Someone told me that her poop changes color drastically based on her diet. If she eats a lot of watermelon for two days, then her poop turns pink. If she eats a lot of spinach or kale or collard greens or whatever, then it’s green. If she eats a lot of blueberries, then it’s blue or purple.
I was stunned. I’ve never heard of this and I told her that there had to be something wrong with her digestive system that so much of her food seemed to be passing through undigested, but she said that it’s happened her whole life and she thought there was no reason to talk to a doctor about it.
Yup. I got on a kick a while ago about really liking Gatorade “G2”. It’s reduced calories, it’s just a bit sweet (I don’t like really sweet things) but also a bit salty. I could down these things like nobody’s business. I could actually drink them much more than water, since if I drink more than a liter or so of water within a 4-hr period (or so) I get massive headaches (I’ve always assumed because of ion imbalance, but who knows.)
My favorite G2 was the “blue” kind.
And yes, it turned my shit grass-green. Like vivid green. I panicked the first time it happened, assuming some major organ was failing, but an internet search and yeah - whatever blue dye they use is digested to green. Very green.
Yep. You said your friend has a color change when she eats a lot of the poo-coloring food.
A friend of mine brought a green St. Patrick’s day cake to work. It had enough green dye in it that I saw results for two days. The only time I noticed anything from beets was when I ate a whole can of them at a sitting. I don’t know why, but they just tasted so good right then!
That happened to me one year when I got drunk off of green beer. I thought it was interesting that the beer and the dye got separated on their way out.
This happens to my parrot from time to time. With his tiny, fast system, if he eats too much carrot or red grape, I find out about it later.
I can’t believe anyone’s poop never changes, regardless of dietary changes. Even my cats’ poop changes drastically at times, and the only variation in their diet is the particular flavor that’s in the can.
As others noted, I’ve had green poop after drinking grape flavored drinks. I can tell you first hand it occurs. And no, it’s not brown with a green tinge. It’s green like the Jolly Green Giant. Or Bruce Banner on a bad day. Or Mr. Spock’s blood.
Forget the beets and soft drinks, if you’re doing poo experiments you might as well enjoy it. Drink a bottle of red wine and/or a few pints of Guinness.
Tangential: Marinated ginger (the kind you get with sushi) used to have a profound effect on the *aroma *of my movements. Freaked me right the fuck out the first time I had sushi.
I haven’t noticed it so much lately, but I just had sushi last night. We’ll see.
My son had a Shamrock shake on St Paddy’s day. You know, that pale pale mint green? It never hit his intestines, but about 6 hours after he ingested it he was hurling Kelly green slime. It was no longer milkshake, it was special effects department “goo”. My son, besides feeling ill and now having an aversion to mint dairy type products (I know there is precious little dairy in a McShake) was sorely disappointed that he didn’t have “monster slime poo”
(He’s eight.)
I on the other hand was convinced I was dying one in my freshman year at University. I bought Welch grape juice and a bag of Oreos as study food. The result made me convinced I was internally hemorrhaging.
Apparently not everyone has that result from beets. I love beets but haven’t noticed an effect in feces, and only pinkish in urine.
(I also don’t get the “ring of fire” effect from eating spicy food and then passing the results, even though my tolerance for eating it is somewhat less than my husband, and he does get that after-effect the next day.)
You’re not imagining an actual hot-pink or powder-blue turd here, are you? It doesn’t quite work THAT way. Although the greens are pretty darned green sometimes.
When you drink too much water (water intoxication) you throw electrolytes out of whack. One effect of this is your brain swelling, which causes the headache. In extreme cases, it leads to coma and even death.