# Why is poop brown?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poop-brown/333361
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [November 30, 2005, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poop-brown/333361 "2005-11-30T12:41:35Z")
**Posts on this page:** 14
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@woolygums](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woolygums)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2005, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poop-brown/333361/1 "2005-11-30T12:41:35Z")
OK, here is the question – and I preface it with the concept that children ask the damdest questions, and though I hate to say it, most questions they ask have an underlying grain of an almost Zen-like quality.
OK, here is the latest stumper for me and I hope that someone has an answer I can pass on.
“Why is it that we eat many colorful foods, oranges, red strawberrys, blue berries, etc – yet poop comes out pretty much the same color?”
“Where do the food colors go?”
and
“Why does poop always smell the same?” Why does it not smell like what we have eaten?
This is hard for me to click the “Submit New Thread” button, but now my curiosity overwlems me and Google is no help, so here it is . . . . . .
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### Author:  [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2005, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poop-brown/333361/2 "2005-11-30T12:59:00Z")
Bilirubin turns your processed food brown on it’s royal desent into your colon. The pigments get digested on the way 🙂
Very unscientific, but another will be along soon to elaborate.
Great [Cite](http://www.heptune.com/poop.html)
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2005, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poop-brown/333361/3 "2005-11-30T12:59:40Z")
[Straight from Uncle Cecil.](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_381.html)
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### Author:  [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2005, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poop-brown/333361/4 "2005-11-30T13:56:13Z")
One of Cecil’s earliest books addressed this (though the cite above to the online Dope is just as good). That book has my favorite index entry of all time.
shit, why brown
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### Author:  [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2005, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poop-brown/333361/5 "2005-11-30T15:02:25Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#):
>
> [Straight from Uncle Cecil.](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_381.html)
Funny, I remember more to that answer in the column, such as Cecil disparaging other’s wrong answers to the question, one example being that they though it was brown because when you mix all the colors of random foods together that results in the color brown.
Perhaps I’m thinking of Feldman or another Cecil-like writer.
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### Author:  [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2005, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poop-brown/333361/6 "2005-11-30T20:38:49Z")
I thought it was decided that the pigment responsible was actually stercobilin.
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### Author:  [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2005, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poop-brown/333361/7 "2005-11-30T20:55:06Z")
> [@Revtim](#):
>
> Perhaps I’m thinking of Feldman or another Cecil-like writer.
Please do not mention those two names in the same sentence. I have two of Feldman’s books and there is no comparison. Why do clocks run clockwise indeed. :rolleyes:
(However, I do recommend Joel Achenbach’s “Why Things Are.” Though I still would not draw a direct comparison to Cecil.)
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### Author:  [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2005, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poop-brown/333361/8 "2005-11-30T22:16:12Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#):
>
> [Straight from Uncle Cecil.](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_381.html)
I’m still irked they changed the question to “fecal matter.” And the SD isn’t even on AOL any more.
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### Author:  [@bizzwire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizzwire)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2005, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poop-brown/333361/9 "2005-12-01T02:27:22Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#):
>
> Please do not mention those two names in the same sentence. I have two of Feldman’s books and there is no comparison. Why do clocks run clockwise indeed. :rolleyes:
>
> (However, I do recommend Joel Achenbach’s “Why Things Are.” Though I still would not draw a direct comparison to Cecil.)
Hear, Hear!!
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### Author:  [@Ins\_Outs\_What-have-yous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ins_Outs_What-have-yous)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2005, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poop-brown/333361/10 "2005-12-01T03:54:45Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Originally Posted by **woolygums**
> _yet poop comes out pretty much the same color?"_
The color and hue of poop can vary somewhat. Drink some Pepto Bismol and your next poopoo will be very dark most likely. Eat more than the usual amount green foods (vegies) and the next poopoo may be significantly more greenish. These statements are based on my own personal…um… research. 🙂
> [@](#):
>
> Originally Posted by **CookingWithGas**
>
> > [@](#):
> >
> > Quote:
> > Originally Posted by **Revtim**
> > _Perhaps I’m thinking of Feldman or another Cecil-like writer._
>
> Please do not mention those two names in the same sentence. I have two of Feldman’s books and there is no comparison. Why do clocks run clockwise indeed.
>
> (However, I do recommend Joel Achenbach’s “Why Things Are.” Though I still would not draw a direct comparison to Cecil.)
I concur with \*\*CookingWithGas \*\* here. I own two of Feldman’s books (_Do Penguins Have Knees?_ and \*Why do Clocks Run Clockwise?) \* and 4 of Cecil’s books. I hope you used the term ‘Cecil-like’ very loosely. I am not attempting to put down Feldman, so suffice it to say that The Master is in a class by himself.
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### Author:  [@Ins\_Outs\_What-have-yous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ins_Outs_What-have-yous)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2005, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poop-brown/333361/11 "2005-12-01T04:16:11Z")
Originally Posted by **woolygums**
\*Why does poop always smell the same?" Why does it not smell like what we have eaten?\*The smell arises from bacteria that helps break down contents in the intestinal tract.
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### Author:  [@Ins\_Outs\_What-have-yous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ins_Outs_What-have-yous)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2005, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poop-brown/333361/12 "2005-12-01T04:19:29Z")
Forgot my quote box. Preview damn it! :smack:
> [@](#):
>
> Originally Posted by **woolygums**
> _Why does poop always smell the same?" Why does it not smell like what we have eaten?_
The smell arises from bacteria that helps break down contents in the intestinal tract.
Ok, that’s better.
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### Author:  [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2005, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poop-brown/333361/13 "2005-12-01T06:04:58Z")
:eek:
> [@Phlosphr](#):
>
> Bilirubin turns your processed food brown on it’s royal desent into your colon. The pigments get digested on the way 🙂
>
> Very unscientific, but another will be along soon to elaborate.
>
> Great [Cite](http://www.heptune.com/poop.html)
[Introducing the Turd Twister…
the funniest gag gift in the world!](http://www.turdtwister.com/?ref=19&sid=100) :eek:
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### Author:  [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2005, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-poop-brown/333361/14 "2005-12-01T07:59:45Z")
> [@Phlosphr](#):
>
> The pigments get digested on the way 🙂
Not all pigments get digested. I once ate a lot of licorice (apparently of a cheap brand) and my next, um … experiment… came out a dark green. Not all licorice does that, though. We’ve had threads on this topic before and others reported similar effects with various foods or just food coloring. I think the key is to consume a lot of pigment so all of it doesn’t get digested.