When is poop unhealthy

What it means: Your diet may not have enough soluble fiber and your food was pushed through your digestive system too quickly. These stools can look a little like porridge. What it means: You have mild diarrhea. This could be related to diet, illness or a medical condition.

If you have chronic diarrhea, even a mild version, it can be difficult for you to get the nutrients you need from your food. Shape and consistency: Type 7 is pure liquid with no solid pieces — like gravy. It can be caused by a variety of things, such as an illness or food poisoning.

But it can also be caused by medical conditions or food intolerances to things like gluten or lactose. Healthy poop — and a healthy you — depends on many factors, including diet, exercise, overall health, medications and stress.

But lifestyle factors such as diet and exercise can go a long way toward producing perfect poo time after time. Eating a rainbow of foods can help your body get the widest array of vitamins and minerals for the best colon health.

Plus, eating whole foods makes it easier to get the fiber you need to move things along. Water helps break down food during digestion, allowing your body to pull out all the helpful nutrients.

Eating on a schedule may help keep digestion on track — and give your body time to process your food between meals. Try to eat breakfast within one hour of waking and lunch 4 to 5 hours after breakfast. And since it takes 3 to 4 hours for your digestive system to fully digest food, adding a mid-morning and an afternoon snack can keep digestion moving between mealtimes.

Getting your body moving is a great way to keep digestion moving, decreasing the time that food spends in your colon and helping with constipation. Even walking around 10 to 15 minutes a day may do the trick. Stretching and yoga can help, too. Current colorectal cancer screening guidelines recommend you get screened beginning at age 45, or sooner if you have certain risk factors. There are different screening options available, including a colonoscopy and the FIT test , which is a poop test you can do at home.

Sometimes a bad bathroom experience is just the result of a bad burrito. Exercise regularly. Exercise can decrease the time it takes for food to move through the large intestine, helping with constipation.

Get a colonoscopy. Colonoscopies allow doctors to look for polyps inside the colon and rectum, which could be an early sign of cancer. Consider scheduling a screening if you:. Stay hydrated. Water helps to clear toxins from the body. Try to drink at least eight 8 ounce glasses of water a day. Need to make an appointment with a Piedmont physician? Save time, book online. Close X. Back to Living Better Living Better newsletter. Sometimes, stool changes that do not resolve within a few days can be a sign of a serious underlying condition.

Seeing undigested food in your stool on occasion typically isn't anything to worry about. Certain plant foods, such as corn and grape skins, are often recognizable in stool. That's because the human body lacks the enzymes needed to digest certain parts of plant cell walls.

Eating more slowly and chewing each bite thoroughly can help. If you see undigested food in your stool regularly and you also have other changes in your bowel habits, like diarrhea or stomach cramps, it's a good idea to consult with your healthcare provider. Bright red stool can be caused by beets, cranberries, tomato juice or soup, or products containing red food coloring, like Kool-Aid or red licorice.

Red medicines, such as amoxicillin, may also turn stool red. If there is blood in your stool, the color depends on where the bleeding takes place in the digestive tract. Blood from the upper part of the gastrointestinal tract, such as the stomach or esophagus, will look dark by the time it exits the body as a bowel movement.

Blood that is bright red is more likely to come from the lower gastrointestinal tract, such as the large intestine or rectum. This may be caused by hemorrhoids, anal fissures, ulcerative colitis , diverticulosis, or colon cancer , among other conditions. Blood in the stool doesn't always appear bright red.

Blood may be also present in stool but not visible—this is known as "occult" blood. The fecal occult blood test is a common test used to detect hidden blood in the stool.

Certain foods, supplements, and medications can temporarily turn stool black, such as:. Stool can also appear darker with constipation. Dark green stool from bile that hasn't had time to break down may look black in certain lighting.

Stool that is almost black, dark, or tar-like with a thick consistency may mean there is bleeding in the upper part of the gastrointestinal tract. Medical conditions that can cause dark, tar-like stool include duodenal or gastric ulcers, esophageal varices , a Mallory-Weiss tear, and gastritis.

If you experience black stool and it is not from food or supplements, you should see your healthcare provider as soon as possible. While it's normal for bowel movements to vary from day to day depending on what you eat and drink, stool should generally be some shade of brown.

Stools should leave the body with little straining or discomfort, have a toothpaste-like consistency, and look more like a banana than a pencil. You shouldn't see mucus or blood. Be sure to see your healthcare provider right away if your stool is bright red, black, or pale, or if you have additional symptoms like abdominal pain. You should also see your healthcare provider if it is consistently thin or pencil-like, loose or watery, or accompanied by mucus or pus. Most day-to-day variations in the appearance of your stool have to do with what you eat or drink.

While the biggest concerns are unusual poop colors or shapes that persist, consult your healthcare provider if you're concerned about your stool, or if you notice any changes in your bowel habits or additional symptoms. A number of factors could be causing a change in your stool's color, shape, or consistency. Some factors are less concerning than others. For example, if you are constipated, if your stool is pebble-shaped, or if it sinks quickly, you may simply need to add more fiber to your diet.

However, keep in mind that seemingly harmless changes, like stool that is pencil-thin, can actually be a sign of a life-threatening condition. Since pencil-thin stool is also a sign of colon cancer, being able to recognize the change in shape may, in turn, help your healthcare provider make an early diagnosis.

Steatorrhea is defined as an increase in the amount of fat in stool. Steatorrhea can cause stool to float and appear pale or light-colored.

Its causes can include diseases affecting the small intestine, a bile acid deficiency, or celiac disease. Visible mucus in stool can indicate the presence of an underlying health condition. Causes for it can include ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome IBS , Crohn's disease, cystic fibrosis, constipation, dehydration, or a bacterial infection. Dark stool can be temporarily caused by certain foods, supplements, or medications.

Examples include Pepto-Bismol, iron supplements, or eating dark foods like blueberries, blackberries, and Oreo cookies. Dark stool usually isn't cause for concern unless it stays dark for an extended amount of time or becomes black and tar-like, which could indicate bleeding in the digestive tract.

Black stool can be a sign of bleeding in the upper digestive tract, including the stomach and small intestine. It can be caused by inflammation of the intestinal lining, abnormal blood vessels, stomach ulcers, and other issues.

If you notice this change in your stool, contact your healthcare provider right away. Occasionally checking the consistency and color of your poop can help you monitor your health.

The poop's color can simply be a sign of what you recently ate, or it could be an indication of a health issue. If your stool shows an unusual color or shape that persists over an extended amount of time, contact your healthcare provider so they can check it out. Gas pain? Stool issues? Sign up for the best tips to take care of your stomach.

Canadian Society of Intestinal Research. Small amounts of blood in the stool could mean hemorrhoids or gastrointestinal bleeding. Pale white, grey or clay-colored stools are also related to a lack of bile. White poops suggest liver or gallbladder problems that are making themselves known to you through your poo.

Have you been feasting on carrots and sweet potatoes lately? The topic of poop in relation to your health is never ending. You are what you eat, you poop what you eat, therefore you are what you poop, right?

The findings were as follows: Type 1 Hard, separate lumps that are hard and painful to pass. Type 2 Sausage-like and lumpy. Type 3 Sausage-like with cracks on the surface. Type 5 Soft blobs with clear-cut edges. Type 6 Mushy, lumpy poop with ragged edges can be an indication of intestinal inflammation.