You probably don’t think of your poop as art or a book, but each time you finish doing your, um, business, your fecal matter tells a story. That’s because we are what we eat, and whatever we eat eventually plops into the toilet.
So if you’re interested in gazing upon what your bowels have unleashed, you may discover some clues about your health. For instance, if your stool is sticking to the toilet bowl, there’s a good chance your diet is too high in fat.
That said, no need to immediately rush out to the grocery store to revamp your entire diet. Sometimes a gross piece of fecal matter is just that ― kind of disgusting and something you can flush away and quickly forget about.
Still, while discussing poop can be yucky or amusing, obviously it’s not always fun and games. (For example, pencil-thin poop can be a sign of colon cancer.) So it’s never a bad idea to monitor your No. 2 and use it as a gauge for how your health is doing. And if you’ve noticed that your poop is sticking to the toilet bowl, you’ll want to start paying attention. Sticky poop can be a sign that you should start adjusting your eating habits or consider calling a doctor. It also may mean nothing at all.
Below, doctors break down the different types of sticky poop, along with other red flags. Here’s what to know.
Pay attention to how your stool looks in the toilet.
Poop that sticks to the toilet — but otherwise looks normal.
Panic-meter: Low. “I wouldn’t say that if poop sticks to the bowl that it’s any type of emergency. Poop sticking to the bowl could just be a normal variant,” said Dr. Asma Khapra, a gastroenterologist at Gastro Health in Fairfax, Virginia, and the chief medical officer at Pandora Health.
What it could mean: There may be nothing to be concerned about, but, as noted, your diet may be high in fat.
“Sticky stool can be caused by excess fat in the stool, a condition called steatorrhea, which can occur when the body isn’t absorbing fat properly,” said Dr. Brynna Connor, health care ambassador at NorthWestPharmacy.com.
On the worrisome side of the ledger, Connor said sticky poop could be a sign of celiac disease or pancreatitis, two conditions you’d definitely want to get checked out ― or it might simply be due to medication you’re taking that affects fat absorption.
One high-fat meal can cause a sticky stool, or it may be that your fiber intake is too low, Connor said.
“If you notice your poop sticking to the bowl, you can try increasing your fiber intake through fruit, vegetables, and/or whole grains, adequately hydrating, and/or cutting back on ultra-processed, fatty foods for a week, monitoring any changes that occur,” she said.
If the sticky poop problem sticks around: If after a week of making changes in your diet, your poop is still clinging to the bowl, just to be on the safe side, you may want to see a doctor, both Khapra and Connor said. (Also: It may be a good time to invest in a new toilet brush.)
Poop that sticks to the toilet — and is black and tar-like.
Panic-meter: Medium, if the problem persists.
What it could mean: Similar to regular-looking fecal matter that sticks to the toilet, this, too, might be nothing to worry about. For instance, Connor said iron supplements and Pepto-Bismol can turn a stool into something black and tar-like.
“The active ingredient, bismuth subsalicylate, reacts with sulfur in the digestive tract to form bismuth sulfide, which is a black-colored substance that temporarily darkens the stool,” Connor said.
Still, if what you’re looking at is dark black and tarry, a medical term known as melena, it could be a sign of bleeding, “often from an upper GI tract or small bowel source, such as a gastric ulcer,” Khapra said. She added that if your stool is an “oily type” or “mucusy” for weeks, especially if you’re also generally not feeling well, you’ll want to check in with your doctor.
If the sticky poop problem sticks around: If you aren’t taking iron supplements and haven’t lately taken Pepto-Bismol, and your poop remains black and tar-like, you’d want to make an appointment with your doctor, both Connor and Khapra said.
Poop — whether it sticks to the toilet or not — that is red.
Panic-meter: Chat with your doctor.
“Red bowel movements can be caused by red foods but also by bleeding,” said Dr. David Clarke, who’s board-certified in internal medicine and gastroenterology. He is also the president of the Association for the Treatment of Neuroplastic Symptoms (ATNS), a nonprofit dedicated to ending chronic pain.
What it could mean: We’ll start by unpacking the first part of Clarke’s quote. What are red foods? That can be red meat, and it can also be spinach (you wouldn’t think that green spinach would turn poop red, but it’s heavy in iron, and, as we’ve already mentioned, iron can do that to you). Tomatoes, beets and red licorice have also been accused of turning poop red. So, before you panic over red poop, think back to the last few meals you’ve had. There may be an innocent explanation for your red-tinted poop.
On the other hand, Clarke said, if your stool is liquid red and seems to be more blood than poop, you should be evaluated by a physician. He noted you should consider it an emergency if you also have abdominal pain or cramping, or if you’re weak and short of breath, your heart is beating rapidly, you’re dizzy or you’re vomiting blood “or material that looks like coffee grounds.”
If the red-colored poop problem sticks around: If you’ve made some diet changes, and a week or so later, your No. 2 is still a crimson color, all of the physicians interviewed recommended contacting your doctor. And, obviously, if you’re worried, there’s nothing that should stop you from making an appointment sooner.
So, what should your poop look like?
It’s pretty clear ― we don’t want black, tarry poop, and we don’t want it to be red. Or oily. Or mucusy. Ideally not constantly sticky. So what would the perfect poop be?
Connor said that “ideally, stool should be smooth, sausage-shaped and easy to pass.”
And if you were going to paint a portrait of your poop (because who wouldn’t want to do that in their spare time?), you’d want to select hues that are “medium to dark brown in color, as this means both bile and digestions are working appropriately,” Connor said.
In a perfect world, your stool isn’t floating, either, Connor said. If it floats, she said, that may be another sign of a diet too high in fat. Connor said it can indicate a lot of things, though, including that you’re consuming a lot of dairy products or perhaps too many high-fiber foods, or it may even be a sign of stress and anxiety.
No need to be anxious if your stool does float, however. It’s just that if you want to strive for poop perfection, it’ll sink slowly.
YourSupportMakes The Story
Your SupportFuelsOur Mission
Your SupportFuelsOur Mission
Join Those Who Make It Possible
HuffPost stands apart because we report for the people, not the powerful. Our journalism is fearless, inclusive, and unfiltered. Join the membership program and help strengthen news that puts people first.
We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves.
Thank you again for your support along the way. We’re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again.
We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves.
Thank you again for your support along the way. We’re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again.
Support HuffPost
Already a member? Log in to hide these messages.
And Khapra suggests not getting too worried by any random splash down in the toilet that looks a bit troubling.
“Most folks are fixated over their stools, but the reality is, stools will vary by so many things ― by what you are eating, how much water you are drinking, how much fiber you get in,” Khapra said. “It’s important to look at trends over time instead of one snapshot of one day with a mild variation.”
