Can Different Food Change Your Stool Color?

Posted on Mon, 21 Jan 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 Answered on

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : Hi my name is XXXXXXX when you eat different kinds of food will it chance the color of your poop

Answered by Dr. Grzegorz Stanko (16 minutes later)

Hello!

Thank you for the query.

Generally stool color appears due to bile (which is yellow) digestion by intestinal bacterias (so it changes color from yellow through XXXXXXX to brown). Depending of the amount of bacterias in the stool and the time spent inside the intestine (longer the stool is present, more brown it becomes) it has different color. For example during the fast passage through intestines, the stool is XXXXXXX or even yellow. Food has no big impact for stool color. Sometimes indigested parts of food can be visible and in that way food can change stool color.
Here are most common reasons fr stool color change:
- diarrhea - XXXXXXX or yellow
- jaundice due to liver failure or bile ducts obstruction - white
- bleeding from stomach - black
- bleeding from large intestine - red

Hope this will help. Feel free to ask further questions.
Regards.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar