Dark green poop can have several causes, ranging from harmless dietary factors to medical conditions:
- Dietary causes: Eating large amounts of green leafy vegetables like spinach, kale, or broccoli, or consuming foods and drinks with green, blue, or purple food coloring, can cause dark green stools due to the chlorophyll pigment or artificial dyes
- Bile pigment: Bile is a greenish-yellow fluid made by the liver to help digest fats. If food moves too quickly through the intestines (such as with diarrhea), bile does not have time to break down fully and can color stool green
- Medications and supplements: Iron supplements, bismuth-containing medications (like Pepto-Bismol), some antibiotics, and antacids containing aluminum hydroxide can darken stool to green or black shades
- Infections: Certain bacterial (e.g., Salmonella, E. coli), viral (norovirus), or parasitic (Giardia) infections can speed up intestinal transit, leading to green stool
- Medical conditions: Conditions such as Crohn’s disease, celiac disease, ulcerative colitis, or other inflammatory bowel diseases can cause green stools, often accompanied by other symptoms like diarrhea, abdominal pain, or mucus
- Other causes: Removal of the gallbladder can temporarily increase bile flow into the intestines, causing green stools
Dark green stool that is persistent, unexplained by diet, or accompanied by symptoms like severe diarrhea, abdominal pain, weight loss, or dehydration should prompt medical evaluation to rule out infections or gastrointestinal diseases
. In summary, dark green poop is often due to dietary factors or rapid bile transit but can sometimes indicate infections, medication effects, or digestive disorders requiring medical attention
