Green poop - what caused the change in poop color?

There are norms for physiological secretions of the human body. In particular, feces are assessed by consistency, color, smell, and composition. In healthy people, stool has a shaped appearance, a soft consistency, and a brown color ranging from light to dark brown.

If green stool is noticed, it often becomes a frightening factor and forces people to look for pathology. We will look at the causes of green intestinal discharge. To do this, let us first briefly recall what determines and how the color of stool is formed.

Why is stool brown?

The color of stool is formed mainly due to bile pigments, which are formed in the liver cells and then enter the intestines with bile. They are a product of the processing of the iron-containing part of erythrocyte hemoglobin (heme) and myoglobin in muscle tissue. In addition, the spleen takes part in the breakdown of red blood cells. Old blood cells are disposed of, unnecessary substances are sent to waste.

Similar pigments are found in mammals, lower vertebrates and invertebrates, in bright green plants and red algae. The biochemical reaction goes through the stage of formation of greenish-blue biliverdin, yellow-orange bilirubin. Bacteria act on bilirubin in the intestines. Their enzymes convert biliverdin into stercobilinogen (up to 280 mg per day).

Under the influence of light, stercobilinogen excreted in feces is oxidized into stercobilin with a brown color reaction. In addition to natural pigments, coloring substances of undigested dietary fibers, waste products of bacteria, and processed residues of medicinal substances are excreted in feces. Therefore, the color is unnatural.

Green stool with mucus

Green mucus in feces can be caused by many factors:

1. Various intestinal infections are often accompanied by mucus and a green tint in the stool.
2. Doctors distinguish three types of hemorrhoids, which form rare mucus with a green tint that accumulates near the anus.
3. Tumor-like neoplasms that are located in the intestines can manifest themselves as yellow or green discharge through the anus with mucus.
4. Another cause of mucus is congenital intestinal fermentopathy or hereditary pathology in the structure of the upper intestines.
5. Lactic sugar intolerance.

What is normally associated with green stool in an adult?

It is important to consider that deviations in stool color or consistency always have their own explanation. It is not necessarily associated with a pathological process. The causes in an adult can be divided into physiological (nutritional) and pathological.

The nature of digestive disorders is judged by the shade of stool.

Physiological ones include:

• Eating foods containing chlorophyll. It is a green pigment found in plants. The highest concentrations are found in leafy vegetables, green peas, lettuce, spinach, broccoli, and parsley.
• Chemical dyes are specially added to some products (sweets, cocktails, marmalade, fruit and berry jelly). An example is blue Curacao, an intense blue color (included in cocktails). But if a person has consumed a salad of carrots and beets along the way, then the “output” is a mixed color of light green or yellow-green.
• Stools may turn dark green after eating food dyes due to functional constipation caused by stress. The stool takes on a hard consistency.
• On the contrary, with diarrhea caused by anxiety, passing through the intestines at an accelerated pace, biliverdin does not have time to transform into stercobilin. Therefore, it is possible that the stool is green and liquid in appearance.
• Food products also include red meat, seaweed, seaweed, fish, and red beans. They have a high iron content. This means that during processing, excess biliverdin is formed.

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One of the common causes is a consequence of taking antibiotics, ferric ferricyanide (prescribed for the treatment of heavy metal poisoning). For non-pathological reasons, the person has good general health, no abdominal pain, normal temperature.

Treatment

If you have at least one of the above symptoms, you first need to determine the cause. If you feel normal, there are no more changes, you need to go on a diet and temporarily not take any medications.

If an infant has such a problem, the woman needs to reconsider her diet.

In any situation, you cannot make decisions on your own; you need to undergo diagnostics and receive a full recommendation from doctors.

When should you suspect pathology?

Green stool is a symptom of pathology:

• for liver diseases;
• increased breakdown of red blood cells;
• celiac disease;
• enterocolitis;
• intestinal tumors;
• gastrointestinal bleeding.

Disruption of the digestive process causes a failure in the production of enzymes and juices of the organs concerned. This is reflected in the transformations of bilirubin derivatives in the intestines. Celiac disease is an inherited autoimmune disease caused by the protein gluten, which destroys the villi in the small intestine. As a result, atrophy of the small intestine occurs and the absorption of fats and carbohydrates stops.

The disease begins both in childhood and after 40 years

Intolerance to lactose, the enzyme that digests milk. Appears during the neonatal period. When breastfeeding begins, the baby's stool is liquid and green in color. An adult knows about his peculiarities. Does not consume dairy products. But sometimes it cannot provide for the inclusion of dairy additives. Therefore, he is not upset when he sees the changed color of stool.

