White feces in an adult - reasons, what it means, for what disease

How do you know what color stool should be?

The color of stool in an adult depends on many factors, both physiological and pathological.

There are external reasons:

general human nutrition;
vegetarianism or meat-eating;
alcohol consumption;
taking medications.

There are also internal reasons:

production of stercobilin and bilirubin;
abnormal structure of the gallbladder;
disruption of the liver and pancreas;
blockage of the bile ducts;
dysbacteriosis;
congenital diseases (cystic fibrosis);
acquired diseases (diabetes mellitus, diverticulosis, hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, pancreatitis and others).

With a normal diet, the color of human stool varies from dark brown to light brown.

And people who consume dairy products excessively may have pale yellow stool.

The greenish color of the stool is typical for those who consume a lot of sorrel, but for people who eat mostly meat products (especially pork), the stool will turn black-brown.

What does the change in stool indicate?

Bile is synthesized in the liver cells, then it accumulates in the cavity of the gallbladder. With each meal, a portion of bile is released into the lumen of the duodenum, which processes fats. It also helps stimulate intestinal motility and the production of pancreatic juice and gastric mucus. Lack of necessary enzymes and bile leads to disruption of the normal properties of stool. Fecal matter gets its normal color thanks to bilirubin. It enters the intestines as part of bile, undergoes a series of biochemical reactions and is excreted in feces, giving it a characteristic brown color. The color of stool in adults can change for various reasons. But, unfortunately, discolored feces most often signal pathological changes in the human body:

inflammation or sclerosis of parenchymal liver tissue,
inflammation of the gallbladder (usually acute),
inflammation of pancreatic tissue,
nonspecific lesions of the intestinal tract (Crohn's disease),
malignant neoplasms of the gastrointestinal tract.

A white coating on the tongue indirectly indicates a dysfunction of the digestive system, and this symptom cannot be ignored.

Why does stool turn white?

Photo of white stool
Two bile pigments are responsible for the color of stool - stercobilin and bilirubin. It is bilirubin that colors stool in the usual brown color for us, but if it is not enough, stercobilin comes into force, which gives the stool a white color.

Such replacements can occur due to malfunction of the gallbladder, or in the presence of anomalies in its structure, when the bile duct is bent and pigments cannot enter the intestines. A lack of bilirubin will be observed with a disease such as hepatitis.

In addition to pigments, bile plays an important role. It enters the intestines through the duodenum and there it begins the process of breaking down and processing the food that a person consumes.

Factors that affect stool color

If bile is not supplied or is supplied in small quantities, then all proteins, fats and plant fibers are not digested properly, and this can lead to discoloration of the stool; white grains, streaks or even yellow balls, whitish inclusions may appear in it.

White stool and liver problems

Quite often, white feces occur with various liver diseases. This organ is a filter in the human body. All harmful substances, toxic foods and alcohol pass through the liver. Over time, the cells of this organ are destroyed and various diseases can occur.

Liver disease is called hepatitis. It is classified into several stages depending on the area affected and the symptoms that occur. In childhood, stool due to hepatitis is light in color. In addition, the child experiences yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes. Urine, on the contrary, becomes dark in color. This condition can be caused by congenital abnormalities and abnormal development of the liver.

For adults, things are a little different. If a person abuses alcohol or junk food, or takes a lot of medications, he may develop hepatitis. One of the first signs of this disease is white feces. There may also be fever, abdominal pain, nausea and indigestion. Sometimes light-colored stool occurs due to infections that affect the liver area.

If there are areas of light-colored matter in the waste that look like threads, then these may be worms. In this case, there are two news for you: good and bad.

In most cases, feces with helminths contain admixtures of white or transparent mucus. It can also impart a slight light color to human waste.

Diseases that cause stool discoloration

If a person does not consume excessive amounts of fats and alcohol, maintains a balanced diet, leads an active lifestyle, does not take any medications, and the stool still turns white, then you should immediately consult a doctor for advice.

If you do not do this on time, you may miss the onset of the development of such dangerous diseases as stomach cancer, hepatitis, intestinal cancer, pancreatitis, cholelithiasis, and pancreatic cancer.

Sometimes it is not the color of stool itself that signals the presence of a disease; it happens that the stool is covered with a white coating or white mucus; grains and dots of white color can occur periodically or be constant companions of the stool. Each of these signs can give the doctor a lead on how to identify the disease and what the diagnosis might be.

