Can Probiotics Change Stool Color? (green, black & yellow poop)

As someone who has taken different brands of probiotics supplements, I can attest to the fact that they can cause a significant change in the color and consistency of your stool.

At first, it can be a bit alarming to see your poop look different than usual, but it’s essential to understand that these changes are usually not harmful. Probiotics are live bacteria and yeast that can help improve your gut health, and in the process, they can alter the color and texture of your poop.

In this post, we’ll delve into the topic of how probiotics can change the color of your stool, what it means, and when to be concerned.

The following sections cover why these color changes happen after taking probiotics and whether you should be concerned about these.

Can Probiotics Make Stool Dark?

Yes, it’s possible that probiotics can make stool dark. The good bacteria in probiotics can cause changes in the color of your stool, but this isn’t always a bad thing. In most cases, the darkened stool is caused by the bacteria themselves and usually isn’t harmful.

However, sometimes the color of your stool depends upon the pre-existing stool color depending on your gut health.

This is because probiotics do not add a specific color to your stool; rather, they improve your bowel movements and stool characteristics.

Probiotics will likely relieve gastrointestinal problems if you already have dark stools due to medicines or illness, making stools flow easily and lighter in color. Ideally, you should have light-dark brown stools.

And, if your stool is pale or greenish due to a digestive problem, probiotics would help improve your gut functions, leading to healthy brownish stools.

In 2016, a study was performed on 118 healthy Japanese to observe the effects of a probiotic strain (Lactobacillus gasseri) on gut health.

Its results show that fecal color changed gradually with the probiotics supplementation. The Lactobacillus group had lighter stools by the end of the research, while the placebo group didn’t experience much change in stool color.

On the other side, a person may have some malabsorption issues or IBS that have turned his stool yellowish. In this case, probiotics can help you get rid of painful symptoms like abdominal cramps, bloating, and diarrhea and also restore the solid consistency and brown color of your stools.

Similarly, people suffering from constipation may notice dark stools when they start taking probiotics because the fecal material stuck in the digestive canal for longer than normal is often darker in color.

Yellow Stool After Probiotics – What Could it Possibly Mean?

Having yellow stools after probiotics can be an indication of the presence of gluten in the supplement. But it also indicates that you may have Celiac disease, which is an autoimmune disorder affecting the small intestine.

Celiac persons become sensitive to gluten as it impairs intestinal functions, inducing diarrhea, nausea, and other symptoms. Consequently, fat digestion in the intestines is adversely affected and makes stools yellow and often foul-smelling.

Market analysis confirms that many probiotic pills contain some allergens like gluten, lactose, etc.

Hence, if your stool color has changed from brown to yellow after starting probiotics supplements, you probably need to look for another trusted brand that produces gluten-free probiotics.

However, you don’t always need to be celiac if you have yellow stools. Instead, the yellowish color can also result from the food you are eating, like carrots, turmeric, sweet potatoes, high-fat food, or items containing yellow food color.

If most of your food choices are from the list above, then yellowish stool is normal and can be easily changed by adjusting the diet.

Can Probiotics Make Your Poop Green?

No, probiotics usually don’t make your poop green, based on research. If you have green stools, it is probably due to the leafy greens you took in the last meal.

Green poop can also result from medication effects on your gut bacteria, such as strong antibiotics. These drugs can kill your natural gut-friendly microbes, decreasing the digestive and absorptive efficacy of your GI system.

In this case, taking probiotics can actually cure the problem by restoring the number of gut microbiota.

However, if you overdose on these bacterial supplements, you may experience gas, diarrhea, or bloating as signs of too much probiotics use.

As a result, your poop may become green because bile components are not properly broken down in the small intestine. However, probiotics’ side effects are quite rare, so as green poop due to probiotics.

FAQs

Can probiotics change baby poop color?

Yes, probiotics can change a baby’s stool color, but usually, it’s nothing to be worried about.

In babies suffering from a GI problem, probiotics improve stool characteristics as measured with respect to the Bristol stool scale.

For infants, any stool color from yellow to green is considered normal, and this study (including 41 babies) shows that after probiotics supplementation, the number of babies with mustard-yellow poop increased from 22 to 40.

Also, many parents have shared their experiences of giving probiotics to their little ones, saying that it helped their babies with gas, diarrhea, and constipation.

Can Probiotics Change Stool Color in Dogs?

Yes, stool color may change when you give probiotics to your dog.

Probiotics’ effects on dogs are very similar to the probiotic impact on humans. So, if your dog is facing GI discomfort and producing weird-colored stools, probiotics can help them get back to normal.

However, sometimes doggy’s gut takes some time to adjust to the probiotics, and you may notice unpleasant stool color and smell for a few days.

Can Probiotics Change Stool Consistency?

Yes, probiotics can change stool consistency. Both everyday observations and scientific reports confirm the positive effects of probiotic foods and supplements on stool consistency and frequency.

After taking probiotics, feces get softer and easier to remove in constipated individuals, while on the other side, stools become solidified in diarrhea patients.

Wrap up on Probiotics’ Stool Color

Probiotics aka. Gut-friendly bacteria are known for their positive influence on gastrointestinal health and also on overall well-being. Like other GI functions, these strains also affect bowel movements and stool characteristics. That is why some people notice a change in stool color after taking probiotics.

It often happens when someone is taking probiotics to cure a gut problem. Hence, their stool consistency and color were already disturbed due to illness, and probiotics help them get back to pooping healthily.

Also, the stool color change after probiotics could be due to contamination of the supplement with allergens like gluten, etc. Besides that, these color variations can be signs of too much probiotic supplementation.

Hence, the best way is to take the advice from your physician, use products from reputed brands like YourBiology Gut+ or Biotics8, and stick to the recommended dose only.