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In case of an inflammatory process in the intestines (enterocolitis, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis), the green tint of stool is provided by leukocytes, pus, and rapid movement during diarrhea. Purulent discharge from an ulcer in the lower parts of the large intestine does not mix with feces, but looks like a layer or film. The patient has cramping or nagging pain in the abdomen, a fever, and weakness.

Salmonellosis is a common intestinal infection. Often occurs in the form of group outbreaks in children's institutions and food facilities. The infection comes from contaminated meat, dairy products, eggs with insufficient cooking. The source could be a sick employee. Detection of a disease is a reason for an extraordinary inspection by epidemiological surveillance authorities.

The disease has an acute onset. There is a sharp increase in temperature, nausea, vomiting, frequent diarrhea with greenish stools. In children, fluid loss can lead to dehydration syndrome. Profuse bleeding of the vessels of the stomach or intestines in the complicated course of peptic ulcers, colitis, Crohn's disease is accompanied by liquid black tarry stools.

The color is caused by the reaction of hemoglobin in red blood cells with hydrochloric acid in gastric juice, forming hemosiderin. The color of the stool may change to black-green.

The patient’s condition is not necessarily accompanied by previous abdominal pain. Symptoms are characterized by:

• vomit the color of coffee grounds;
• increasing weakness;
• pale skin;
• weak rapid pulse and decreased blood pressure.

Diseases of the liver, biliary system, and pancreas cause obstructive jaundice by blocking the outflow of bile. Due to insufficient output of bilirubin, stercobilin is not formed in the intestinal contents. The stool turns grey-green. At the same time, the urine darkens intensely, and yellowness appears on the sclera of the eyes and skin, as the pigment enters the blood. This sign is an important symptom of viral hepatitis.

Salmonellosis is one of the pathologies that provokes the appearance of green feces

At the same time, the patient notes weakness, loss of appetite to the point of aversion to food, nausea, and bloating. Dysbacteriosis in the intestines occurs after taking antibacterial agents. The lack of beneficial flora activates rotting and fermentation. Patients experience flatulence, greenish feces, and moderate abdominal pain. In people prone to allergies, a reaction to certain foods may include diarrhea with a green tint.

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Diagnostics

The doctor will prescribe a series of tests to determine the cause of the pathology. Coprogram is the name given to an analysis in which a laboratory assistant examines the chemical, physical, and microscopic characteristics of feces.

The method is non-invasive, thanks to it you can find out how many leukocytes, red blood cells, fibers, and crystals are contained in the stool. This method will help determine why green stool appears in an adult.

They may also assign:

• Bacterial culture - needed to determine the causative agent of intestinal infection, as well as the presence of bacteria, microflora;
• microscopic examination - carried out if there is a suspicion of the presence of helminths;
• urine and blood analysis.

You should consult a doctor as soon as possible if, in addition to green stool, an adult experiences the following symptoms:

• Weakness;
• nausea, vomiting;
• hyperthermia;
• stomach ache;
• there is blood in the feces;
• weight loss due to decreased appetite;
• bloating;
• belching;
• putrid smell of feces;
• increased gas formation.

How to find out the reason

If greenish feces appeared once after eating the listed foods or drinks, then there is no reason to worry. You need to pay attention to the color after 1-2 days. Persistent changes due to the use of medications require clarification from the attending physician. Perhaps it is better to stop the individual reaction by abandoning the drug and switching to another analogue.

Severe, persistent symptoms of impaired consistency of stool in combination with a green color require diagnostic measures. First of all, you should visit a doctor and tell about all the signs. If you suspect food poisoning or infection, you need to be prepared to report the food you took the day before and where you were eating.

If you have elevated body temperature, vomiting, or diarrhea, you should call a doctor at home. If liquid black-green stool is released against the background of vomiting with dark contents, gastrointestinal bleeding cannot be ruled out. This is especially likely in patients with peptic ulcers or gastritis. You need to call an ambulance; it is impossible to make an accurate diagnosis on your own.

How to test feces for occult blood?

Depending on the severity of the condition, patients are taken to a hospital, where they are examined while providing the necessary medical care. The set of diagnostic measures includes:

• a blood test with a leukocyte formula; if bleeding is suspected, a test for hematocrit, blood group and Rh factor, and electrolytes is prescribed;
• general urine test and for diastasis;
• biochemical tests for liver pathology;
• feces for scatology;
• tank sowing feces and vomit.

