What Causes Orange Poop? How to Know If It’s Serious or Not

What Causes Orange Poop?

The color of your stool usually comes from a mix of bile (a digestive fluid made by your liver) and what you eat. As bile travels through your intestines, it changes from yellow-green to brown.

If something interrupts this process or adds bright color to your system, your poop can come out orange. Most of the time, it's harmless. Let’s look at the most common causes.

Foods

What you eat plays a major role in the color of your stool, and orange foods are some of the most common culprits. If your poop suddenly turns orange, your diet is the first place to look.

Carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, squash – These vegetables are packed with beta-carotene, a bright orange pigment that your body turns into vitamin A. When you eat them in large amounts, that pigment can pass through your digestive system and tint your stool orange. This is completely harmless and very common.

Brightly colored snacks, candies, cereals, and sports drinks often contain synthetic food coloring, especially yellow and red dyes that combine to create orange. These dyes are not always fully broken down by your body, so they can show up in your stool.

Strongly pigmented spices can also influence stool color. For example, paprika and turmeric have deep red-orange tones that may temporarily color your poop after a heavily spiced meal.

If your stool turns orange after eating any of these foods, there’s no need to worry. The color usually returns to normal within a day or two after you’ve stopped eating the food that caused it.

Medications and Supplements

Certain over-the-counter and prescription medications, as well as dietary supplements, can affect the color of your stool, sometimes making it look orange or reddish-orange.

Antacids containing aluminum hydroxide are often used to relieve heartburn, indigestion, and GERD. While they help neutralize stomach acid, they can also slow down digestion and affect how bile is processed. This may lead to lighter or orange-colored stool in some people.

Rifampicin is a powerful antibiotic often used to treat tuberculosis and other bacterial infections. It’s well known for turning urine and stool a reddish-orange color. This side effect is harmless, but it can be surprising if you’re not expecting it.

Bismuth-based medications. This popular pink medicine is usually associated with black stool, but in some cases, especially depending on your diet, it may also contribute to an orange tint.

Vitamins that contain beta-carotene or vitamin A can cause stool to look orange, especially when taken in high doses. This is more likely with chewables, gummies, or high-potency supplements.

Doctors usually inform patients about these kinds of side effects when prescribing these medications or recommending supplements. If the color stays orange for several days or if you feel unwell, it’s worth discussing with your doctor to make sure everything is okay.

Digestive Tract Causes

While diet and medications are the most common reasons for orange poop, sometimes it can be a sign that something deeper is going on in your digestive system:

These organs are responsible for producing and storing bile (the greenish fluid that eventually turns your stool brown). If your liver isn’t producing enough bile, or if the gallbladder isn’t releasing it properly, your stool might appear pale, yellow, or even orange. This may be an early sign of a bile flow issue.

When the tubes that carry bile from your liver to your intestines become blocked (due to gallstones, inflammation, or other conditions), bile can’t reach your digestive tract. Without bile, the stool may lose its normal brown color and take on a pale or orange appearance. This condition needs medical attention.

If food moves too quickly through your digestive tract, your body may not have enough time to properly break down bile. That means the bile doesn't get a chance to turn your stool brown.

This can result in orange or yellowish stool. This is more likely to happen in people who have had part of their intestines removed or shortened due to conditions like Crohn’s disease, injury, or after certain types of bariatric surgery (such as gastric bypass). These changes can reduce the time and surface area available for full digestion and absorption.

GERD usually affects the upper digestive tract. But in rare cases, it can interfere with digestion and bile function, especially if you’re taking certain medications. This can contribute to occasional changes in stool color.

Orange Poop in Babies and Children

Color changes of stool can happen in babies and children. Their digestive systems are still developing, and their poop can change color often, during growth spurts, feeding transitions, or diet changes.

What’s Normal?

• Breastfed or formula-fed babies often have stools that range in color from yellow to orange. This is especially true in the first months of life when their diet is entirely liquid. The color can also be influenced by the mother's diet: foods high in beta-carotene can pass through breast milk and slightly tint the baby’s stool.
• Introducing solid foods can also lead to orange-colored poop. Pureed vegetables like carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, and pumpkin contain natural pigments that may show up in your baby’s diaper. This is a normal response and simply reflects what they’ve eaten.

Is Orange Poop Harmless or Serious? A Quick Chart

This simple chart can help you understand the most common causes and whether they usually need medical attention.

So When Should You See a Doctor?

Call your doctor if you experience any of the following:

• Orange stool lasting more than 3 days, especially with no clear link to food or medication
• Very pale, chalky, or clay-colored stool. It is a possible sign of a problem with bile flow
• Dark urine, or yellowing of the skin or eyes (jaundice), could indicate a liver or gallbladder issue
• Ongoing symptoms such as: Ongoing symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, stomach or abdominal pain, unusual tiredness or fatigue, or loss of appetite and unexplained weight loss.

These symptoms might suggest an issue with your liver, gallbladder, or bile ducts and should be evaluated promptly.

What the Doctor Might Do

If your orange stool seems unrelated to food or vitamins, your doctor may recommend some basic tests to find out what’s going on. These may include:

• Stool test: to look for signs of infection, fat malabsorption, or digestive inflammation
• Liver function test (LFTs): a blood test that checks how well your liver is working
• Abdominal imaging such as an ultrasound or CT scan, to look at your gallbladder, liver, or bile ducts for blockages or inflammation
• Medication review: to see if any prescribed drugs could be affecting bile or digestion

These tests help identify or rule out more serious causes and guide the right treatment if needed.

How to Get Back to Normal Stool Color

If your orange stool is caused by something mild, like certain foods, vitamins, or over-the-counter medications, a few simple changes can often help bring your stool back to its usual brown color.

1. Take a closer look at your diet

Try cutting back on bright orange vegetables like carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, or foods and drinks with artificial dyes for a few days and see if the color returns to normal.

2. Review your supplements and medications

Check the label or ask your doctor or pharmacist whether orange stool is a possible side effect. If so, the color should go back to normal after the medication is stopped, but never stop a prescribed medication without medical advice.

3. Stay hydrated

To help your digestive system work properly, try drinking about 6–8 glasses of water a day. It supports smooth digestion and helps your body break down bile, which plays a key role in keeping your stool color normal.

4. Keep track of changes

If the orange color is mild, brief, and clearly linked to diet or vitamins, you can usually just monitor it at home. Keep an eye on how long it lasts, whether it gets lighter or darker, and if any other symptoms appear.

These steps are helpful for short-term, mild cases. But if the orange stool lasts more than a few days, returns frequently, or comes with other warning signs, it’s best to speak to a doctor.