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Call To American Families: FOCUS ON HEALTH!
There's been some talk about the importance of removing vending machines (with junk food) from schools, labeling fast food items with nutrition information, etc...all in an effort to make a dent in the child obesity epidemic taking place in the U.S.
But, let me tell you...it's going to take a lot more than making vending machines vanish to turn this fast moving train around.
It seems this younger generation is the "virtual" generation because instead of physically playing baseball, many are playing it on the computer or Gameboy. Instead of walking down the street to chat with their school friend, they are typing the words on their phone or computer.
According to Dr. Reginald Washington, a pediatrician on the American Academy of Pediatrics Childhood Obesity Committee, there are many different societal factors conspiring to make American kids fat...from more time sitting in front of computers and TV to larger portion sizes, abundant fast food restaurants, and vending machines in schools. Washington warns that unless we make changes in all of these areas, including children's homes, we probably won't see changes in child obesity rates.
Families can start by focusing on health. Think about how often your family sits down to a healthy home cooked meal? Are fruits and vegetables plentiful and enjoyed in your home? How often do you drive through fast food restaurants in a week? Is your family drinking beverages that contribute important nutrients or just calories? How many hours do the kids spend in front of the television or computer?
~~Elaine
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: child obesity, family health, health and wellness
But, let me tell you...it's going to take a lot more than making vending machines vanish to turn this fast moving train around.
It seems this younger generation is the "virtual" generation because instead of physically playing baseball, many are playing it on the computer or Gameboy. Instead of walking down the street to chat with their school friend, they are typing the words on their phone or computer.
According to Dr. Reginald Washington, a pediatrician on the American Academy of Pediatrics Childhood Obesity Committee, there are many different societal factors conspiring to make American kids fat...from more time sitting in front of computers and TV to larger portion sizes, abundant fast food restaurants, and vending machines in schools. Washington warns that unless we make changes in all of these areas, including children's homes, we probably won't see changes in child obesity rates.
Families can start by focusing on health. Think about how often your family sits down to a healthy home cooked meal? Are fruits and vegetables plentiful and enjoyed in your home? How often do you drive through fast food restaurants in a week? Is your family drinking beverages that contribute important nutrients or just calories? How many hours do the kids spend in front of the television or computer?
~~Elaine
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: child obesity, family health, health and wellness
121 Comments:
It all boils down to the parents and their lifestyle choices. They could replace all the vending machines with brown rice and tofu... but what good will it do if the child goes home and eats garbage the rest of the time. The best time to start is when children are very young.
I don't know where to ask my question. Hopefully you can help me. My son is 17yrs old and has occasionally green stools. He doesn't eat green veggies and doesn't drink anything green. What makes his poo green and what should he do about it? Thank you, Concerned Mom
Dear Anonymous,
I'm commenting about your sons green stools. This happened to me, a 21 yr old living with us and my boys. I narrowed it down to the sugar cereal Fruit loops, Fruity Pebbles and cereals that are colorful like that. It must be the food coloring they use. When we quit eating them, we were all back to normal :) Hopefully that helps tho' I'm not sure if he's eating those things, but it was worth a "shot".
I just think it's sad and ironic that parents now have to be told things that used to be basic common sense...i.e., let your kids play, don't get on the computer, model good eating habits, etc. I'm not that old a fogey, but I make sure my 4 boys play everyday, and we don't even have any computer games. They don't even miss them.
i had thanksgiving dinner and eat nothing green and had no cereal but my stool is green. what would cause this?
hello... i just recently pooed right now and my poo was green. i dont recall eating anything green on thanksgiving..i was kinda weirded out this afternoon and thought it will just go away later tonight ..,but its still green..was there something in the turkey?
If someone can answer that question i would be grateful. I also have had green poo recently.
There's nothing unhealthy about green 'poo'. It just means you may have had a lot of sugar or food coloring (in particular, anything purple, despite the greenish color).
The color will change as your diet changes.
I don't agree with what any of you have said, including Dr. Eben. I have had a problem for over a week with constipation/diarrhea and green stool being the most recent. My 5 year old will also occasionally have green stool. I would like more accurate information. I have read here on webmd.com that green stool can be an indication of an abnormal stool test. I think is sounds awfully judgmental of Dr. Eben to say that parents are responsible for what color their child's stool is.