If a person's diet is rich in plant products, white fibers will be found in the feces.

Sometimes this is also a sign that the gastrointestinal tract is not working properly and is processing food untimely and incompletely.

Feces can turn white when helminths colonize the human body. These parasites contribute to an imbalance of digestive enzymes and also inhibit intestinal microflora.

Roundworms can cause light-colored stools

If there are white lumps in the stool (and this most often happens in a child under one year old), this indicates the immaturity of the digestive system, or a malfunction in its functioning in adults. If children also have foam and loose stools added to such white grains, this indicates that the formula for feeding is not suitable for the baby and it needs to be replaced. This is common in artificial babies.

A separate symptom is the presence of white mucus in the stool.

Normally, mucus should be present in a person’s intestines. It promotes the gentle movement of feces through the intestines, preventing the appearance of cracks due to excessively hard feces and rough, dry intestinal walls.

Mucus is usually not noticeable in the stool, but if there is a lot of it or it becomes a clear white color, then you need to find out why this happened.

Sometimes this happens with a large consumption of bananas and melons, as well as cottage cheese, sour cream and milk.

But if this option is excluded, then the body should be diagnosed.

White mucus in the stool can be a symptom of a disease, namely:

diverticulitis;
bowel cancer;
intestinal polyposis;
individual lactose intolerance;
cystic fibrosis;
irritable bowel syndrome.

If you find white mucus in your or your child's stool, be sure to consult your doctor about this to find out what disease it occurs with.

Polyps in the intestines

Physiologically light stool

The causes of white feces are varied, sometimes it can be a physiological process. For example, when consuming butter, sour cream, meat, lard and other foods high in animal fats. A large amount of plant foods in the diet leads to excess fiber. As a result of accelerated transport of fecal matter through the intestines, stools become light in color. Acholia of feces is very likely after alcohol. In these cases, clarified stool appears once, no symptoms accompany it. However, dietary violations can also provoke an exacerbation of the chronic course of the disease.

Discolored stool may appear after taking certain medications. Antibiotics, acetylsalicylic acid, taking smecta after poisoning, anti-inflammatory and antifungal drugs, treatment of gout, epilepsy, tuberculosis can provoke the appearance of white feces in an adult. X-ray examinations are often performed using white barium sulfate as a contrast agent. In this case, feces with a white coating also appear, or it becomes completely discolored. In such a situation, people should not be alarmed if white stool persists for several days. If white stool does not return to normal within 3–5 days, you should see a doctor.

Symptoms

Not only white or gray feces, impurities of threads or veins, as well as the presence of white lumps signal the occurrence of a disease. Usually the patient pays attention to these symptoms second or third. The first thing that attracts his attention is the accompanying signs of the disease.

These could be:

Abdominal pain, girdle pain in acute pancreatitis.
Weakness and malaise.
Retention of stool or, conversely, diarrhea (it is with this that stool most often turns white).
Nausea and vomiting.
Darkening of urine (together with discolored feces is a characteristic sign of hepatitis).
Yellowing of the sclera of the eyes and skin are also symptoms of jaundice.
Bad breath.
Low-grade fever that does not subside for several days, or even a week.
Tenesmus - nagging pain in the lower abdomen, accompanied by a false urge to defecate
Painful act of defecation.

If all of these symptoms or one of them are added to white stool, you need to consult a doctor or call an ambulance.

Treatment should not be delayed under any circumstances, as the disease may begin to progress steadily.

What to do and how to treat white stool

Treatment for white stool begins with diagnosis. If there are no other symptoms other than the color of the stool, then watch yourself for a few days, everything should go away on its own.

You should consult a doctor if your stool does not change color for more than a few days and you have symptoms:

Stomach ache
Nausea
Temperature above 38 degrees
Dark brown urine
Bad breath
Pain during bowel movements
White streaks or blood in stool

To make a diagnosis, you need to take blood tests for biochemistry and feces. The doctor will prescribe a tablet and antibiotics for treatment with explanations of how to treat, how much to take, and what to exclude from the diet. It is better not to treat the disease at home.

Sources:

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/alcoholic-hepatitis/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20351394
https://surgery.keckmedicine.org/treatments-services/usc-hepatobiliary-surgery/pancreatic-surgery/
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/gallstones/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20354220
https://www.cdc.gov/std/tg2015/hepatitis.htm

Diagnostics

If your feces have become white, light yellow or gray, you need to conduct a comprehensive diagnosis of the body to find out what this symptom means. The doctor will prescribe a number of examinations, but the first of them will be a stool test.

