The color of your bowel movements, or stools, can change every day, but normally it's some shade of brown. Mustard yellow or pale stools in adults may indicate certain health conditions or may be due to medication. Babies may have yellow stools, especially when they're just a few days old.
Pale Bowel Movements
Pale stools can be caused by an obstructed bile duct, which reduces the amount of bile present in your bowel movement. Bile gives bowel movements their normal brown color. Certain medications can also cause pale stools, including bismuth subsalicylate, which is found in Kaopectate and Pepto-Bismol, and and other drugs used to treat diarrhea. Speak to your doctor if you have pale or yellow stools.
Causes of Bile Obstruction
Your liver makes bile to help digest fats. Bile is stored in the gallbladder and released through the bile duct when it's needed. Diseases and conditions that obstruct the bile duct or decrease production of bile include hepatitis, biliary cirrhosis, liver tumors, bile duct cysts, gallstones and structural problems of the gallbladder or bile duct that occur at birth.
Infant Stool
Infants may have mustard-colored bowel movements that are perfectly normal. Three days after birth, most breast-fed babies have yellow to brown soft bowel movements. Two or three days later, their stools turn to yellow or yellow-green. Infants who are formula fed typically have pale brown sticky bowel movements, but their stools may be yellow or tan or even have a greenish color.
Other Stool Colors
Normal adult bowel movements are light to dark brown in color, but the color can change based upon diet and health. Green bowel movements can occur when food moves through the intestinal tract too quickly, especially with greens and green vegetables; green food coloring can also cause them. Black stools can indicate bleeding in the intestinal tract, but can also occur from iron supplements. Red stools can be caused by rectal bleeding or red food coloring. Speak to your doctor if you have green, black or red stools not caused by food coloring.
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