I have had green stools for the past 24 hours and i can't figure out why. I haven't eaten anything with a lot of food coloring so i don't think that is the problem
i have recently have had a green bm...lime green.i was shocked when i discovered that. i have no idea what caused that. i dont eat or drink anything green or colored green. i also dont consume much sugar or eat a lot of junk food. anyone have any ideas as to what caused this?
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stool-color/AN00772
I have recently given up sweets and for the past week my poo has been green. I am very curious about what is causing this.
i have heard that when a stool paases too quickly thorugh your body it is green. That all poo will be green and if it does not stay in the colon for long enough then it will remain green
As bile makes its way through the intestines, it progressively changes color from green to yellow to brown, due to the action of bacteria in the large intestine on the bile salts.
Green stool often indicates that food has passed through the intestines faster than normal (called decreased bowel transit time), before it could be changed from green to brown.
Diarrhea decreases bowel transit time, so any condition that causes diarrhea can result in green stool.
Other causes of green stool include:
Laxative use
Antibiotic use
Medication side effects
Food poisoning
Celiac disease
Ulcerative colitis
Crohn's disease
Malabsorption
Irritable bowel syndrome
Bacterial overgrowth
Infectious diarrhea - especially salmonella and giardia
Traveler's diarrhea
Cancer
Foods and supplements that can cause green stool include:
Chlorophyll
Iron supplements
Algae
All three of my children have been having green stools for a while now & I couldn't figure out what was causing it. After checking this site I became more scared than comforted. My children eat the same foods that my wife & I do, but we don't experience this. Finally my wife came to the realization that are children drink colored juice instead of tea or water like we do. Just remember, it's not just what you eat, but what you drink as well.
green poo seems to be a common topic in my family lately. My kids, wife, myself and even my inlaws are all having the same problem. For me its been 2 weeks and just recently for others. I have no idea whats goning on ... some days it will go back to brown and then change to green the next day.. can some help out here
Once, I ate a cake that had blue dye in it - a simple birthday cake. After eating the cake, I had green poo for a couple of days. I was concerned about it like the rest of you are. Then, my father and sister had it as well but my mother never got it. We realized that we were the only three that had eaten that cake. Once it had passed through our system (and I guess we ate too much of it as it took a while), everything was back to normal. Blue dye can cause it as well.
I have had green stools for the past 2 days. The only thing I can think of that is different in my diet is I ate some red gummy bears and red-raspberry flavored Valentine candy. But why would red candy turn my stools green? I have no other symptoms.
Reply to anonymous about the cake: thank you! That must have been my problem. My son's birthday cake had a ton of blue icing and I ate some, but I don't eat a lot of junk food at all. My son eats healthy too but he never got it, which was a little weird, until I realized we had scraped all the icing off his slice because he doesn't like icing. I read the article and I was a bit confused and thought it might be something else. Thanks for helping me out with that... I guess you have to be really picky which watching what you eat!
Well, my stool was also green. i read all the comments, and I figured out that mine was becuase of laxative use, and i found that website with the stool comparissons very helpful.
All of my life I was told green stools were a flu bug in your stomach. remember the old flu strain of the 70s where we vomited, ran a fever and had diarhea. it was always green stool.I usually just eat hot,hot peppers and the bug in my stomach causing the green stools goes away. it really works.
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
This is all too funny! So many different reasons. I have also gotten concerned with my green poo! The only thing that I can think of that I have changed lately is that I have been eating black licorace everyday! It is comforting to know that others out there are experiencing the same problems and it looks like there are so many reasons for this.
Ok well I have joined the green pooh searchers of why this is happening to us. I went from dark almost blackish green to much brighter green in about three days. But I have been eating tons of salads all my life so why the change now? Recent travel stress? Or maybe it's the bag of fruit gummies that apparently have food coloring in them? Or, maybe just a bit of irritated bowels? Guess I will just wait it out to see if anything else turns green. :)
I was doing some research today to find out why my poo is green and read down through the comments and then it dawned on me that I had been eating black licorice the day before. those who have teenagers might want to ask them if they went on a black licorice binge. Too funny.
I have had alot of experience with green vowel movements, myself and my children included.
When you consume anything purple, this will make your movement green... Like the reverse color of a film negative.
