Everybody poops. We’ve been taught this since childhood, but sometimes, people aren’t comfortable talking about it. Poop may not be a topic fit for dinner table conversation, but it’s a completely normal — and essential — bodily function. Plus, it can tell you a lot about your health. Stool color can be an important indicator of your bowel health. Having good bowel health can help support the digestive tract and overall body health. What different colors mean If you don’t think your diet is the cause, the red you see may be blood. And if it’s bright red, the blood likely comes from the lower part of your digestive tract. Common causes include: Indicates: This is the gold standard of poop, especially if it’s somewhat soft and easy to pass. Type 4: Snake

Bright red blood in your stool might be more alarming because it suggests active bleeding. Darker blood usually suggests older bleeding that’s not active anymore. But darker blood in your stool can be deceiving. It doesn’t always mean the bleeding has stopped, only that it’s coming from someplace higher up.Because norovirus is, indeed, a virus, antibiotics will not help. The best treatment is good supportive care, which means providing plenty of fluids along with mild pain relievers until the patient recovers. Do not give aspirin to children. Indicates: Here we have another sign of constipation that, again, shouldn’t happen frequently. Type 3: Hot dog

Bile is a fluid your liver makes to digest fats. It starts out as a yellowish green color. But as the pigments that give bile its color travel through your digestive system, they go through chemical changes and turn brown. Green PoopKim BS, Li BT, Engel A, et al. Diagnosis of gastrointestinal bleeding: A practical guide for clinicians. World J Gastrointest Pathophysiol. 2014;5(4):467-78. doi:10.4291/wjgp.v5.i4.467 If you notice that more blood appears in their stool, or your pet seems unwell, then you should speak to your vet. A well-functioning digestive system is essential for health and well-being. It also suggests that a person is eating a balanced diet. One word of caution, though, before you start fretting at the drop of a doo-doo: “All of these health issues are possible, but they’re not the norm,” says Dr. Lee. “If you feel perfectly fine and don’t have diarrhea, a different color bowel movement is most likely linked to something you ate.” Other colored poop A commonly heard joke is that when someone takes too long in the bathroom, it must mean they’re pooping. A healthy poop, however, should be easy to pass and take only a minute or so to push out.