Here you can perform a coprogram, which will show the presence of leukocytes, hidden blood in the stool. They also test feces for an eggworm test to detect helminthic infestations. You can check a person’s blood for the presence of antibodies to any viral disease, such as hepatitis.

Coprogram results - what the doctor will see

If cystic fibrosis was diagnosed in childhood, then patients will not attach due importance to the white color of the stool, but periodic checking will not hurt, so as not to miss the development of another disease.

An additional study will be an ultrasound of the abdominal organs. This will allow us to identify neoplasms in the gastrointestinal tract.

If at the time of the appearance of white feces a person is taking medications (aspirin, oral contraceptives, paracetamol, broad- or narrow-spectrum antibiotics), then the doctor should pay attention to this and replace the drugs with their analogues.

If this does not help, further diagnostics must be carried out until the causes are determined.

White stool and gallbladder problems

If white stool is found in a child or adult, then problems with the biliary tract can be suspected.
As has already become known, bile, when mixed with bilirubin, gives a dark tint to the stool. If white feces are found in a child or adult, then problems with the biliary tract can be suspected. If various neoplasms appear in the ducts through which fluid flows from the gallbladder: cysts, tumors, then the outflow of the substance becomes difficult. In this case, a person discovers not only a light color of waste, but also pain in the right side. When malignant cells form in the gallbladder or liver, there may be white stool.

If you have ever had surgery on the area of the gallbladder and its ducts, adhesions may have formed. Thin films tighten the ducts, as a result of which the outflow of bile worsens.

Pathological causes of light diarrhea

Light-colored feces in adults appear due to diseases of the gastrointestinal tract - pancreas, liver. A common cause is poisoning, intestinal infections, and intestinal dysbiosis.

Stomach flu

Diarrhea is accompanied by a flu-like intestinal disease caused by rotavirus.
The disease affects children more often, but also occurs in adults. Initially it manifests itself as a sore throat and cough. On the first day, vomiting occurs and frequent, loose, yellow stools occur. On the second or third day, the feces become clay-like, then discolored. Urine turns dark. The picture of the disease resembles hepatitis. Intoxication and dehydration develop rapidly with rotavirus infection.

Poisoning

After poisoning, light-colored feces appear in most cases. Discoloration of stool is caused by secretory diarrhea. All food intoxications develop after substances foreign to the body enter the body with food:

chemicals;
mushrooms;
poisonous plants;
bacteria.

Pathogenic microflora, entering the stomach with food, actively multiply. This releases toxic substances that cause inflammation of the mucous membranes of the stomach and intestines. Dead microbes enhance the inflammatory response. The glands of the digestive tract begin to produce protective mucus and serous fluid. Excess moisture is what causes light-colored stool after poisoning.

Gallbladder diseases

Most often, provoking factors lie in dysfunction of the liver and gall bladder.

Bilirubin affects the color of stool. The pigment is secreted by the liver and enters the intestines with bile. If the stool is light, it means that the liver does not produce bile well, or the bile ducts are narrowed.

White, loose stools can occur during pregnancy. Some women develop acholic feces due to diseases:

gall bladder and duct stones;
neoplasms;
bending or dyskinesia of the biliary tract.

If a pregnant woman's well-being has not changed, there is no reason to worry. After all, expectant mothers consume large amounts of plant fiber and greens, which lighten the stool.

Cholecystitis

Liquid white stool in an adult appears after an attack of pain due to an inflamed gallbladder. Feces with cholecystitis sometimes include the remains of undigested food. The disease is accompanied by the following symptoms:

nausea;
heaviness in the right hypochondrium;
constant feeling of bitterness, dry mouth;
temperature increase;
coated tongue with depressions on the sides.

Exacerbation is provoked by fatty foods - sour cream, lard, butter, eggs. After normalizing the diet, the color of the stool is restored within 2-3 days. In acute and chronic forms of cholecystitis, the color of feces changes somewhat depending on the food.

Hepatitis

Inflammation of the liver develops as a result of alcohol poisoning or infection. In this case, the function of the organ is impaired. The resulting bilirubin is excreted through the kidneys and skin. Therefore, dark urine and light stool in adults and children appear with infectious hepatitis A, B, C. The disease is accompanied by symptoms:

yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes;
dull pain in the right hypochondrium;
vomit;
weakness;
temperature increase.