Grape juice, grape koolaid, power aid, blue corn chips (which are purple) etc.
This is nothing to worry about.
Interesting read! I think the best way to start promoting healthy eating in children is removing sweets and sodas from schools! Five to ten (depending on if the children are eating both breakfast and lunch) are eaten at school every week. Children will hopefully pick up healthier eating habits this way for the rest of their lives, also! You can find some additional interesting reading over at the Dietary Supplement Information Bureau page on childhood obesity.
I have had green stools for the past two days but I have not been eating anything out-of-the-ordinary or strongly dyed foods. We're not talking that brown-green, it looks almost like algae! The only thing that has happened in the same time period would be me breaking my toe, but I doubt any relation. Other than that, I was prescribed a newer medication, but that was about three weeks ago.
For me it's from Fruit Loops. Just like another person said. Some of you guys freaking out is pretty funny. Green Poo, OMG, its going to kill my children!!
So many personal experiences here, I doubt there is a common thread. I recently went on a fishing trip offshore, the coast of NC - took home about 30 lbs. of Mahi Mahi. Now, every time I eat the fish for dinner, the next day I have green stool, of varying shades; dark green is the latest. After reading about the various possible dietary causes of this, I wonder if the fish doesn't have excess iron, or if that is even possible.
Good luck in your search....
i have had green stool for 2 days -green as grass stains. i have been drinking alot of cheap grape soda latley i bet thats it your not always dying when something happens you know -god bless
I had a bronchoscopy on Thursday. Instructed not to eat after 12 midnight the night before procedure. By 6 pm after the procedure, I had a baked potato (nothing green). I have had a semi loose GREEN bowel up to today, Saturday. I have had nothing green.
i also have been drinking grape soda and it turn my stool green.
LOL there are a lot of reasons but I just realized, like other licorice eaters, that I have had a rather large amount of licorice only it wasn't black it WAAAAAAS blue. So duh double whammy right there. Hellllllllllo GREEN POO! But it was like Forest Green.. really dark and I found it totally bizarre.. I was almost afraid to eat a salad lol. Thanks All.
After reading everyone's helpful comments I have determined that my family's recent trip to a local amusement park complete with a blueberry-coconut snow cone and the red, white and BLUE cotton candy were the root cause of my green stool. Which, by the way, had me a little freaked. Thanks to all.
On the subject of green poo, I have had it quite consistently for some time. After reading the comments of other on this site, I am thinking it is the blueberries that I have been eating for my breakfast everyday. Could this be true?
yeah, i drank a huge 40oz "Black Monster" energy drink slurpee from 7-11 yesterday, that dye was amazingly intense and kept my mouth colored for hours. I wiped and going poo and i noticed leprechaun green marks on my toilet paper and thought i must of set my toilet paper down in something green, then i looked down in the toilet and the whole bowl of water was a bright lime almost neon green and the stools were a deep beautiful green as well. I definately think it was the slurpee.
I have noticed my poo turning green the last couple of weeks. I read this thread and thought it about it for a while and realized that , a couple weeks ago, i developed a fascination with the blue Power-Aid. I drink a bottle of it almost everyday, and wonder if that might be whats causing it..
the past couple of days ive been having green stool.I am concerned because i have had 12 bleeding ulcers last summer to which I threw up blood and was hospitalized.Is their any specific reason for mt stool being that color. also Ive been having pain in my lower back sides.Can you please explain this?
Black licorice + red licorice = electric green stools. Thank you for the info. I was definitely concerned the past couple of days
Just so its said twice and others can benefit. I have had green stools for 3 days now. And the onloy thing I changed about my diet is that 3 days ago I had a "Monster" Energy Slushee from 7-11 wich is a dark purple dye. I too think this was the cause. Dont know why its lasted three days but I assume the dye has found a way to hang out in my stomach or intestine. At least I hope its that simple.
So y'all know, it is certainly The Monster Slurpee's for those of you that have had them. I noticed a green stool the other day, but didn't think much of it because I know it happens occassionally. Today it happened again and I got a little anxious, but reading this thread and thinking back to all the things I ate yesterday, I realized I'd had a monster slurpee about the time of the last green stool and last night. Don't be worried. :)
This topic could be the funniest thing i have read in a long time! i wasnt shocked when i saw the "GREEN POO", but my fiance was. yeah, i had to show her. thats why im on here. good luck to you all and your "GREEN POO". by the way, it was grape powerade that caused my "GREEN POO".
