
Parswa Ansari from Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, black feces can also occur when intestinal bleeding is from the small bowel or right colon. Whereas, bright red bloody poop can mean a tear or fissure closer to your rectum.Īccording to Dr. For example, black tarry stools usually mean that bleeding is higher up the GI tract. Often the color of your stool can indicate to a doctor where the bleeding is coming from.
When your poop is black, it can mean that you have bleeding somewhere in your gastrointestinal system. 9 Black Stool Due to Gastrointestinal Bleeding (Lower or Upper GI Bleeding) 8 Activated charcoalĭark green or black poop is often a side effect of taking activated charcoal to relieve digestive problems.ĭoctors from the Mayo Clinic say that black bowel movements are common when using activated charcoal. 5 Sometimes, bismuth itself can cause upper GI bleeding which results in melena.
The color of your bowel movements should return to normal when you stop taking medication containing bismuth. Doctors say that bismuth doesn’t only turn your stool black, but it can also darken your tongue. One type of medication that darkens poop is medications containing bismuth to relieve digestive upset. Taking medications can cause “false melena” and result in passing black stool without blood in it. Researchers from the University of Florida report that blueberries could also cause poop to appear black and tarry. Therefore, doctors don’t recommend taking anti-coagulants as well as consuming licorice. This would cause black tarry stool because of blood in the bowel movement. Scientists also noticed that a combination of black licorice and warfarin could also result in upper GI bleeding. This results in poop that is classed as “false melena.” 6 According to the World Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery, pigments in black licorice could mean that you could start having black bowel movements. Some people consume large amounts of licorice for its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.
Green leafy vegetables when taken together with vitamin CĬertain black-colored foods can make your poop appear dark green to black, especially if eaten in large quantities. Some of the best natural sources of iron to include in your diet include: Treating anemia with oral iron therapy can also cause other digestive upset including: The journal PLoS One reports that blackened stools are a common side effect of taking iron supplements. Oral iron supplements are a common way to prevent or treat the symptoms of iron deficiency anemia. Iron supplementsĪ common reason for passing black tarry stools is taking iron supplements. The black stool only means that chemical or compounds in certain foods have affected the color of your poop. Dark Black Stool Due to Foods, Supplements or Medicationsīlack stool without blood is very common and is usually nothing to worry about. Let’s look in more detail at the various causes why your poop is black. This means that bile in your intestines can’t turn feces brown. 5Īlso, a stomach bug can cause green diarrhea because food passes through your digestive system too quickly. This is nothing to worry about, and your poop should return to a normal brown color when you stop eating the particular vegetable. Benjamin Wedro on MedicineNet says that you can pass dark green poop after eating green leafy vegetables like spinach, kale, or cabbage. Black green poop often happens when green pigments from certain foods interact with bile causing your poop to look almost black.ĭr. It is also important to remember that sometimes what you think as a black bowel movement is actually very dark green stool. This makes sure that your black poop is really false melena and not something more sinister. If you start having black diarrhea or passing black tarry stools, it is always best to see your doctor for a checkup. If your black feces are from iron supplements or certain medications, your stool becomes black because of an interaction between the supplements and digestive enzymes, and this is not a case of melena. Therefore, “false melena” is a black bowel movement that doesn’t have traces of old blood in it. Not all black stool is referred to as melena because not all the reasons for very dark poop is related to gastrointestinal bleeding. Doctors say that melena refers to blood pigments or dark blood products that turn stool or vomit black. Melena is dark stool from digested blood. The above symptoms along with signs of gastrointestinal bleeding should be evaluated by a medical professional. Black tarry stools that have traces of fresh blood on it. Dizziness or even fainting because of a loss of blood. Nausea and vomiting because of blood in the intestines. Abdominal pain and cramping caused by an ulcer or inflammation.