Feces with a green tint. Green feces in an adult - non-pathogenic and pathological causes, diagnosis and treatment methods

Green stool in an adult can be a serious cause for concern. The article examines the reasons for its appearance not only in conscious members of society, but also in newborn babies.

Depending on the content of bile pigment in a person’s stool, the color of the stool itself will change. This explains the fact that stool can be completely colorless or almost black. In addition, their color depends on the food we consume. In a healthy person, color is most often caused by eating foods rich in green dye. And the more green paint they contain, the more intense the color of the feces will be.

However, green stool in an adult can serve as a signal of various ailments of the stomach or intestines. Most often, this condition is caused by a disease of the small intestine - dysbiosis caused by long-term use of antibiotics. With such disturbances, due to the death of digestive microorganisms, fermentation and rotting intensify. As the body fights the emerging disease, a large number of dead leukocytes accumulate in the intestines. They are the ones that give stool a green color, accompanied by an unpleasant, putrid odor.

The appearance of symptoms such as green stool in an adult is the result not only of dietary errors, but also of some serious diseases. These include dysentery - an acute infectious disease accompanied by pain in the intestines, general malaise, nausea and vomiting. The disease is treated strictly in a hospital, under the supervision of a doctor. And finally, bleeding in various parts of the intestine can cause such an unpleasant factor as green stool in an adult. In this case, the color change occurs due to the destruction of iron molecules in red blood cells. In this case, obvious signs of anemia appear: weakness, pulse.

So, green stool in an adult can mean the development of the following diseases or their complications:

• dysbacteriosis;
• bleeding in the stomach or intestines;
• blood and liver diseases;
• enteritis.

In any case, if appropriate symptoms appear, you should visit a doctor.

Very often, young mothers are frightened by the appearance of green stool in their baby. There's nothing wrong with that. The color of stool in newborns changes from black to green, and after some time - from brown to yellow. This is due to the fact that the baby’s intestines contain meconium, which consists of particles of amniotic fluid swallowed by the baby in the mother’s womb. Meconium is excreted from the child’s body almost within 24 hours. By the end of the first week of life, the baby's green stools become brownish-green in color and become less viscous. After a couple of weeks it should have a yellowish-brown color and a mushy consistency.

In the case of full breastfeeding, a greenish tint to baby feces is the absolute norm. Their color is given by bilirubin, which is excreted in feces. Fluctuations in the amount of hormones in the mother’s milk can affect the consistency of the baby. Although stool in a newborn usually occurs, there is no need to worry about the appearance of green stool if the baby does not feel discomfort.

Green excrement can appear due to various reasons. For example, green poop can be caused by diet, namely the consumption of certain foods that cause colored stool. Also, this phenomenon may be associated with certain diseases that cause disruptions in the functioning of vital systems. In any case, you need to always be on guard, know the causes and treatment of this phenomenon.

Important! It is possible to accurately find out the true cause of the deviation only after the results of the relevant studies have been submitted and received.

If green feces were noticed in an adult once, this does not mean that it is necessary to sound the alarm. Often the color changes due to the foods consumed. For example, with excessive consumption of certain grains, which are difficult for the body to digest, the stool may turn green, and this phenomenon persists for several days.

To digest grains that have a dense shell, the body needs to produce bile in large quantities so that the process of breaking down food is more productive. The enzyme promotes this and produces greenish-colored stool.

Some products contain special pigments that can change the color of excrement. This factor is associated with an excess of iron in food. Therefore, this phenomenon should not be regarded as a disease.

Color may be affected by:

1. Frequent consumption of spinach, cucumbers, sorrel, lettuce, dill, and other foods that have a pronounced green color.
2. Eating caramels, marmalade and other foods that contain a high level of food coloring. They can even cause stool that is dark green in color.
3. If foods contain chlorophyll, the color of the stool will also change. After eating seaweed, this phenomenon can persist for up to 3 days.
4. Red meat, fish, and red beans in some cases also contribute to the coloration of stool.

Pigments tend to persist in the human body for up to 5 days. That is, it is possible that even after a person stops eating all of the above foods, the color of the stool will still remain unchanged.

Important: If an adult notices that he has green poop, and the phenomenon is accompanied by mucus discharge, then this becomes a reason to think about his health. This symptom may already indicate that there are problems in the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract.