I almost had a heart attack a couple minutes ago, but I guess I'm not the only one who is freaked out by their green poo!
I'm thinking that my mass consumption of figs over the past week and a half may have something to do with it. I don't eat a lot of purple food, but I'm going to lessen my sugar intake. Thanks, y'all.
I know this is an old thread, but I am SO relieved it is out there! I was terrified by the bright green color! I had been under a lot of stress and suffer from IBS, but this was totally new. The only thing different in my diet was that I had taken my stepchildren to the boardwalk and we boug a bunch of multi-colored/flavored licorice...some being purple and blue. After reading how many people tagged licorice and gummies, I am now convinced (and relieved!) that is what it was! Thanks all!
Ahh, thanks everyone. I bet those 2 pints of blueberries in two days did the trick! I'm so relieved to know I'm not dying! :)
I also appreciated the post suggesting decreased bowel transit time as a cause of green stools. I have been bingeing on a summer harvest of fruit: cherries, blueberries, bananas, kiwis, home-made strawberry ice cream, grapefruit, tangerine and valencia orange juices, red grapes. YUM! No wonder I am experiencing decreased transit time...
Yep blueberries did it for me, too. They were in season and on sale. I ate quite a few over the past couple days.
i ate some chocolate cake with green and blue icing and had dark green bm
for one day... i am undergoing other medical tests at this time..but unsure at the moment if it was the dye in the cake icing...
This answer comes from Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist Michael Picco, M.D.,
Hopes this helps.
Stool comes in a range of colors. All shades of brown and even green are considered normal. Only rarely does stool color indicate a potentially serious intestinal condition.
Stool color is generally influenced by what you eat as well as by the amount of bile — a yellow-green fluid that digests fats — in your stool. As bile pigments travel through your gastrointestinal tract, they are chemically altered by enzymes — changing the pigments from green to brown.
Consult your doctor 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.
Stool color What it may mean Possible dietary causes
Green Food is moving through the large intestine too quickly, such as due to diarrhea. As a result, bile doesn't have time to break down completely. Green leafy vegetables, green food coloring, such as in Kool-Aid or popsicles, iron supplements.
Light-colored, white or clay-colored A lack of bile in stool. This may indicate a bile duct obstruction. Certain medications, such as large doses of bismuth subslicylate (Kaopectate, Pepto-Bismol) and other anti-diarrheal drugs.
Yellow, greasy, foul-smelling Excess fat in the stool, such as due to a malabsorption disorder. Sometimes the protein gluten, such as in celiac disease. But see a doctor for evaluation.
Black Bleeding in the upper gastrointestinal tract, such as the stomach. Iron supplements, bismuth subsalicylate (Kaopectate, Pepto-Bismol), black licorice.
Bright red Bleeding in the lower intestinal tract, such as the large intestine or rectum. Red food coloring, beets, cranberries, tomato juice or soup, red Jell-O or Kool-Aid.
I have had dirrahea and stomach cramping for about 4 days my stool started light green and now it dark green to almost black . What should I do ?
Signed Jokeraspcobra
I cannot believe how many people experience "green poo" and feel so comfortable discussing it in a public forum. Thanks for a laugh so hard I almost cried. By the way, I do not suffer from green poo and at least once in my life have eaten each of the foods mentioned. Do you think there's something wrong with me?
Who would have thought there could so much discussion about a green stool? But, when you have it, it's scary. The comments helped me immensely - I ate a snow cone yesterday with blue food coloring. As a result of your answers, I feel much better. Thanks to all of you.
I was scared sh#$tless when I had green stool. I also had the Black/Purple Monster slushie from 7-11. Layton - I think we found our cause. Good luck to the rest of you.
I am reading this post because I just passed a dark green stool. It has never happened to me before. I have been eating my normal diet. The only thing that is uncommon for me that may have caused this is the bottle and a half of merlot I drank yesterday. I was drunk, woke up with a hang over then later had a green bowel movement. Was it the red wine?
