The liver releases bile salts into the stool, giving it a normal brown color. You may have clay-colored stools if you have a liver infection that reduces bile production, or if the flow of bile out of the liver is blocked. Yellow skin (jaundice) often occurs with clay-colored stools.
Pale Poop Color
Bile salts in the intestines give stool its usual brown color. If your poop color is light (either pale, white, grey, or clay-colored), there could be a lack of bile in the stool.
Well, here is a brief answer: peanut butter-colored poop is normal. It is neither an indication of illness nor any underlying medical condition. It is perfectly normal unless it is accompanied by diarrhea, pain when pooping, abdominal cramps, poop floating, or bleeding.
All shades of brown and even green are considered normal. Only rarely does stool color indicate a potentially serious intestinal condition. Stool color is generally influenced by what you eat as well as by the amount of bile — a yellow-green fluid that digests fats — in your stool.
Stools that are pale, clay, or putty-colored may be due to problems in the biliary system. The biliary system is the drainage system of the gallbladder, liver, and pancreas. Food passes from the stomach into the small intestine.
When the stool is very pale, it often means that not enough bile is reaching the stool. Stools may contain low bile levels if there is a problem with the gallbladder, pancreas, or liver. People with consistently pale stools may want to talk with a doctor about conditions that affect these organs.
Pale stools could be a sign of liver damage, as pale, clay, beige or sand coloured stool may be a sign that your body, most notably your liver is not producing enough bile, or it may not be draining bile properly. Bile makes up part of the colouring of your stool.
Light-Colored Poop
If your poop is light-colored, yellow, clay-colored, or very light brown, this may be a sign of: An infection or inflammation (swelling) in your gallbladder, liver, or pancreas. Alcoholic hepatitis, which is inflammation in your liver caused by alcohol consumption.
If your pale stools are caused by something structural, like blocked bile ducts, you may need surgery to remove the blockage or widen the passageway. Hepatitis may require antivirals, while a liver transplant is the only way to resolve cirrhosis.
If your liver doesn't make bile normally or if the flow from the liver is blocked, your poop will look pale like the color of clay. Pale poop often happens along with yellow skin (jaundice). The extra bilirubin that makes your skin look yellow also can make your pee unusually dark.
Fatty liver disease: If you notice dark urine and pale poo, seek urgent medical attention.
Gray or Clay-Colored Stool
The stool can be gray or clay-colored if it contains little or no bile. The pale color may signify a condition (biliary obstruction) where the flow of bile to the intestine is obstructed, such as obstruction of the bile duct from a tumor or gallstone in the duct or nearby pancreas.
A person should also see a doctor if their symptoms get progressively worse, stools are pale, bulky, very offensive smelling and difficult to flush away (this may indicate a problem with absorbing fat), or if they are concerned about their symptoms.
Most of the time, poop that's a different color from what you're used to isn't something to worry about. It's rare for it to be a sign of a serious condition in your digestive system. But if it's white, bright red, or black, and you don't think it's from something you ate, call your doctor.
Symptoms of Malabsorption
When there is inadequate absorption of fats in the digestive tract, stool contains excess fat and is light-colored, soft, bulky, greasy, and unusually foul-smelling (such stool is called steatorrhea).
Yellow stool can indicate that food is passing through the digestive tract relatively quickly. Yellow stool can be found in people with GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease). Symptoms of GERD include heartburn, chest pain, sore throat, chronic cough, and wheezing.
Normally, stool is brown, but people with bile duct cancer may have pale or clay-colored stools that are oily and float in water. Also known as cholangiocarcinoma, bile duct cancer is a type of rare cancer that starts growing in the bile ducts. Bile is needed to break down fats during digestion.
Yellow all the way through
Malabsorption can happen due to Crohn's disease. Learn more about the symptoms of malabsorption here. If the foul smelling yellow stools are floating in the toilet bowl, this may indicate fat malabsorption specifically.
People with acute pancreatitis often look ill and have a fever, nausea, vomiting, and sweating. Other symptoms that may occur with this disease include: Clay-colored stools. Bloating and fullness.