How do changes in bilirubin affect stool color?
Bile travels through the bile ducts (and gallbladder) and into the intestines. As the bilirubin travels through the intestines, some of it undergoes further chemical changes, and some of these changes can have an effect on the color of stool. These changes depend primarily on the speed with which the intestinal contents traverse the intestines. If the intestinal contents travel at a normal speed, stool is light to dark brown. If the intestinal contents travel more rapidly, chemical changes to bilirubin – and/or the lack of them – may turn the stool green. This is not by itself an important color change. If there is no bilirubin (bile) in the stool, the stool is a gray, clay-like color, an important change in color since it suggests that the flow of bile into the intestine is blocked. The most common…