That garden grass colored green stool has had me freaked out for the last few days too before I read all of your helpful comments. Looks like that purple koolaid I was drinking all last week is the culprit.
It started a few days after I started drinking the koolaid, and has continued for 3 days now.. good to know I'm not dying or anything :).
dxnwmIts fine!!! Gatorade usually does it no matter what the color!!!!
everyone is making me feel better...first couple days thought it was something i must have eaten...a week later...worried. but realized i have had fruity pebbles everyday which has a ton of food coloring...must be it!
None of this makes me feel any better I have had dark green loose stools for well over two months now along with stomach pain and occaisional vomiting. Recently I tried changing my diet to see if that would change anything. I havent had any sweets or food coloring or liquorish or any other food cause listed in above comments and I have even been drinking only water. Still no change. also I have noticed that occasionally there where undigested food peices still with the dark green coloring.
please anyone with an answer help or anything close to an answer
signed stevo
Oh my gosh! I am so glad I found this blog. I had a couple of blue corn tortillas yesterday and my poo has been grass green for 2 days now. I was worried as hell but this explains it. Weird huh?!
I'm having problems with green stools too...I was really worried thinking that I had some kind of infection. I never even thought that the licorice I had the other day could have done it. Black licorice - who would have known.
The day after you drink alcoholic beverages could also result in a lime green stool.
Too funny, my entire extended family went out for a birthday dinner last night and now several of us have green stools. We ate blue corn tortillas with crab dip,as an appetizer, seafood as the meal and finished it off with birthday cake with lots of blue icing.. We were about to call the health department and complain about red lobster. Glad I came here first!
Oh what a relief all these comments have had on me. My 3 year old had such vibrant green stool yesterday.. If I hadn't known better, I would have thought he put playdough in the toilet.
He did have a few gummy bears yesterday, so that must be the culprit. Drat my mother in law was right... fortunately it was my husband who gave him the gummy bears.
nskelI had the flu shot 1 week ago. From the time I received the flu shot my poo has been green, urine a bright yellow and very nauseated, other symptoms also. Is this normal for a flu shot?
What should I do? I watch a two year child. i was changing his diaper when I realized that his poo was actually almost a blue color. I am kinda freaked out right now.
that is SO funny! I was really wierded out to see LIME GREEN but it turns out I ate too many blue corn chips. I can't believe purple dye makes neon green....
my 3 year old daughter has lime green poop as well. Would lima beans have anything to do with it?
Although I have not had a green poo experience, for the the longest time it was a competishion in our family to be the first one with the floting stool. as you know fiber is gets more inportent as you get older to have in your diet. My grandfather had started this saying "chocolate ice cream has more fiber." Benefiber dose not help it seems just keep a balenced diet and hopfully there will be no more green poo for any of you.
Thanks for the different comments about green poo...I experienced the same thing, but after reading the comments, I found the reason why: cheap grape soda!!!Thanks again...
I just read most of the comments. I hope my green stools are being caused by the Lucky Charms Ive been eating...but I'm still gonna eat them.
My 3 year old son has had solid dark green poo for 3 days and I never give him artificial colors, flavors or preservatives.
We are very health conscious, so this is a concern to me.
He hasn't had any grape juice or iron supplements either.
The only other symptom he has is a runny nose, so until he gets a tummy ache or fever I will just wait and see what happens.
Does anyone have a suggestion as to why my 3 yr old would have had a whitish colored poo?
I had way too many bottles of red wine....with the exact same green result, keep it in mind
thanks for the comments. I realized that my 6 six year old son green poo was due to grape juice.
i woke up one morning and my poo was FOREST GREEN. i have had green in the past but i have never seen this color poo my whole life so i was concerned. after looking on this website i found that the cake with blue icing that i ate last night before i went to bed was the culprit. i feel much better now.
I had never heard anyone mention 'green stool', so when I typed it into the search on Webmd and found so many comments, I was surprised and somewhat relieved. At least I'm not the only person to experience this.
Since it has been going on for a few weeks, I am still going to discuss it with my doctor.
i come on the website quite often when i get bored to learn sumthin new i must admit i was more intrigued than scared or freaked when i realized that 6 hours after drinking 40 oz. of grape gatorade will turn ur poo green gods i had a good laugh i mean holy crap green crap i couldnt stop laughing neway thanx for the last 4 hours of informative entertainment to u all i actually learned alot
I have had in the last two weeks a greenish color stool. I was concerned until I read some comments that it is also what you drink that could change the color. I have been drinking everyday a small glass of very strong organic pure concord grape juice. I am wondering if this is the problem?
