Poop Decoder · color chart
Poop color chart: what every color means
Brown is normal. Most other colors are food. Green, yellow and orange usually come from something you ate or from food moving through fast. Black and red can be food or blood, so check the cause. White, pale or clay-colored for several days needs a doctor.
Every color, decoded
| Brown | Normal. Bile from your liver turns brown on the way through: every shade of brown is fine. | NORMAL |
|---|---|---|
| Green | Usually something green you ate or drank, or food that moved through too fast for bile to turn brown. | USUALLY FINE |
| Yellow | Usually fat or speed. Greasy, smelly yellow stool that floats and keeps coming back can mean fat isn't being absorbed. | USUALLY FINE |
| Orange | Almost always food: beta-carotene from carrots, sweet potatoes or squash, or orange food dye. | USUALLY FINE |
| Black | Iron pills, bismuth stomach medicine, black licorice or blueberries all do it. Black and tarry with a bad smell can mean bleeding higher up. | CHECK THE CAUSE |
| Red | Beets, red food coloring and tomato juice can do it. Red blood or maroon stool is not normal. | CHECK THE CAUSE |
| White, pale or clay | White for a few days after a barium X-ray is expected. Otherwise bile may not be reaching your gut: if it stays pale for several days, see a doctor. | SEE A DOCTOR |
One odd color usually means nothing. If a color sticks around for several days with no food or medicine to explain it, tell a doctor. Shape matters too: the Poop Decoder covers both.
Where the color comes from
Bile makes it brown
Your liver makes greenish bile. As it travels through your gut, it's broken down step by step until the final pigment turns stool brown.
Speed changes the shade
When food moves through quickly, bile doesn't have time to finish turning brown, so stool comes out lighter: green, yellow or orange.
Food and medicine can override it
Leafy greens, carrots, beets, food dyes, iron pills and bismuth stomach medicine can all change the color for a day or two. If you've had one, it's the likely reason.
Sources: The Conversation, Why is my poo green?; Cleveland Clinic, Can food change the color of your poop?; MedlinePlus, Black or tarry stools; MedlinePlus, Stools: pale or clay-colored.