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Stool Health
December 2, 2009
There are a few ways you can naturally tell the health of your stool. Stool health can be determined by color, odor, and amount. The closer attention you pay to your stools, the better able you may be to determine if there is a problem or issue with your body.
The color of your stool is generally related directly to what you eat. Bile is a yellow-green liquid that is excreted by your liver. Bile digests fats in your stool. Usually bile travels in the gastrointestinal track and works with enzymes changing their color from green to brown. Any varying shade of brown is considered normal and means the bile is doing its job.
A red, maroon, or black stool can be serious. It can be an indication there is blood in the stool. You should make an appointment with your doctor if you have a red or black stool. A light grey stool is another stool color for which to take special care. Sometimes a light grey stool can be an indication of an ulcer or liver cancer.
Another determinant for good stool health is odor and consistency. When your body eliminates waste, it has usually been sitting in your colon for approximately three days. If the bile enzymes are doing their job you can expect the stool be odoriferous in an unpleasant way. Some people eliminate stool every day, or even 2-3 times a day, while others may only go once or twice a week. The important thing is that odor and amount are only a problem if it is something different than your usual bowel movements.
Good stool health is vital for the young and old alike. Keeping a close eye on your bowel movements is the first key to maintaining good overall health. Consistently checking your stool to make sure the color, odor and amount are your usual bowel movements is very important. When stools change, sometimes the answer is going to the doctor, but sometimes the answer is using a product to assist you in cleaning your colon. Being observant is the best way to ensure future stool health.
Dark Green Stool
Stool color is a great way to judge a person’s inner health. A dark green stool may seem alarming, but in most cases is nothing to worry about. A healthy stool is usually a yellowish brown color. This can change depending on what a person is ingesting. The stool itself is made up of 75% water and 25% is the actual food and bacteria our body processes. The 25% portion is where the different colored stools come in to play.
A person who has an occasional green stool that has a normal structure does not typically have anything to worry about. If the green stool is frequent or the stool is very loose a person may want to talk with their doctor. Diarrhea and fever may indicate there is something more serious that needs medical attention.
Eating a lot of green leafy vegetables like spinach can cause a person to have green stool. Typically, it is just one or two bowel movements that are affected, but depending on how much and how fast the body digests the food it could be several bowel movements. The coloring may also be a side effect from foods rich in food dyes as well.
Digestive problems may cause green stool. If a body is not properly digesting the food correctly, the food particles will not be absorbed into the intestines, leaving colored stools. Bile salts that are not properly processed through the intestines can also cause dark green stools.
Some antibiotics may cause the stool to change color. The bacterial levels are changed due to the introduction of a medicine and the stool color will most likely be affected. These stool color changes should only be temporary and subside when the medicine is stopped.
Other illnesses like celiac disease, irritable bowel syndrome and ulcerative colitis can cause green stool. These illnesses will need to be treated by a doctor. A person may also pass green stool if their body is starving, or just not getting the nutrients it needs.
For most green stool cases, the stool will pass on its own, and is not a cause for alarm. Some products can be used that will help clean the intestinal tract and clear up the green stool issue.
