bread, pasta, cookies), then the patient’s intestines do not work well - far from as they should.

There are other phenomena that cause stool to become yellow, greasy, and extremely smelly. If this happens to you often, tell about it to a doctor whose qualifications and opinion you trust.

White or just light-colored stool

There are medicines for diarrhea that contain the metal bismuth in the form of a salt - subsalicylate. For example, Kaopectate or Pepto Bismol. Sometimes, due to bismuth subsalicylate, the stool becomes. Barium compounds used in X-ray examinations of the upper digestive tract can play a similar trick with feces.

A more serious case is a deficiency of bile in the stool (as we already know, bile gives stool its characteristic brown color). Bile is produced by the liver and stored in the gallbladder, from where it passes into the small intestine to aid digestion. If there is not enough bile to give the feces their typical color, there is a health problem.

Liver diseases such as hepatitis can keep bile from leaking into stool. The same thing happens if the bile ducts are blocked, which may be caused by:

Gallstones
Tumor
A rare birth defect called biliary atresia.

Black feces

Infants' stools in the first days after birth are black in color.

If this happens at an older age, it means that either the person ate something very dark, or took a dietary supplement. But this may also signal a more serious situation - bleeding in the upper intestine.

Pharmacy products and gifts that make poop include:

Dietary supplements with iron compounds
Bismuth subsalicylate (Pepto-Bismol)
Blueberry

If the feces look like tar or tar, there may be bleeding in the digestive system. His reasons:

Bleeding sores in the esophagus due to acid reflux (esophagitis)
Benign tumors

Red or reddish stool

If, when you look into the toilet after defecation, you see reddish excrement, do not panic. First you need to remember if you ate anything intensely red the day before. Foods such as beets, tomato soup, or drinks with red food coloring can greatly affect the color of your stool. But if the stool is bright red, then most likely there is bleeding somewhere in the lower intestine. The same can be assumed if you didn’t eat anything red the other day.

The causes of bleeding that stains stool are as follows:

Benign tumors
Malignant tumors (cancer)
Intestinal inflammation (colitis)
Polyps in the intestines
(disease of the intestinal walls)
Haemorrhoids

If there is nothing to blame for the food, but the stool is red, you need to consult a doctor.

Talking about all things gut-related can be confusing for anyone. But everyone goes to the toilet.

What is normal stool?

As he says Sophie Balzora, MD, gastroenterologist at New York University Medical Center,

The frequency, texture, and odor of a person's stool are normal, provided they do not complain of discomfort.

Going to the toilet every day is not considered a necessary indicator of good health, says Dr. Balzora.

For some, three times a day is the norm, others go to the toilet three to four times a week. All this is normal, in the absence of any digestive problems, of course.

Diet plays a very big role in not only the frequency, but also the texture, size, shape and smell. In addition to diet, intestinal health is influenced by lifestyle, sleep, water intake, hormonal fluctuations, menopause and certain medications.

Doctors use to classify bowel movements Bristol scale. In the table we have listed seven categories or types of stool.

1 and 2 indicate ,
3 and 4 are the “healthiest” types of feces,
5, 6 and 7 are considered diarrhea.

As a rule, most healthy people have types 3 or 4. Soft, formed stools, without effort during bowel movements, are considered normal.

Doctors say if your stool is too thick or has loose chunks of stool, it could be a sign of constipation.

This happens because the colon tries to remove water from the stool as it passes through the intestines. Decreased mobility, due to problems with the muscles lining the intestines or a low-fiber diet, causes stool to be retained, making it difficult for the bowels to move.

A diet rich in fiber helps improve bowel function because fiber is like a sponge to retain moisture.

The American Academy of Family Physicians recommends a standard of nine servings per day of high-fiber foods such as fruits, vegetables and legumes to ensure smooth bowel function. Using additional fiber sources such as psyllium, also promotes the formation of soft stools that do not cause discomfort during bowel movements.

May also play a role in constipation. The intestines need moisture, which softens the stool, improving its permeability.

Carefully! Hypersensitivity to certain foods, overgrowth of bacteria or yeast in the small intestine, and excessive consumption of red meat or alcohol may also be factors in constipation.

People with loose stools have chronic diarrhea in at least 75% of cases. The consistency may be too soft with loose edges or completely watery. As with constipation, fiber plays an important role here too.

Carefully! Potential causes of chronic diarrhea include overgrowth of bacteria and yeast in the colon, food sensitivities, excess intake of fat or fatty foods, inability to absorb certain nutrients, and chronic stress or anxiety.

What does the color of stool mean?

Massarat Zutshi, colorectal surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic, says the color of your stool is usually related to the color of the foods you recently ate.

Leafy greens, red fruits and vegetables, artificial food colors, and some medications and supplements can change the color of stool.

In some cases, color changes may indicate something more serious. This is what the color of stool can indicate.

Almost black

If you are not taking any coating, antacid or absorbent medications (which often turn the stool black), stool that is too dark may indicate bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract. The stool may also become colored as a result stomach ulcers or high levels of iron in the body.