Such symptoms require contacting a gastroenterologist for examination..

If treatment is not started in time, hepatitis B, C develops into cirrhosis of the liver. But after Botkin's disease (hepatitis A), the patient recovers in 3 weeks without consequences.

Pancreatitis

White, loose stools occur when the pancreas is inflamed. If there is an excess of fat, mushy feces take on the appearance of foam. Feces also contain undigested fiber from plant foods. The altered gland is not able to produce enough enzymes to process them.

Important! With exacerbation of pancreatitis, stool becomes gray-clay colored. In the chronic form, they stick to the walls of the toilet and are difficult to flush off.

The disease is characterized by alternating constipation and diarrhea, and weight loss. Discoloration of stool is caused by mechanical compression of the bile duct by the swollen pancreas. The pathology is often accompanied by diabetes mellitus. To rule it out, you should do a blood sugar test.

Neoplasms

Malignant tumors of internal organs are initially asymptomatic. When the tumor reaches a large size, clinical signs appear:

stomach ache;
a sharp decrease in body weight;
flatulence;
general weakness;
vomit;
lack of appetite.

One of the symptoms of cancer is very light-colored stool in an adult. This is due to compression of the bile ducts by the enlarged tumor.

Causes

The formation of white diarrhea in an adult is caused by numerous reasons. Each of them needs an individual approach, since the elimination of the problem will be determined precisely by the factor in the appearance of diarrhea.

Food

The color of stool often depends on the food eaten. The white tint of stool is caused by bile, enzymes that take part in the digestive process.

It is worth noting that this color of stool is observed for 1-2 days, then it becomes as before. After you stop eating fatty, dairy foods, the color of the excrement will return to normal.

The following foods cause changes in stool color:

vegetable oils, including extra virgin olive oil;
meat products (kebabs, lard, fatty jellied meat, meat, broth);
dairy products with a high percentage of fat (cottage cheese, milk, sour cream, butter, cream).

White or beige stool occurs when undigested pieces of fat are present in the feces. The pancreas was unable to do its job because it did not produce the required number of enzymes to digest food.

However, if a problem does arise, to eliminate white diarrhea in an adult, you need to exclude the following foods from your diet:

spicy foods, onions, garlic;
fatty meat, dairy products;
alcohol, coffee;
sour drinks;
various seasonings;
ginger root.

By giving up these products, the problem will resolve on its own.

Medications

Why does it appear, and what other reasons can cause white stool? The medications used may be a factor:

Tetracycline antibiotic, antifungal agents (Augmentin).
NSAIDs that relieve inflammation (Ibuprofen, Paracetamol), if the dosage is exceeded.
Acetylsalicylic acid.
Steroid medications (Methotrexate) that affect the functioning of the endocrine system.
Medicines for gout (Allopurinol).
Medicines to combat epilepsy, which contain predominantly valproic acid.
A certain group of oral contraceptives.
Drugs against tuberculosis containing fats.

When light-colored stool is caused by one of these medications, then by stopping using them, the stool will recover on its own after 3-4 days. But if for some reason you cannot stop drinking the drug, you should consult a specialist. He will select a similar drug that will not cause an adverse reaction. In addition, the doctor can supplement the therapy, prescribe medications that have a positive effect on the treatment of the liver, gallbladder and pancreas, in accordance with the organ that caused the stool disorder.

Basically, such a side effect is not observed in a person with a healthy gastrointestinal tract, so it does not hurt to be examined.

General recommendations

Treatment of white diarrhea is carried out depending on the cause that caused the unpleasant symptom. For therapy to be effective, it is important to conduct an appropriate examination. Only a doctor can interpret the results and select medications.

Intestinal disorder, manifested by white diarrhea, is usually treated in a hospital setting, as it is caused by serious pathologies. Regardless of the reasons for the diarrhea, there are recommendations to help alleviate the patient's condition.

Replenishing water balance.
Delicate massage.

To prevent a person suffering from diarrhea from becoming dehydrated, it is important to give them plenty to drink. You should be especially careful when white diarrhea develops in a child. When it comes to treating infants, the frequency of feedings should never be reduced. This can lead to serious consequences.