Thank you all for your insight. I hadn't been able to figure out why my poo was green for the last 4 days. At first I thought it was because of the salad I was eating, but I had been eating different salads for quite a while. I finally realized after seeing it mentioned a few times, that the black licorice I have been eating a lot of has been my cause.
I have had green poop for the past two days and was worried. Then I read that people who eat or drink something purple have the green poo. I just finished off a 12 pack of Grape Fanta, so I think that is the problem.
I too have been having green stools for the past few days and was a bit concerned as I have IBS. After reading these posts, I realized that I ate some birthday cake with dark blue frosting and that is probably what has caused my problem. Lots of food coloring!
Over the past 18 +/- hours, I have had 2 BM's resulting in green-colored, semi-solid stools.
This hasn't been my first experience. The prior one just went away in a day or so.
I do believe I suffer from IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) though I do not take any medication for the IBS.
After reading some of the other 'posts' here, I believe that this recent episode of the enigmatic green stool event was due to the consumption of several small pieces of a cake with dark colored icing.
That was easy .... and here I thought I was losing some of my innate Irishness :)!! :) ! :) !
Random comment about the vending machine thing: you are seriously wack. In elementary schools, which seem to be your main concern, most vending machines are turned off during school hours. In fact, they don't even turn on until a full half hour after school has been let out.
If you're refereing to soda in high schools...you won't be able to do a thing to help. Recently, in an effert to be more "healthy" my school changed to only diet and zero products (I fail to see how these are more healthy given the numerous problems they cause when drunken on a regualr basis). The school's revenue from the vending machines has gone way down and several "soda rings" have started. Yes, "soda rings". No less then 7 or 8 of my classmates sell beverages out of their lockers. AT first it wasa just non-diet soda, but here lately it's been energy drinks, which are even worse then you then soda. So in attempting to make us consume less sugar, they have essentially made it so all of the students who did go to the vending machines every day consume MORE.
Y'all should just keep your noses out of it. The places where you can control it already are and if you try to control anywhere else it'll just blow up in your faces.
Just wanted to say thank you for everyone being brave enough to talk about your green stool. Blue liccorish did it for me.
Green stool may be caused by green or artificially colored foods, iron supplements, or decreased colonic transit time.
So if you eat anything that is artificially colored your stools may come out green. A lot of us may not even realize that most of our favorite foods like cake or cereal and even drinks have artificial coloring in them. This MAY be what is causing the green stools to appear every day or just every other day.
I suggest noting down if you eat something with artificial color in it to see if later your have green stools. I hope I was some help!
I have been a green poo-er the past two days. After reading the comments I guess it has been the grape Kool-aid!
If you really want to see green, go to the fruit and vegetable section and find yourself the largest beautiful purple cabbage you can find. Make a cabbage salad of thinly sliced cabbage seasoned with Olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt & pepper. I bought 2 for the price of one last week. We ate cabbage every day; I didn't want it to spoil. My poop turned bright lime green by the 2nd day, I wasn't scared until I started peeing lime green, then I went online. Guess what????
today i pooped dark green diarepha
I like poops. Especially the colorful ones. You are all over-reacting a bit don't you think?
I especially enjoy LICORICE. However, for the first time, I have realized that BLACK LICORICE will create a VERY SLIME GREEN colored bowl movement.
Within 2 days after STOPPING to eat LICORICE, the color of my bowel movement returned to normal.
If you don't want green poo, don't eat licorice!!!!!