White

Some medications such as Kaopectate, can sometimes cause pale and clayey stools. White stool can also be caused by problems with bile getting into your gastrointestinal tract, or if your liver doesn't produce enough bile. When the bile duct is blocked due to a stone or tumor and the bile cannot reach the intestines, the stool also turns white. This is typical for liver diseases such as hepatitis and cirrhosis.

Red

Let's assume that your Don't panic! First, think about what you ate the day before. Dark Red Beet Salad (thanks to betacyanin) may cause both your urine and your stool to become colored for up to two days after consumption. In addition to beets, the culprits may be tomatoes, food coloring or even cranberries. If you are sure that the red tint is not due to food, the stool may stain the blood from the intestines. In this case, you should immediately consult a doctor. Bright red blood in the stool may indicate polyp, inflammation, diverticulitis or even colon cancer.

Yellow

Yellow stool may indicate problems with fat digestion. This may be the result of having your gallbladder removed, taking weight loss medications, or certain surgeries. Yellow, oily stools may indicate chronic pancreatitis or celiac disease.

Green

If your stool is slightly green, think about whether you've eaten any greens in the last 24 hours, because that could be the cause. If your stool is consistently green and is not related to food, consult your doctor.

Regardless of color, stool usually has a foul odor due to bacteria in the colon that digest food. If your stool's normal odor changes to an abnormal odor, it may be due to an infection. Another cause may be inflammation of the colon or diseases that cause malabsorption eg celiac disease, chronic pancreatitis, cystic fibrosis or lactose intolerance.

Abnormal esophageal motility may also indicate certain health conditions

Some digestive disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, can be reflected in your stool when certain problems occur along with other symptoms. For example, bouts of diarrhea or constipation (or alternating between them), as well as abdominal pain and excess gas, are the primary signs of IBS, a common colon disorder.

The chronic disease, characterized by inflammation of the intestines, includes chronic diarrhea, as well as weight loss, fever and lower abdominal pain. Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory disease similar to Crohn's disease that begins in the rectum and spreads to other areas of the colon. Chronic diarrhea, sometimes bloody, is a key indicator of ulcerative colitis.

What else can stool tell you about your gut health?

Stool color, stool regularity, and intestinal motility are not the only characteristics that can tell you what's going on with your body. A general stool analysis consists of macroscopic, chemical and microscopic examinations.

The consistency, color and even smell of stool can tell a lot about a person’s health. This fact was taken into account by ancient healers. Therefore, if the stool suddenly becomes dark, this is a reason to seriously think about the reasons for such changes.

Perhaps everything can be explained by quite ordinary and harmless things - for example, eating certain foods. But sometimes dark stool indicates serious illnesses that require immediate medical attention.

In addition, there are a number of chronic ailments and conditions in which blackened stool is in any case a dangerous and highly suspicious symptom. In this material we will try to figure out why stool is dark in color, and we will analyze the causes of this problem in adults.

Symptoms

In case of serious health problems, an adult may have the following symptoms in addition to black stool:

bright red bleeding from the rectum;
dizziness or weakness (from blood loss).

If the cause of black stool is unclear, you should immediately consult a doctor to examine the stool for the presence of blood. Sometimes when large quantities such stool poses a risk of shock due to significant blood loss.

What should the color of stool be in a healthy person?

In principle, the color of stool in a healthy person should be brown or shades of brown.

For the color of stool many factors influence: This includes nutrition (the color depends on the food a person eats) and the current intake of medications. Human diseases also affect the color of stool. If the flow of bile into the intestines is interrupted, then the feces completely lose their light and become gray-white.

Causes of dark-colored stool in adults

First of all, having discovered dark stool, it is worth analyzing what was consumed in the last two or three days: food, drinks and medicines.

For example, preparations containing iron turn stool black, as do grapes or red beets eaten the day before. In this case, it is worth monitoring the condition of an adult for several days when he does not take medications or stops eating foods that color feces.

The reasons for dark stool may be the following:

Dark stool is not always a sign of disease, but if there is a suspicion that something is wrong with the body, and dark stool is accompanied by a deterioration in the general condition of the body, you should not engage in self-diagnosis and self-medication.

Dark green stool

What does it mean? The appearance of dark green loose stools is often a sign of intestinal infections. In this case, this symptom is soon joined by other signs:

increased body temperature;
nausea;
vomit.

Dark stool with a greenish tint of normal consistency can be observed in various liver diseases associated with a decrease in its functional activity:

hepatosis;
fibrosis, etc.

This occurs due to insufficient utilization of hemoglobin by the liver and the release of iron compounds into the duodenum. You may also experience symptoms such as:

bitterness in the mouth;
nausea.

Dark stool during pregnancy

Pregnancy is often accompanied by disorders of the digestive system. Constipation, nausea, diarrhea are common companions for expectant mothers. Changes in stool color during pregnancy are 90% normal and do not require special treatment.

Taking iron supplements. Elementary intake of B vitamins and iron preparations provokes the appearance of darker stools than usual. At the same time, no other changes in the body are observed. The color of the stool becomes natural immediately after discontinuation of the drug.
Liver problems. During pregnancy, all body systems experience enormous stress; hormonal changes can affect internal organs, including the liver. Liver diseases are accompanied by heaviness and aching pain in the right side, the appearance of a bitter taste in the mouth, nausea, and darkening of the stool.