The reasons for the appearance of green stool are usually divided into two classifications:

• physiological;
• pathological.

Let's look at them more specifically.

Physiological reasons

In this case, excrement changes its color as a result of human consumption of certain foods - this has already been written above. This does not threaten your health, but in any case, any adult should know exactly what foods the stool can change color after. If products contain coloring substances (for example, iron), this all affects the color.

A person may develop dark green stools when consuming dietary supplements and certain pharmacological drugs. Let's list them:

• laxative teas, capsules, the composition of which is of plant origin;
• medications containing iodine;
• glucose, sorbitol, etc.;
• complexes of minerals and vitamins;
• preparations containing seaweed.

In this case, the reasons for green feces are obvious, and this condition does not threaten human health.

Pathological causes

Sometimes it happens that green stool appears as a result of certain pathologies. If an adult notes that the phenomenon is accompanied by high fever, abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, it is necessary to contact a specialist as soon as possible to make a diagnosis. Only an experienced gastroenterologist can answer the question exactly why the stool has a greenish color after receiving the results of the patient’s tests.

Important: If you notice that black-green stool has appeared, and you have not eaten foods that can change its color, you cannot engage in self-diagnosis! It is necessary to go to the hospital as soon as possible, as this condition can be dangerous.

We list the main diseases that are accompanied by this pathology:

1. Crohn's disease.
2. Infectious diseases - for example, enterocolitis. In this case, not only will the color of the stool change, but blood or mucus may also be present.
3. Internal bleeding. If it is not strong, the patient may notice that the stool has a black-green tint. If the bleeding is severe, then the excrement becomes black.
4. Allergy to certain foods. In this case, it can be noted that the stool contains parts of undigested food with mucus, and accordingly, the stool in adults (its color) also changes.
5. With a stomach ulcer, this phenomenon can also be noted.
6. Rotavirus infection. Requires immediate attention to an infectious diseases hospital, especially if symptoms appear in a child. The symptoms are as follows: feces with mucus are released, it has an unpleasant odor. In this case, the general condition worsens sharply, and symptoms of intoxication appear.

If you notice green poop and there are accompanying symptoms, you should not delay going to the doctor.

Possible complications and diseases

Dysentery. This disease may be accompanied by symptoms:

• hyperthermia;
• temperature increase;
• nausea;
• feeling of weakness;
• vomit;
• severe abdominal pain.

If green stool in an adult persists for several days for no apparent reason, and the above symptoms appear, you need to consult an infectious disease specialist. If the phenomenon is accompanied by a putrid odor, sudden weight loss, and diarrhea, this state of affairs already indicates the presence of E. coli and other pathological microorganisms.

Dysbacteriosis. It occurs not only in children, but also in adults. Accompanied by belching, bloating, and upset bowel movements. Increased gas formation and green stools in adults are also present. All these symptoms are caused by a violation of the microflora. As a result, beneficial microorganisms gradually die and are replaced by pathogenic microflora. During the exacerbation of the disease, a high number of leukocytes is observed. As a result of such changes, the intestines cannot digest food normally. This provokes its fermentation and rotting. Components are released that cause green poop to appear.

Intestinal infections. Cholera, dysentery - all these diseases are considered infectious. In any case, the patient will have a high fever and nausea accompanied by vomiting. The person is weakened, there are abdominal pains, aches throughout the body, headache, chills, etc.

Internal bleeding. Occurs due to exacerbation of peptic ulcer disease, or when oncological tumors appear in one of the sections of the gastrointestinal tract. The process of iron oxidation starts after blood enters the stomach. If the masses are not completely oxidized, then green feces will appear. Standard symptoms of bleeding: decreased blood pressure, pale skin, severe shortness of breath, tachycardia. This condition can threaten the patient's life.

Hepatitis. All pathological processes closely related to liver diseases lead to massive decomposition of red blood cells. In this case, the liver does not have enough hemoglobin, as a result of which bilirubin begins to be produced. This pigment contributes to the appearance of a greenish tint in stool. The same phenomenon is sometimes observed in blood diseases.

Allergy. It often happens that a person has a food allergy – that is, some foods are intolerable to the body. This factor causes the development of an inflammatory process, resulting in the release of green stool.

