# God DAMN beets! I thought I was dying for a second. TMI **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 9, 2005, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-damn-beets-i-thought-i-was-dying-for-a-second-tmi/289259 "2005-02-09T20:06:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-damn-beets-i-thought-i-was-dying-for-a-second-tmi/289259/1 "2005-02-09T20:06:23Z")
I don’t normally eat beets but had some last night. This afternoon I had what appeared to be bloody “stool.” My mind raced as I checked off the possible causes: intestinal cancer, parvovirus, ebola, broken glass slicing me from stem to stern, or God’s own hemorhoid bursting. I hoped to at least get my pants up before I bled out so I could die with some dignity. An hour later, still not dead, I remembered the beets and how they have fooled me like this before when the red color passed through me intact. Goddamn beets. So I had a Shamrock Shake so the green color will mix with the red beet juice and everything will be brown again. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-damn-beets-i-thought-i-was-dying-for-a-second-tmi/289259/2 "2005-02-09T20:10:42Z")
Heh, whoops. I accidentally did that to my husband a couple months ago. He hadn’t ever had beets, I love them, so I roasted a couple fresh beets for us. Apparently I don’t have that issue where the color passes in my urine - and frankly I’d never heard of it before - but he does. Fortunately he figured it out before freaking out too much. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-damn-beets-i-thought-i-was-dying-for-a-second-tmi/289259/3 "2005-02-09T20:10:58Z")
Or you will end up with Christmas-themed poop! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-damn-beets-i-thought-i-was-dying-for-a-second-tmi/289259/4 "2005-02-09T20:12:06Z")
Another :smack: - not urine, feces. (IIRC, that is. I just remember him talking about the red color and did not dwell on its method of presentation…) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-damn-beets-i-thought-i-was-dying-for-a-second-tmi/289259/5 "2005-02-09T20:13:50Z")
Pepto-Bismol will turn it black. On a related note, I’ve found that SlimFast shakes makes my urine smell. One cappuccino shake and I pee coffee all day! ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-damn-beets-i-thought-i-was-dying-for-a-second-tmi/289259/6 "2005-02-09T21:11:20Z")
My dad was fed beets a few days before he was scheduled to have surgery. While he enjoyed eating the beets, he did hope that all the red color progressed out before he went to the hospital, so that he wouldn’t have to explain it to the nursing staff. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-damn-beets-i-thought-i-was-dying-for-a-second-tmi/289259/7 "2005-02-09T21:17:04Z")
HeeHee! That’s one of the things my inner 9 year old likes about beets! If I eat enough of them my pee turns pink too. In lesser amounts my poop is a magenta color that leaks into the bowl. Gross? You bet! ---
**Author:** ![TPWombat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@TPWombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TPWombat)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-damn-beets-i-thought-i-was-dying-for-a-second-tmi/289259/8 "2005-02-09T21:47:59Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Or you will end up with Christmas-themed poop! 😃 Mr Hanky!!! ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-damn-beets-i-thought-i-was-dying-for-a-second-tmi/289259/9 "2005-02-09T21:58:21Z")
> [@Eureka](#): > > My dad was fed beets a few days before he was scheduled to have surgery. While he enjoyed eating the beets, he did hope that all the red color progressed out before he went to the hospital, so that he wouldn’t have to explain it to the nursing staff. When I was scheduled to have surgery, I was given a very limited diet. I was not supposed to eat beef for a couple of days beforehand, and then the day before I was supposed to be on a clear liquid diet…and I wasn’t supposed to drink anything with red dye in it (Kool Aid, Jello, etc.). ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-damn-beets-i-thought-i-was-dying-for-a-second-tmi/289259/10 "2005-02-09T23:53:08Z")
> [@Eureka](#): > > My dad was fed beets a few days before he was scheduled to have surgery. I read this as “my _dog_ was fed beets…” Which made it even more entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-damn-beets-i-thought-i-was-dying-for-a-second-tmi/289259/11 "2005-02-09T23:56:43Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > Pepto-Bismol will turn it black. Vitamins containing iron have that effect too. Fun. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2005, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-damn-beets-i-thought-i-was-dying-for-a-second-tmi/289259/12 "2005-02-10T01:35:41Z")
> [@Cyros](#): > > Vitamins containing iron have that effect too. Fun. [RodAndTodd] Iron helps us play! [/RodAndTodd] ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-damn-beets-i-thought-i-was-dying-for-a-second-tmi/289259/13 "2005-02-12T13:20:08Z")
I made a blue cake once. Mr. Rilch threatened me with divorce if I ever did such a thing again.