Black Bowel Movement - What Causes Black and Dark Green Bowel Movements?

The normal stool color is brown. The stool gets its color from the bile in the liver. Several people encounter changes in their stool color like dark green stool and black bowel movements. This is not normal. This can happen due to various reasons. You must get to the correct reason for your changed color and must consult a physician if the problem pertains for a longer period of time.

Black Bowel Movements

· One of the reasons of black bowel movement is the excessive intake of iron tablets. If iron supplements without any other diet supplements can do so.

· The other reason may be internal bleeding.

· Black color of stool may be due to pancreatic disease but it is a rare cause.

People have also been found passing dark green stool. Given are a few causes of this:

· It may be due to the excessive ingestion of various items that includes:

· Green leafy vegetables such as lettuce, spinach, broccoli, cabbage, etc.

· Black licorice

. Artificial colors that are added to fruit juices, milk products, ice creams, sweets, etc.

. Iron rich foods such as red meat, beans, etc. the body may not absorb all the iron and starts excreting iron salts.

· In infants it is due to breast feeding.

· Clear liquid diets during illness taken by the children may also lead to dark green stool.

· Laxatives also cause color change.

· It may be due to the change in colonic transit time.

· People can also have green colored stool if they have diarrhea.

· One of the reasons is the decreased bowel transit time.

· Impaired bile re absorption is also one reason for dark green stool.