What can be green diarrhea: causes and how to treat

Green diarrhea can occur due to overeating of green foods, due to a rapid passage of feces through the intestine, intake of food dyes, iron supplements, or due to an infection or illness. The treatment consists of drinking lots of fluids, oral rehydration salts and probiotics, however it depends a lot on what causes the problem, so if the duration of the diarrhea exceeds 1 or 2 days, you should go to the gastroenterologist.

Faeces are made up of water, fibers, fecal bacteria, intestinal cells and mucus, and their color and consistency is generally related to food. However, the changed color of the stool can be a sign of intestinal problems or other diseases. See what each color of the stool can mean.

1. Eat lots of vegetables or green dye

Eating green foods containing chlorophyll, such as some vegetables, or foods with green coloring, can give rise to greenish stools, however, their color returns to normal when the body eliminates these foods.

In addition, consuming food supplements in excess can also make stools darker and greener, especially if those supplements have iron in their composition.

2. Use laxatives

Bile is a brownish-green liquid, produced in the liver and has the function of digesting the fat in food. When bile digests fats, nutrients can be absorbed in the intestine into the blood, and bile continues its way into the intestine, gradually changing its color from green to brown, which can take hours or even a few days.

Thus, in situations where the intestinal transit is faster, such as in cases of use of laxative drugs, situations of diarrhea or intense stress, for example, the stools can become more liquid, not allowing time for the bile to change color..

3. Infections in the intestine

Green diarrhea can also be caused by infections with Salmonella sp . or by Giardia lamblia . Infection with Salmonella sp ., Is a bacterial infection of the intestines usually caused by contaminated food and green diarrhea is one of the main symptoms, and may also be accompanied by other symptoms such as nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain, fever, blood in the stool, pain head and muscle. The infection usually cures without medication, but it can be alleviated with analgesics for abdominal pain and in more severe cases, with antibiotics.

Giardiasis is a disease caused by a parasite called Giardia lamblia , usually caused by drinking contaminated water. In addition to green liquid diarrhea, it can cause other symptoms such as gas, abdominal pain and bloating, fever, nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite or dehydration.

It is important, in both cases, that the person remains hydrated, since many fluids are lost through diarrhea, generating signs and symptoms such as darkening of the urine, dryness of the skin, headache and muscle cramps, and in some cases cases, hospitalization may be necessary.

4. Irritable bowel or Crohn's disease

People with Crohn's disease, irritable bowel syndrome or ulcerative colitis may also have green stools, due to poor digestion of fats and inflammation of the intestinal mucosa, associated with other symptoms such as abdominal pain or excessive gas.

In addition, people who have removed the gallbladder, may also have green stools, because as the bile produced in the liver is not stored in the gallbladder, it passes into the intestine, thus giving the stool a green color.

See more about green stools.

What green feces can be in babies

In the first days after delivery, and while the baby is fed exclusively with breast milk, it is normal to have soft greenish stools, becoming yellow and then brown until the first year of age.

For babies fed on infant formula, green stools may continue for longer, probably due to the composition of the formulas, which contain iron in their composition. However, this color can also be due to an infection, milk change, intolerance to some food, presence of bile, ingestion of greenish colored fruits or vegetables or even due to the use of medicines.

See what each color of the baby's stool can indicate.