Thanks everyone! I just figured out why my pooh looks like something "The Hulk" would of done. The Blueberry Slurpee at my local convenience store. It's been hot lately and I've had a few over the past couple weeks. BINGO!
in responce to green poo.... i'm 24 years old, and have had my gallbladder removed since i was 21, there fore my body doesnt produce bile to " change" the coloring of poo.... bile breaks up fatty foods and fatty acids by the way... my poo was normal for a very long time, i eat healthy, dont take in alot of sugar and fatty foods. about two months ago my poo turned a watery consistancy and was shamrock green. now i didnt freak out immediatly, but after a week of this i consulted my dr. which if you have a medical question you should do instead of assuming it was food coloring...
well anyways, my dr asked me to come in to take some tests. we went over my eating diary, which i keep track of everyday so drs can help my with weight consitancy due to not having a gallbladder i gain weight very easily. we did stress tests, and stool test, blood test and waited for the results... green poo for two weeks... it turns out that my green poo was caused by chrons disease. In my opinion if you think there might be something wrong then contact your dr. dont freak out if you only have green poo for one or two days, but if it presists please do the responsable thing and go to a dr. they go to school to learn about this stuff. In conclusion, any discoloration to your poo that lasts for more than three days CAN be caused by a underlying medical condition. Listen to your body... Your poo can tell you alot about whats going on with your body.
The last time I came to WebMD to find out how to handle stress, I ended up freaking out thinking that I had a panic disorder after all the stuff I read. I’m very relieved to realize that the big bag of black licorice I downed probably caused the green poo.
Something new to watch for...Yarnell's new watermelon flavored sherbet...the "seeds" are a dark black looking candy...will stain your mouth black when you eat them...and yep, you guessed it...will cause kelly green stool the next day or two!!!
I have been dealing with green poo for the past few days as well and it had me rather nervous as I have NEVER experinced this before! As I thought of all the food I have eaten in the past few days I realized that I had quite a bit of "flavored" licorice, which was loaded with dyes to make the candy different colors.
almost the same thing happened to me wene i drank a purple slurpy at 7-eleven. the next day i had a neon green slool, it's either that or i was abducted by space alians.
My 4-yr-old son has had dark green poo for a couple of months. He's also been drinking tons of purple grape juice. It's his favorite drink. I can't get him off the grape juice long enough to verify that is the cause of the green poo. My children also get gummy vitamins every day.
my dad always says that if you didn't eat anything green then its an infection
Thank you all for the "green poo" insight. According to the other posts I've done 3 major things in the last week that has caused this epedimic in my system. I took choraphyll, added iron supplements and traded my regular morning oatmeal for a box of on sale fruity loop cereal. I'm going back to my normal routine so I can get the green monster out of my system. Thanks a lot everyone!
i love this blog, it made me feel un-alone w/ green poop! now i know it was too much gatorade! thanks guys!
I recently May 15th, had my Gallbladder taken out. High right side stabbing pain, and sick after I eat. The doctors said that if you have fatty green stool it can be caused by your Gallbladder failing. My Gallbladder was completely shut down. The poo before surgery, looked like the green floaties at the bottom of the fish tank. Green poo, and green urine, along with pain in the upper right side of your stomach. I am on narcotic medications for fybromyalsia pain, and Polio pain. These medications can cause your organs to "act up". Even now after my Gallbladder is out, I am still having green poo, and green urine.
What I find massively interesting is how there are so many freaking out about green poo. Have you never checked the toilet bowl before in your life? Poo ranges in the craziest shades of green to brown and even to yellow. Ask any IBS or IBD sufferer, green poo is at the bottom of the list of concerns with stomach problems. In reality the only color of poo that should be worrisome is black. Aside from that, pay more attention to how solid (or not) the stools are, if there is pain before, after, or during bowel movements, and whether there are any connected symptoms like a fever or nausea that can indicate a problem.
Green poo. Seriously. Hypochondriacs.
I find it very interesting the amount of people who get upset when someone is concerned about a bowel movement. Obviously those people aren't experiencing the same movement or as often otherwise they would understand there might actually be a cause for concern. I agree there are many foods that can change the color of your movements and when it happens every so often it's really nothing to worry about as much. Unlike myself I have had painful, loose(almost liquid), and every color from bright orange to deep green movements for about the last 6 months. I contributed it to stress and the fact that I wasn't eating a balanced diet. I have changed my diet to include yogurt, grilled chicken breast, fresh vegetables and water only, but I am still having this problem. I just want to know if someone might know for sure if I indeed need to seek medical attention or if there might be a alternative solution that has worked for them?? I am open to suggestions.
