Why is my poop white

Feces or poop is the semi-solid bodily waste eliminated from the body through the anus. It consists of the waste that remains after the ingested food is digested, but even this waste is highly rich in energy that the decomposing micro organisms make use of. The color, texture and composition of poop largely depends on the diet of the specific person, but usually in humans it is an offensive, smelly combination of cellulose, fiber, mucus, phosphates, protein, inorganic salts, cholesterol, dead cells, both dead and alive bacteria and of course, water.

Among all the colors of poop that are generally seen among humans, white is one of the rarest. But one can experience white feces if one’s gastrointestinal tract is to be x-rayed. The reason for this anomaly is because the person to be x-rayed is given a Barium milkshake before the x-ray as a procedure for the diagnosis. Overdose of antacids may also give your poop the white color.

White stool should definitely not be present in a healthy individual under normal circumstances, but if you are experiencing white stool, you could have some sort of a liver blockage. Bilirubin is released from the liver and is broken down into urobilinogen and this could be the reason why poop might be white, that is the lack of urobilinogen release from the liver. Urobilinogen is responsible for turning feces dark. Consulting a doctor is advisable in such a case.

Gallstone, fibrosis, and cancer are among some of the reasons why the biliary duct might be blocked, and blockage in the biliary duct can very well be the reason for white excreta. Pain in the right side of the upper abdomen is quite common in such cases.

Steatorrhea or white diarrhea may result from the absence of lipase, a pancreatic secretion for digesting fat. This condition may be the result of pancreatitis or even pancreatic cancer. If due to food poisoning, celiac disease or Crohn’s disease, the small intestine suffers from heavy inflammation, white stool might be excreted.

Although unlikely in patients with relatively healthy immune systems, the Candida fungus (Candida albicans) found in the large intestine can grow above the normal range in a patient suffering from immunity deficiency diseases like AIDS and thus the patient may experience white feces.

There are other reasons for white feces as well but these are generally the reasons that are responsible for white colored poop in general.