All of the above diseases require mandatory consultation with a doctor, since such conditions can not only harm health, but in some cases even threaten a person’s life.

What diagnostic measures are prescribed?

If greenish-colored stool appears in an adult, the doctor will definitely prescribe examinations and studies.

After deciphering stool tests in an adult, the doctor prescribes treatment. It will directly depend on the cause of the deviation; the regimen for each patient is selected separately.

If color changes were caused by food products, simply reconsider your diet. Eat greens and cucumbers in smaller quantities, do not overuse grains and red meat, and avoid foods that contain large amounts of dyes. Do not forget that greenish-colored stool will persist for some time. In order to remove harmful substances from the body, you can take Atoxil, Smecta, Regidron, etc.

If an adult has green stool, the reasons for this phenomenon may be different, and without undergoing appropriate tests they cannot be determined. A deviation from the norm may indicate an infectious disease - in this case, self-medication is strictly contraindicated.

If you notice that the stool has turned greenish, with high fever, diarrhea and weakness, you need to know what to do in such situations. Diarrhea causes the body to become dehydrated. The consistency and volume of the blood changes, minerals and salts are washed out - all this leads to the fact that the patient will feel even worse. In order to restore losses, you need to add one teaspoon of sugar and salt to each liter of water.

If the patient is vomiting and has green stools, the stomach needs to be rinsed in order to free it from food. To do this, drink a large amount of warm boiled water until the urge to vomit appears (you can make a very weak solution of potassium permanganate).

If the patient not only has greenish-colored stool, but also vomits, he needs to refuse food altogether for a while. In principle, if you have such symptoms, you need to follow a strict diet. Under no circumstances should you prescribe treatment for yourself, much less take various medications. With dysbacteriosis, for example, the picture can be significantly aggravated.

Do not neglect your health, consult a doctor at the first symptoms that worry you!

In some cases, the body gives alarming signals about health conditions that are difficult to ignore. These, for example, include green feces.

The chemical composition of feces, and therefore their appearance, depends on the composition of food and bile entering the intestines. In bile, in this case, the effect on the color of stool depends on the bilirubin level. in it.

Causes of dark green stool

If there are more than just isolated cases, it’s worth considering. Rather, about the state of your internal organs.

The simplest cause of green stool is chemical dyes, and not necessarily green. Often, feces with a greenish tint are formed in the summer when consuming large amounts of various greens.

However, the reason may lie deeper, for example, it may be in the pancreas, which produces a number of enzymes for the absorption of nutrients. Violation of its functions will certainly manifest itself in the color of the stool.

With diseases of the small intestine, long-term use of antibiotics and subsequent dysbacteriosis, the appearance of green stool is very possible. An additional symptom is an unpleasant putrid odor. The green color appears here in the stool due to the presence of many dead leukocytes that accumulate in the intestines during acute inflammation.

What does dark green stool indicate?

If the intestinal microflora is disturbed, measures should be taken to get rid of it. With dysbacteriosis, normal digestion of food in the small intestine is disrupted, and processes of rotting or fermentation develop, which produce substances that give stool a greenish color.

Green feces are a frequent companion to intestinal infections, including dysentery. Additionally, patients experience standard signs of an infectious disease, such as increased body temperature, vomiting, nausea, general weakness and various abdominal pains.

Dark green stool can also occur when bleeding from various places in the intestines or stomach. This can happen due to complicated or oncological reasons. The green color here comes from the products of incomplete oxidation of iron, which is part of red blood cells. When bleeding from the stomach area, the stool becomes black; this is the so-called tarry stool or melena, the color of which comes from the products of complete oxidation of iron in the blood. Additional signs of bleeding from any part of the gastrointestinal tract are symptoms of increasing anemia, such as decreased blood pressure, rapid pulse, severe weakness, shortness of breath and pallor.

If you have liver and blood diseases, you should also expect the appearance of green stool. This color is provided by the massive breakdown of red blood cells from hemoglobin in the liver, which produces an excessive amount of bilirubin, which exhibits the properties of a pigment that gives stool a dark green or dark brown color.

Even a layman understands that with such a variety of options, only a specialist can make a diagnosis. And a correct and timely diagnosis is halfway to a cure.

