why is my poop green

Why is my Poop Green?

Poop is the way your body rids itself of material that is not digestible. The components include water, bilirubin and dead bacteria to name a few. There is no set frequency to how often you should eliminate this waste. Some people go as little as once every week or two while others poop two or more times a day.

Why is poop usually brown?

Poop is normally brown in color because a byproduct of bile. Bile aids in digestion all the way through the digestive tract. The left over byproduct is called stercobilin and makes your poop a brown color. This color is normal and suggests you are in good health.

What does green poop mean?

Green poop can mean many different things. It is more common than most people think. It can mean you have changed your diet and your body is adjusting. It can also mean that you have recently consumed a hard to digest meal and the body had to make more bile in order to move it through your system.

What causes green poop?

Green poop can be caused by many different things. It is important not to panic when you see this color. Think back about what you may have consumed over the past few days and go from there.

Some causes of green poop include:

• A lot of green vegetables in your diet.
• Iron supplements.
• Diarrhea.
• Medications.
• Artificial coloring or food dye.

Green vegetables contain a high amount of iron and that is likely the cause. Chlorophyll is another. This component does not always break down in the digestive system. When consumed in a large quantity, the chlorophyll is flushed out of your body and can turn your poop green.

Supplements for iron deficiency will often stain the poop green. This is the color of the iron salts and is not a cause for alarm. If you have been taking an iron supplement and your poop seems to change from brown to green and back again, this is completely normal. Depending on what you have eaten, the brown color may mask the green.

Diarrhea is the body’s way of getting rid of unwanted materials. Since the elimination is so rapid, your body may not have had a chance to break down the bile. This causes the green color.

Medications like antibiotics may cause your poop to be green. Often, these can upset the natural digestion process. Use of laxatives or similar products can create the same effect as diarrhea does. Since the poop moves through the large intestine at a quick rate, bile is not broken down.

Artificial food colorings and dyes are often the culprit. Food coloring is used in a wide array of products. If you have had a large number of green popsicles, that may be the reason. You may have consumed a large amount of Kool-Aid recently. Also, around holidays like St. Patrick’s Day and Christmas, green food dye is used in large quantities for anything from green beer to Christmas tree cookies.

When to see a doctor

If you have had children, you know that the poop color is one thing the doctors always ask about. New moms also talk about it when they get together. It is usually caused by high iron content in formula.

In adults, it is sometimes an indicator of sickness or disease. It is uncommon, but sometimes the green color can be caused by digestive disorders. These include irritable bowel syndrome, Chron’s disease and celiac disease.

If your poop is green and you have already gone through the laundry list of common causes, see your doctor to determine the cause. Food poisoning can also be a reason for green poop and if it lasts too long it may be an indicator of a larger problem. Another reason to contact your doctor is if the green color coincides with any abdominal pain, reflux or marked decrease of appetite.

Treatment for green poop

If you consume a large amount of iron rich vegetables, drink a lot of water and exercise regularly. Stop consuming fatty foods and those with large amounts of food coloring. Reduce the amount of your iron supplements if your doctor allows it. Rule out any digestive diseases and treat them accordingly.

Stooling is one of the natural ways of getting rid of waste products from the body. the color of the stool is then of great importance, as an unusual ones usually indicates the presence of certain health conditions.

What Does it Mean When Blood Is In The Stool? Read more…

Reasons for Watery Stools

Crohn’s disease is a digestive disorder that leads to ulcers in the digestive system and those who suffer from this illness have trouble digesting food. In addition, those with Crohn’s disease also experience a watery stool. People with Celiac disease often have watery stools because some of the foods they eat contain gluten and it becomes difficult to digest food. In addition, those with Celiac disease also lose plenty of vitamins and nutrients when their stool is watery and it hurts their immune and digestive system, making them prone to the common cold or flu. Lactose intolerant persons suffer from watery stools occasionally. Read more…

Many people wonder what makes farts smell. The best way to understand why some farts smell and why some do not has to do with the farting process. Every single person has to fart and people who have recently died continue to fart for a little while. There are many reasons why people fart and why they do smell. Read more…

Many people ask this question – what does healthy poop look like? This is asked especially if they are new parents. New babies will go through a few different colors and textures before their poop becomes something that parents will recognize. The same problem happens when children and adults go through different illnesses and they eat foods that are different than their normal menus. People do worry if their poop does not look like it normally does, or at least what they think it should look like. Read more…

Poop, or feces, is the semi-solid bodily waste which it expelled from the body through the anus. The waste is what is left behind after food digestion, and the waste is even highly rich in energy made use of by the decomposing micro organisms. The diet of the individual largely determines the texture, composition and color of poop, but most times, it is a smelly and an offensive combination of fiber, cellulose, phosphates, mucus, protein, cholesterol, inorganic salts, dead cells, water and both dead and living bacteria. Read more…

Poop is the waste material every living human being naturally gets rid of through the anus. About 75% of it is mostly made of water, while the rest comprises dead bacteria which helped in digesting the food, protein, living bacteria, waste material from food, undigested food residue (known as fiber), cellular linings, salts, fats, and so on. In most cases, poop is yellow or brown because it is made up of bilirubin, an orange-yellow substance present in the intestine. The combination of iron and bilirubin is what gives a brown color. However, what happens when an individual has blue poop? What could be the reason? Read more…

It is normal for poop to smell. As your diet changes, you should expect the odor to also change. However, you should be worried when your poop has an unusual and extremely bad odor. The reason is that it may be as a result of certain health conditions which you might or might not be aware of. Read more…

If you have red stool it could mean that you have internal bleeding in the lower gastrointestinal part of the body such as the colon. Since stomach ulcers cause internal bleeding, this may be another reason why you have red stool. Another reason why you could have red stool is because of any red-colored foods you ate. If you have hemorrhoids there is a chance you could get red stool occasionally because hemorrhoids occurs when the vein in your anal canal swells. If you currently have colon cancer you my get red stool from time to time. Read more…

Orange stool occurs for several reasons but generally it is nothing to be alarmed about. One of the reasons for orange stool is the consumption of certain foods such as carrots, sweet potatoes, kale, collard greens, thyme and winter squash. All of these foods are nutritious and so there is reason to worry if they cause orange stool. Another reason why you could have orange stool is because the stool is passing through the body too fast. Here are other things to consider. Read more…

If you have black stool it could be because of dark or green-colored foods you are eating along with the consumption of iron supplements. A serious reason for black stool is internal bleeding and if this is the case you need to talk to your doctor so he can diagnose the problem. If blood is passing through the stool this may be another reason for the black stool. Read more…