What Should Your Poop Look Like?

Wondering if your digestive system is on track and healthy? Looking at your stool can give you some evidence. Here are a few color and shape guidelines to keep in mind.

What Does the Color of My Poop Mean?

• Brown and Snakelike

  A healthy poop will be dark brown with minimal other tones. It will often look like a snake or log while sinking to the bottom of the bowl.

• Beige or Yellow

  These fairly common shades, that often come with lumpy or floating stools, can indicate that something in your diet isn't being digested properly. Oftentimes, these shades can be caused by diseases like Crohn's or celiac, or an issue like lactose intolerance. However, if you don't have an intolerance, it could also be a sign of too much fatty food in your diet.

• Colorless, Clay-like, or Pale

  These shades are usually caused by liquid laxatives or medications that color aspects of your body before an X-ray. However, in some rare cases, regular poops with this shade can hint that the liver is not producing enough bile--which makes feces brown.

• Green, Orange, or Purple

  In most cases, this is a sign that you've been eating a lot of foods that naturally have one of these shades -- such as greens, blueberries, or carrots. 

• Red or Black

  While this can commonly be caused by red or dark-colored foods, regular occurrences could hint that it's from blood in your stool. If you regularly see these shades, or experience pain while defecating, be sure to call a doctor.

• Green or Black (with No Matching Foods)

  If you see green poop regularly or haven't been eating greens, you might want to consult a doctor to ensure the green feces isn't actually bile. Similarly, you should also call a doctor if you're seeing regular purple poop as it can be a sign of blood in the stool.