Normal stool color varies from brown to green. Your stool color might change based on changes in your diet, although color changes sometimes indicate a serious condition. Because of this, see your doctor if the abnormal stool colors are ongoing, especially if the color is black or bright red.
Black Stools
You might develop black stools if you eat an abundance of blueberries or green vegetables. Eating too much black licorice, chocolate and other dark-colored foods can also cause black stools. However, the black color might indicate blood in the stool or too much iron or acid in your blood. Certain medications also cause black stools. Talk to your doctor if you have black stools.
Additional Colors
Your stools can change to numerous colors of the rainbow, depending on the color of the food you eat. Large doses of beets, red dyes, tomato juice or tomato soup turn stools red. Your stools might turn green from an abundance of leafy green vegetables, iron supplements or green or purple food coloring. Shades of orange occur after you eat foods with beta carotene.
Health Conditions
Health conditions, instead of diet changes, often cause pale, yellow, gray, black or bright red stools, so talk to your doctor. Gallstones, hepatitis, cirrhosis of the liver, chronic pancreatitis, cholecystitis and giardia parasitic infection can all cause pale or gray stools. An intestinal bacterial infection and GERD elicit yellow stools. Chronic constipation, gastritis, upper digestive tract bleeding and internal tears or ulcers lead to black stools. Finally, anal fissures, hemorrhoids, colon cancer, diverticulitis and ulcerative colitis all cause red stools.
Stool Color in Babies
The color of babies' stools commonly changes based on dietary changes, explains Mayo Clinic emeritus consultant Jay L. Hoecker, M.D. During breast-feeding, babies often have yellow stools. Once they begin eating solid food, they might experience blue, red, orange or green stools based on their diet.
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