Any liquid is suitable for replenishing water balance. You cannot drink soda, sugary drinks, sweet tea and coffee. You can add a slice of lemon to water or mineral water. This is true if there are no intestinal or stomach ulcers.

A gentle massage of the abdominal area will help relieve antispasmodic pain. You can perform clockwise circular movements for several minutes.

What affects the change in the color of stool to white or gray - the reasons for its discoloration

An element called stercobilin is responsible for the color of stool; it is the end product of the breakdown of bilirubin. Stercobilin colors stool brown. Therefore, light-colored feces indicate a lack of stercobilin. You can read more about the process of coloring excrement and the color variations it can take in the article about the color of feces.

Now let's find out what may be associated with a lack of coloring pigment.

White feces as a result of gallbladder dysfunction

One of the most common causes of white stool is blockage of the gallbladder ducts. Stercobilin is a bile pigment and, due to the difficulty of its transportation, feces become discolored, becoming white, gray or clay-colored. Other symptoms may indicate problems with bile transport, the most obvious being yellowing of the eyes and skin. Blockage of the bile ducts can occur due to tumors or the formation of stones. Stones, in turn, are very dangerous, since the bile duct connects to the pancreatic duct, which will lead to disruption of its secretions.

Gallstones form due to poor nutrition or frequent fasting. The gallbladder requires regular contractions, which occur during meals. When the gallbladder contracts, it releases bile into the intestines to break down fats. During fasting, there is no contraction and, accordingly, no release of bile, which leads to the formation of stones!

When the pancreatic ducts are blocked, its juices will begin to corrode its own tissues, which will further contribute to the leakage of pancreatic juice, which in turn will begin to break down the body from the inside and can be fatal. Therefore, white feces is one of the signs of the need for an urgent medical examination.

Light-colored stool as a symptom of liver dysfunction

The liver plays one of the main roles in digestion. It is in it that bile acids are formed, which then accumulate in the gallbladder. This is not the only process occurring in the liver that causes the stool to change color to gray or white. A lot of different processes and metabolisms of various kinds of substances occur in the liver. In particular, the metabolism of bilirubin, during the breakdown of which the coloring pigment stercobilin is formed. Various types of liver dysfunction can also appear as white feces.

Other causes of white stool in adults

White feces can be caused not only by the reasons described above; the microflora of the intestine itself can affect the change in the color of poop. Light-colored feces occur when bile pigments do not interact properly due to changes in intestinal microflora.

The microflora, in turn, may change for the following reasons:

Use of any medications that contribute to intestinal dysbiosis. This phenomenon most often occurs while taking antibiotics.
Perhaps you have recently experienced severe stress, which could contribute to changes in the intestines that cause lightening of the stool.
A sudden change in diet or poor nutrition also leads to intestinal dysfunction. This is a stressful situation for the body. Therefore, this factor can be attributed to the above. Most often, this factor influences the change in color of stool to gray in children when changing their diet.

The above-mentioned reasons for changes in intestinal microflora most often cause white feces.

If your feces have changed color to white, gray or clayey and this is accompanied by other changes in your body, for example, nausea, sudden changes in temperature, pain in the liver, yellowing of the eyes or skin, then most likely the cause of the white feces is a malfunction liver and gall bladder. In such cases, you should not self-medicate. Problems with these organs can lead to serious consequences, including death. And incorrect self-treatment will only negatively affect the situation and instead of providing treatment, you only finish off your organs. Our body is an integral system, everything in it is interconnected. And if some organ fails, perhaps the source of the problem is in a completely different place. To identify the cause, it is necessary to undergo a series of tests and conduct an examination; this cannot be done at home.

Treatment

The choice of treatment regimen is determined by the disease that caused white loose stools. The treatment of these pathologies should be carried out by a hospital doctor. Therefore, in severe cases, you should not try to treat yourself.

If you have diarrhea, home remedies should only be used if you are absolutely sure that it is due to the consumption of poor-quality products or similar reasons. In such cases, first of all, you need to exclude the following foods from your diet:

Fried foods.
Fatty fish and meats.
Alcohol.
Coffee.
Dairy products.
Smoked and salted dishes.
Raw vegetables and fruits.

To reduce the severity of diarrhea, when white diarrhea does not go away on its own, you can prepare and take rice water several times a day. It has a coating effect on the intestines, removes toxins and strengthens the stool. You can improve digestion with the help of enzymes, but they can only be used as prescribed by a doctor.