Actually, to the Anonymous who thinks fecal color is inconsequential, it can mean a lot of things and one should look into the toilet after each bowel movement as it can be a sign of health issues. Green feces in young children is more common, as they may not have a balanced gut in terms of microbes. It is extremely common for infants to have green feces because as previous written about above, bile is not being fully oxidized and comes out green. Everyone will have changes in stool color from time to time and the only immediate causes for concern is if their is fresh blood or dried blood (black) in the stool. It is normal after or during a bout of flu, a cold or an IBS flare up to have green poo, ranging from bright to deep forest green.
Food colorings can and will change stool color. Also, if you rapidly change your diet to include large amounts of vegetables or fiber the consistency and color of your poop may change.
If you have had green stools for over a week try cheese and/or yogurt with probiotics to replenish the natural fauna of your gut. If the green stool continues every day and especially if it is accompanied by diarrhea one should seek the advice of your doctor as it could be a food allergy or sensitivity, or even a sign of colitis or certain cancers. However, it's more likely harmless IBS.
A healthy stool should be medium brown, come out in an 'S' shape, should not be liquid, difficult to push or come out in small balls. Healthy feces should have only a mild smell and one should defecate once to twice a day, with less being a sign of constipation (increase your water and fiber intake) and more being a sign that food is passing to quickly (try probiotics).
~ Dr. Andrea Smith, Canada
Reading through the comments and applying it to my own situation, it seems my almost lime green stool might be the result of Gatorade (blue) and Jello (blue-purple). Seemed strange it would be that color, but blue produces green apparently.
I have been reading your comments about green "poo". What about black
hard "poo"? When your diet hasn't changed, you don't eat sweets or drink any soda or energy drinks?
Would vitamins,such as a probiotic, or milk thistle have anything to do with it? These are the only different things added to my daily routine.
I was worried because I had bright green poo. So I jumped on WebMD to find out if there was anything on the subject. Thank goodness for the "blue" food coloring comments. I feel better now.
My grandson age 9 spent the weekend with me; needless to say he asked me to look at his stool, it was lime green. This is a first for me. My grandson has had intestinal problems from birth. I appreicate all the comments posted; but when in doubt, especially with your children, see a Doctor.
Thought I should mention, yes, it can seem to happen from purple products. A few days ago, I drank nearly a half liter of sugar free grape kool aid. Next day, bright green poo. Day after that, back to brown. Next day, drank some again, following day, green poo again.
ATTENTION: Black "poo" can be a sign of stomach and/or intestinal bleeding!!! It should not be ignored!!!
Eating black licorace always changes mine to green too! The amount I ate will affect how green it is too.
So I've had the now infamous Green Poo for about three days, with varying consistancies. However, I haven't eaten anything with artificial coloring or high in sugar and it's accompanied by constantly upset stomach. I'm thinking a doctor visit may be needed.
I ate new black Jack tacos, from taco bell. With the color dyed shell. And I've had deep green stool for 2 days.
I've noticed that my bowel movements are very green. The only difference i've made in my diet is that i've cut out soda & tea. Now i only drink grape flavored water.
I've also noticed that the black jack tacos from Taco Bell make my poo green. It really freaked me out at first.
To all you people who don't know what is causing your stool to be green, anything purple will cause this. If you drink a lot of grape kool-aid your stool will be neon green. If you eat a lot of pistachios your stool will be bright green. Just keep track of what you're ingesting so that the next color change catch you off guard.
Has anyone experienced a bright purple poop after eating roasted beets?
I just came back from the bathroom and had green poo. i was really concerned because i've never seen anything that green in my life. So i came on here lookin for an answer, and i'm not sure if i got it or not, but the green bile could explain it because this was my second bile movement today, and the first one was yellowish, the scond being green. Could it be the pomagranate juice i was drinking earlier in the day? i havent had anything green in days!
Wow! I guess I'm not alone when it comes to green "poo". I do have Crohn's disease, have recently had birthday cake with blue icing ( even made your teeth blue), and a terrible diet due to stress. My problem is I also have excrutiating back pain with it as well. Has anyone else had that?
OK, I have read most of the comments others have left about having green poop. I have had green urine and poop for the past couple months on and off. I dont eat snacks or high sugar foods, I eat meats and starches, and some fast food. I do work out on a daily basis, dont take any pills, and have had slight pain on and off around my stomach area. Dont think this is caused by food coloring or veggies, any ideas???
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