Orange oily stool is due to the presence of excess fat in the stool. Due to heavy gas, stools may tend to float. How much fecal fat constitutes streatorrhea (fat in stool) has not been standardized.
Causes of orange oily stool
There are many causes for such a situation to arise but the main one is that of malabsorption. This situation arises from abnormality of absorption of food nutrients. This could lead to malnutrition and many cases of anemia. A typical diet in an adult constitutes of hundred grams of fat, four hundred grams of carbohydrate and hundred grams of protein. Also two liters of water along with salts like sodium, potassium, chlorine and calcium. It is all this load that is reduced in the small and large intestine to two hundred grams of stool. A severe disturbance in the digestive tract can lead to celiac disease.
Pancreatic cancer
When cells in the pancreas multiply out of control and form a mass, then the cancerous cells have the ability to invade the body thus causing pancreatic cancer .Symptoms for this disease is seen by the yellow coloring of the skin and stool, dark urine and loss of appetite which leads to weight loss.
Medications
A diet pill called Oristat works by blocking the enzyme that digest the fat. As fat cannot be absorbed from the gut and feces is excreted instead of being digested. This oily anal discharge or leakage is called streatorrhea.
Nuts
Stool lipids are greater when whole nuts are eaten. The lipids from the whole nuts are less well absorbed
Natural fats
Consumption of jojoba oil can cause streatorrhea. Also it can cause anal leakage as it is indigestible. Oil fish commonly called as butterfish also causes streatorrhea. The fish that is used in party catering causes this as it is cheap, has a delicate taste and is easily available.
Artificial fats
Olestra is a fat substitute used to digest fat in n some foods. However excessive consumtion of this fat can lead to loose stools.
Treatment
The simple treatment is to eliminate the cause of orange colored stools as well as supporting the treatment with digestive enzyme supplements.
Worst Side effects
Orange poop oil is very annoying as it penetrates the clothes immediately. It is very embarrassing in public places as one cannot hide the evidence because of its color and strong odor. Poop oil can leak out without a warning. At times even a sneeze can cause the rectal muscle to squeeze thus leading to a discharge. Just as liquid poop the orange oil stinks. At times the oil comes out with a little of feces. Another embarrassing moment is that the orange oil will stick to the toilet seat
Escolar
Escolar is the most dangerous fish in the world. This is a firm, white fleshed fish that has an extremely rich flavor and very succulent. The fish diet constitutes of high amount of esters. As esters are difficult to digest the esters build up in the fish and are stored therein. Esters are basically wax and when ingested this wax like structure works more like a laxative thus causing the yellow droplets.
Now why would anyone eat such a fish? Well there are two reasons and both are in the extreme. One the fish is extremely tasty and two people love to experiment. Grilling this fish could help a bit but that would still not stop the oily droplets. However there are ways of not staining one’s pant by adopting the following methods.
- Eat less quantity of this particular type of fish when served.
- Always take the tail portion as it is found that the tail has the least amount of esters.
- Grilling will reduce the ester wax thus making it to melt and drip out from the fish.
- By skinning the fish closer to the skin would reduce the amount of esters as the skin holds the most amount of ester wax.
- Pregnant women and people with bowel problems should stay far away from this fish.
Orange colored stools are usually attributed to food or medication that has been taken. Certain medications that contain beta carotene can cause orange coloring of the stool. Antacids containing aluminum hydroxide can also cause the same.
Foods that are high on beta carotene include carrot, sweet potato, spinach, turnip, winter squash, cilantro and thyme. Stool starts out as green and then changes to orange before being exposed to bile and bacteria and finally turns to the brown color. At times low exposure to bile salts can cause a couple of factors leading to the orange color. As the stool is pushed rapidly through the digestive system it is not able to come I contact with the bile salt resulting in the orange colored stool.
Mal-absorption due to lactose intolerance, gluten, cow’s milk intolerance lead to inflammatory disease of the bowel thus causing orange color stools.
