This article was co-authored by Dale Prokupek, MD . Dale Prokupek, MD is a board certified Internist and Gastroenterologist who runs a private practice based in Los Angeles, California. Dr. Prokupek is also a staff physician at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and an associate clinical professor of medicine at the Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Dr. Prokupek has over 25 years of medical experience and specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the liver, stomach, and colon, including chronic hepatitis C, colon cancer, hemorrhoids, anal condyloma, and digestive diseases related to chronic immune deficiency. He holds a BS in Zoology from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and an MD from the Medical College of Wisconsin. He completed an internal medicine residency at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and a gastroenterology fellowship at the UCLA Geffen School of Medicine. This article has been viewed 1,557,717 times.

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One way to tell how healthy you are is to analyze the shape, size, and color of your bowel movements. The ideal length of a bowel movement is about 12 inches. If you have round pellets instead, you may be constipated and should increase your dietary fiber intake and stay hydrated. You’ll also want to note if your stool becomes more narrow than usual as this could mean you have an obstruction in your large intestine. Green or yellow stool is typically caused by mild diarrhea, while pale gray or yellow feces may indicate liver disease. You’ll also want to note any signs of blood in your stool, which would make it red or pitch black. This can be caused by bleeding in the digestive tract or be a sign of a variety of problems ranging from ulcers to cancer. To learn how to analyze the smell of your stool, keep reading!