Pale, Clay, Gray or White Bowel Movement and White Diarrhea

Normal bowel movement color can be any shade of brown, or some other colors, but not white.

Bowel movement has its color due to the bile which originally green color has been changed into the brown during its passage through the bowel. 

Causes of White Bowel Movement

When less than normal or no bile is excreted from the liver into the bowel (cholestasis), excreted stool will be pale, clay, gray, or white. Someone can describe it as a light color, but this is not bright yellow bowel movement, and also not mucus in the bowel movement that is jelly-like and translucent. Main causes of white bowel movement are:

• Obstruction of the biliary duct (due to gallstones, inflammation, fibrosis, cancer, pressure from outside (pancreatic cancer or cyst, abdominal tumor like fibroma) – appears with cramping pains in the right upper abdomen
• Obstruction of outflow of the bile from the liver due to liver disease (viral hepatitis, fatty liver, alcohol liver disease, cirrhosis, hemochromatosis, or rarely tuberculosis, spread of cancer into the liver (liver metastases) – may appear with fullness or pain in upper right abdomen, jaundice, nausea, or vomiting

White Diarrhea

Above reasons (obstruction of bile flow), or lack of pancreatic enzyme lipase that digests fats prevents fat absorption in the small intestine. Unabsorbed fats will reach the colon and irritate it thus causing diarrhea. Loose, white, sticky, greasy, foamy, floating, smelly stool appearing several hours after a fatty meal is called steatorrhea. Main causes of white diarrhea are:

• Acute or chronic pancreatitis (low appetite, pain in middle or left upper abdomen, nausea)
• Pancreatic cancer (low appetite, loosing weight)
• Liver or biliary duct disease
• Severe inflammation of small intestine (Crohn’s disease, celiac disease, tuberculosis, severe food poisoning)
• Candida overgrowth in large intestine (in persons with lowered immunity, like in AIDS or after chemotherapy)

Other Causes of White Stool

White stool may appear after:

• Barium enema
• Antacids

White Specs in the Stool…

..may represent:

• undigested food like rice or seeds
• unabsorbed drugs
• parasite eggs
• clumps of fungi (Candida albicans) in heavy disease like AIDS, or in immunosuppression from chemotherapy or radiation therapy…

Diagnosis

Stool fat test may reveal fats in the stool.

Blood tests:

• White blood cells are elevated in pancreatitis, bowel inflammation
• Pancreatic enzymes (lipase) in the blood may be elevated (pancreatic disease)
• Liver enzymes in the blood may be elevated (liver, biliary duct disease)

Ultrasound of abdomen may reveal gallstones in gallbladder, or rarely in biliary duct, swollen pancreas (in pancreatitis, pancreatic cancer or cyst), or abdominal tumor.

Treatment

Original disease has to be treated.

In white diarrhea low-fat diet has to be introduced.

Further Reading:

Loose Bowel Movements – Diagnosis from Medical Symptoms
Normal and Excessive Bowel Movements – Comparison
Blood in Your Stool
Bowel Anatomy, Intestinal Flora