There is no need to panic if you periodically observe green stool during bowel movements. In most cases, there is a simple explanation that is not related to health problems. Green stool is generally within the range of normal stool color. The green color of stool is most likely due to the foods that were eaten or the vitamins or supplements that were taken over the past few days - even if these drugs or foods themselves are not green in color.

Purple, black, or other dark colors in foods can also affect the color of stool, making it appear green. But green diarrhea, especially if it continues for several days, should alert you. In this case, it is better to consult a doctor.

Why is an adult's stool green?

There are several non-medical causes of green stool.

Eating green foods. The first and most obvious cause of green stool is eating green foods. Green leafy vegetables contain chlorophyll, which can turn stool green. Green food coloring is also a common cause of green stool.

Purple Products. Foods that are dark purple in color, such as soda, ice cream, and gelatin (jelly) can also lead to greenish or greenish stools.

Iron-rich foods and supplements. Iron supplements or foods that are rich in iron can give stool a green tint.

Foods, dyes and additives that can cause green stool:

• Spinach, cabbage and other green vegetables;
• Blueberry;
• Juices of green vegetables or fruits or their fresh juice;
• Green or purple food coloring in drinks, ice cream, cake, frosting, blue drink and other foods;
• Diarrhea drug Pedilite (stool will be bright green);
• Foods that contain the green pigment chlorophyll, including algae and grasses such as wheatgrass, spirulina, barley, kelp and chlorella, can also cause temporary green stool;
• Nutritional supplements containing chlorophyll;
• Iron supplements and iron-fortified foods, including baby foods, are another cause of green stool.

When these foods, dyes and additives are eliminated from the diet, stool should return to normal color within a day.

When is green stool an indicator of health problems?

We are accustomed to thinking that the color of normal stool is brown, with some variations. However, the bile that is secreted in the upper parts of the small intestine is green. As the bolus of food passes through the digestive tract and through the large intestine, it changes and turns dark brown.

If the bolus is still green by the time it leaves the body during a bowel movement, it has passed through the large intestine too quickly to turn brown. This is called "express transit" or "reduced colonic transit time." The rapid transit of a bolus of food will “produce” green feces at the exit. And therefore, we are more likely to see green stool with diarrhea than with properly formed stool. Food that passes through the digestive system so quickly does not have enough time for water to be absorbed into the large intestine, resulting in diarrhea.

In these cases, it is advisable to add soluble fiber to the diet to slow down the transit time. Soluble fiber can be obtained naturally by eating foods such as oats, peas and other legumes, rye, barley, vegetables and fruits (prune compote, bananas, berries, carrots, apples, pears, root vegetables, plantain seeds).

The fact of green diarrhea requires mandatory consultation with a doctor, especially if it is accompanied by other symptoms, or the green color can in no way be explained by the use of any product or drug.

Conditions that may cause green stool:

• The use of laxatives, both pharmaceutical and herbal, such as Senna, buckthorn, rhubarb;
• Food poisoning;
• Celiac disease;
• Watery diarrhea caused by Clostridium difficile (for example, after antibiotics);
• Side effects of medications (such as ciprofloxacin, antidepressants, Zantac);
• Ulcerative colitis;
• Crohn's disease;
• Malabsorption;
• Irritable bowel syndrome;
• Increase in bacterial mass;
• Infectious diarrhea - especially Salmonella and Giardia;
• Traveler's diarrhea;
• Transplant rejection;
• Alcohol consumption – ethanol stimulates intestinal motility.

Green stool in babies

When breastfeeding babies, green stool is normal, especially in the first days after birth, and there is no cause for alarm. Infants' stools will begin to gradually change to yellow and then brown as a variety of foods are added to the diet.

In older children, the cause of green stool may be related to food, as described above, or even non-food items. If a child has a habit of holding objects in his mouth, such as a pencil or felt-tip pen, paint can enter the digestive tract and turn the stool green.

In what cases should you consult a doctor?

If green stool lasts more than a few days, or there are disturbances in bowel habits, you should consult your doctor. This is especially true if you have diarrhea, which can indicate other problems and lead to dehydration. And it is also necessary to meet with a doctor if there is pain in the abdomen, nausea, vomiting along with green feces.