Only a doctor can understand the pathology of elderly people

On the first day, the patient undergoes hardware examinations;

• Ultrasound of the abdominal organs;
• electrocardiogram;
• fluoroscopy of the stomach with barium suspension;
• fibrogastroscopy.

If necessary:

• Colonoscopy is performed under anesthesia;
• computed and magnetic resonance imaging.

The list of studies depends on the symptoms of the disease and the severity of the patient’s condition.

What does the color of stool mean?

Normally, stool should be brown in color due to the yellow pigment. The color range of stool depends entirely on the concentration of pigment - it will be light, green or even black.

When examining a problem, you need to know its true cause in order to normalize the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract.

If you eat foods that contain a lot of iron, your stool will turn green. When taking carbonated water, jelly, pastry cream with an abundance of dyes, a similar situation will eventually occur.

Causes during pregnancy

Digestion in a pregnant woman is no different from the physiological processes of a healthy person. It is possible that sensitivity to certain foods increases due to a change in taste. Therefore, the basis for green stool during pregnancy should be sought in nutrition. Pregnant women enjoy eating: broccoli, dill, spinach, parsley. An increase in the rate of transit of such plant products through the intestines has an effect.

Some vitamin supplements containing iron also affect stool color. They are prescribed by obstetricians quite often to prevent anemia. Managing pregnancy in women with chronic diseases requires the attention of a doctor and relatives. It is impossible to predict an exacerbation in advance. Therefore, it is necessary to come early for examination if you have suspicious bowel movements.

The ban on spicy foods and pickles increases the need for fresh greens

Green stool in pregnant women

Now let’s look at why green stool occurs during pregnancy. Any mother wishes her child happiness and health. During pregnancy, her goal is to give birth to a healthy baby. For this, the body requires a large amount of nutrients and vitamins. Therefore, a pregnant woman’s diet contains a large amount of vitamins and minerals coming from plant foods and vitamin complexes. Excessive amounts of vitamins and minerals are not absorbed by the body and are excreted along with feces, which is what gives poop its green color. Please note that there should not be any other symptoms indicating the presence of pathology.

Treatment measures at home

Treatment of diseases is carried out in the infectious diseases department or gastroenterology, depending on the diagnostic results. If salmonellosis is suspected, pre-medical care includes:

• plenty of drinking regimen, even when vomiting you should give boiled warm water to drink in small portions, the best drug is Regidron;
• taking sorbents - drugs that attract toxins in the intestines and remove them with feces; activated carbon (every 2 hours an adult should drink 4 tablets), Smecta, Polysorb are suitable.

Do not rinse the stomach, give antibiotics or drugs that stop intestinal motility. Toxic substances should be removed with diarrhea. If bleeding is suspected, the patient should be placed on his side, prohibited from getting up, a heating pad with ice or cold water should be placed on his stomach (something from the freezer, wrapped in cellophane and a towel will do), you can allow him to swallow small pieces of ice.

What should be the norm?

The composition of feces includes dying cells of the intestinal mucosa, various bacteria, remains of bile, liquid and undigested food. During the process of defecation, feces leave the human body, thereby ridding it of waste. As noted earlier, the color and consistency of stool can change depending on various factors and indicate the presence of serious pathologies.

How is intestinal disorder determined?

The following factors may influence an increase in the amount of feces:

• frequent constipation;
• development of cholecystitis or chronic pancreatitis;
• inflammation of the intestines, which is often accompanied by disruption of digestive processes;
• an anatomical feature of the intestine, due to which the food mass moves through it too quickly;
• excessive amounts of fiber in the daily diet.

Composition of stool

The density of stool and the degree of thickness may also vary depending on several factors:

• with intestinal spasms or constipation, feces are usually hard;
• liver dysfunction is often accompanied by the appearance of clayey stools;
• increased intestinal peristalsis leads to the appearance of mushy stools. This symptom also manifests itself with increased intestinal secretion;
• disturbances in the functioning of the pancreas are often accompanied by ointment-like feces;
• loose stools usually indicate diarrhea or poor absorption in the small intestine;
• excrement may also have a foamy consistency, which experts often associate with the development of fermentation processes in the intestinal cavity.

Main signs of diarrhea

Bristol Stool Shape Scale

In the absence of health problems, feces are brown. This is due to the presence of breakdown products of hemoglobin and bilins (as bile pigments are called in medicine). The shades of brown may change when certain foods are consumed, but such color changes do not always indicate serious illness. Minor abnormalities are not a cause for concern, but if the feces turn green, then medical attention is required.