What Causes Black Colored Stool?

Posted on Fri, 30 Jun 2017

Question: I have a quick question. when there is bleeding in the stomach or upper gi is the entire stool black or is it possible for there to only be a peice of the stool that is black. I am asking because I had a bowel movement today and it was normal brown except for two sections that were black. I am not sure if it is diet related or not. I did have cookies and cream ice cream with oreos a few days ago and wonder if that's what it is from. on the same day had some blueberries for breakfast as well.

Answered by Dr. Ramesh Kumar (5 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Stool for occult blood test to be done.

Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Thanks for choosing HealthcareMagic for your query.
Have gone through your details and i appreciate your concerns.
As per your query answer is-
It depends on the amount of blood which is oozing into stomach.The blood in intestine is acted upon by digestive enzymes giving it a black tarry color.If the amount of bleed is small then a part of the stool can be like tar while of bleed is more a large volume of stool would be like tar.

However initially i would suggest you to go for a test called stool for occult blood to make sure whether its blood or just stool with different color.

P.S-Blue berries can give black color to stool.So right now just wait and watch if this happens again go for occult blood test.
Hope i was helpful.

Thank you

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Remy Koshy

Follow up: Dr. Ramesh Kumar (9 hours later)

so bowel movement today was basically all brown. there was a very small part that was very dark, maybe black but it was a lot less than yesterday. could this still be some leftover food?

Answered by Dr. Ramesh Kumar (4 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
wait and watch

Detailed Answer:
Hi there,
Food once taken takes almost 48-72 hours to leave the body.
Hence i would suggest you to wait for a total of 72 hours whether to go for tests or not would be decided after 72 hours.
As bowel color is returning back to brown(natural) i think it was just food.

Thanks

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad

Follow up: Dr. Ramesh Kumar (24 hours later)

Just wanted to let things were normal today. No black streaks or anything so obviously food related.

Answered by Dr. Ramesh Kumar (2 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Most likely food related.

Detailed Answer:
Hey again,
Happy to hear that.
It was due to blue berries most likely.
Just keep a watch on stool color for next few days.

Wish you a great day ahead.
Thanks!

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vaishalee Punj