What color can the bowel movement be?

The color of the stool can say a lot about your health. The natural color of the stool can range from brown to brown-yellow. The yellow tones are caused by the breakdown products of the blood pigment, which are also excreted through the intestines.

The intestinal bacteria can produce a brown dye from this. Other shades of color can indicate different things.A light brown to yellow stool may indicate that the intestinal bacteria are not working properly and are producing less brown dye. The intestinal bacteria can be upset by antibiotics or by diarrhoea.

Furthermore, a lighter stool can be caused by the harmless disease Meulengracht’s disease. In Meulengracht’s disease, an enzyme that breaks down blood works less efficiently than normal. If the color turns gray, the bile duct through which the broken down blood pigment reaches the intestine is bent or squeezed.

In this case you should consult a doctor. Black or red stool is a bad sign because it indicates that there is blood in the stool. Fresh blood is red and coagulated blood is black.

Blood in the stool can have serious causes, but also non-dangerous ones like hemorrhoids. A red discoloration of the stool can also be caused by beetroot eaten the day before. Yellow stool is in most cases a natural color variation.

If there are no other symptoms, the cause is usually the food intake of the previous days. High consumption of eggs, dairy products or starchy foods such as potatoes, grains or legumes can lead to yellowish stools. This is also the reason why babies often have (gold) yellow stools when they are fed exclusively with (mother’s) milk (so-called “breast milk stool”).

However, there are also diseases in which the stool can take on a yellow color. In most cases, yellow stool is not the only symptom of an existing disease. As a rule, other symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain or severe fatigue occur analogously.

A visit to a doctor is recommended in this case. Causes can be gastrointestinal diseases such as bacterial enteritis or salmonella, as well as allergies or food intolerances. If necessary, therapy is administered after the presence of an existing underlying disease.

It should also be noted that yellow stool is often confused with the so-called “light stool”, which can indicate diseases of the liver, bile or pancreas and thus the fat metabolism. If black stools occur, a distinction must first be made as to whether it is merely black-brown or very dark or whether it is actually deep black. In the case of black-brown bowel movements, the patient’s own food intake of the previous day should first be reflected, similar to yellow bowel movements.

Red wine, red cabbage, beet or even cherries can lead to such a discoloration. Iron preparations also cause black stools, as do charcoal tablets and some other medications (a look at the package insert under “Side effects” should be able to answer the question). Bowel movements with a deep black color, which also smells and shines badly, are called “tarry stools”.

If this type of black bowel movement occurs, a doctor should be consulted to clarify the cause. If additional vomiting of blood occurs, emergency action must be taken. Possible causes of tar stools can be bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract (gastrointestinal tract), especially in the upper part, for example varicose veins in the oesophagus that have ruptured or due to gastric bleeding. In combination with very irregular bowel movements and constipation and diarrhoea in alternation, this can indicate a tumor. as well as blood in the stool