Reasons Your Poop Might Turn Orange (and What to Do About It) (2024)

FAQs

Reasons Your Poop Might Turn Orange (and What to Do About It)? ›

While some unusual stool colors suggest a potential health problem, orange is usually a harmless and temporary color change. Typically, orange stool is caused by certain foods or food additives. Once they are digested, your stool should return to normal.

Diet. If a person notices their poop is suddenly orange, they should consider the food they have eaten that day or the day before. If they have consumed an excessive amount of beta-carotene or artificial dye, limiting the intake of these foods and drinks could stop the problem.

Rarely, poop can be orange if you have a problem with your liver that causes it to make less bile than normal, or a blockage that keeps bile from leaving the liver and entering your system. But usually, if this is the case, your poop will be pale or clay-colored.

In many cases, orange-colored poop is a temporary change triggered by consuming a lot of beta-carotene, a pigment found in many fruits, vegetables, and supplements. Once digested, your stool should return to its normal color. If orange-colored poop persists, reach out to your medical provider for more information.

The most common cause of bright red-colored stool in adults is bleeding from hemorrhoids. One of the most concerning causes is bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract.

If any other symptoms occur along with the orange color, or if it lasts more than a day or two, it's time to look into why it might be happening. Call a healthcare professional if you have any pain, diarrhea, constipation, or other symptoms such as dizziness or weakness.

Diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting. Foul-smelling fatty or oily stools. Pale or orange-colored stools. Chronic pancreatitis can lead to pancreatic cancer.

Consult your health care provider if you're concerned about your stool color. If your stool is bright red or black — which may indicate the presence of blood — seek prompt medical attention.

Anxiety does not specifically affect the color of stool, but it can affect how food moves through the digestive tract.

Mushy stool with fluffy pieces that have a pudding-shaped consistency is an early stage of diarrhea. This form of stool has passed through the colon quickly due to stress or a dramatic change in diet or activity level.

Why is my poop orange and oily? ›

People with keriorrhea will experience oily, orange bowel movements. The condition typically occurs after eating the indigestible wax esters in oilfish and escolar fish. Although it can be uncomfortable and unpleasant, a person with keriorrhea will likely recover at home without needing medical treatment.

Yellow stool can indicate that food is passing through the digestive tract relatively quickly. Yellow stool can be found in people with GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease). Symptoms of GERD include heartburn, chest pain, sore throat, chronic cough, and wheezing. Symptoms are usually worse when lying down or bending.

Orange: If you consume excess beta-carotene from supplements or produce, such as carrots, sweet potato, squash, some leafy greens, and some herbs, then your stool can appear orange. Yellow/Pale Brown/Grey: Bright yellow diarrhea can signify a condition known as Giardiasis (see sidebar).

The liver releases bile salts into the stool, giving it a normal brown color. You may have clay-colored stools if you have a liver infection that reduces bile production, or if the flow of bile out of the liver is blocked. Yellow skin (jaundice) often occurs with clay-colored stools.

IBD is a group of digestive conditions—like Crohn's disease, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and ulcerative colitis—that cause inflammation in the GI tract. This causes bowels to move through the digestive tract too quickly, which means it doesn't absorb enough bile to give it a brown color, and it may appear orange.

Frequency: The frequency can also be affected if you experience diarrhea or constipation. Effort: Stools may become more strained or painful. Shape: Diverticulitis stool shape is often thin and pellet-shaped, which is caused by distorted colon shape.

Normal stool color is brown. This is due to the presence of bile in the stool. Normal stool color can range from light yellow to brown to almost black. If stool is red, maroon, black, clay-colored, pale, yellow, or green this may signify a problem.

Some social media influencers are claiming that eating an orange (with its peel) topped with cayenne pepper and cinnamon can produce an instant bowel movement. Though whole oranges contain fiber and water, experts say they're not necessarily a quick fix for constipation.

What is an unhealthy stool color? Stool is typically brown in color. Other colors – such as red, black, yellow, green, orange, white, or pale – can indicate an underlying condition. A person should contact a doctor if they experience changes in the color of their bowel movements.