Digestive and Bowel Disorders Forum - Pink stools: blood or food?

Conditions and Diseases > Digestive and Bowel Disorders Forum > Pink stools: blood or food?

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Q: Pink stools: blood or food?

asked by: DoctorQuestion on January 14th, 2007

recently i had a bowel movement and noticed pink on the toilet paper. then i saw that the water in the toilet was very pink. is this something serious or could this most likely be from a food dye? i have been drinking a lot of red fruit juices over the last 3 days like northland cranberry pomegranate juice. i have no abdominal pain and no changes in bowel movements except for the pink.

Replies(1)

Dr. Nikola Gjuzelov , MD

replied on January 22nd, 2007

Digestive & Bowel Disorders Answer A2172

The pink color in the stools can originate from food or it could be blood. Try to stop drinking cranberry juice for a few days to test if pink color remains in the stools, or not. If the pink color still exists, you can go to your primary health doctor to exclude or confirm blood in the stool. Blood in the stools should be taken as a very serious symptom of bleeding in the digestive tract. If there is blood in the stools, the cause must be found immediately.

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