Shape, colour and how often you go can all give clues about your gut. Here is a simple guide to what is normal, and what to get checked.
How often
Anywhere from three times a day to three times a week is normal. What matters more is a change from your usual pattern that lasts more than a few weeks.
Shape and texture
Doctors use a seven-point scale, the Bristol Stool Chart:
- Types 1 and 2: hard lumps or a lumpy sausage. A sign of constipation.
- Types 3 and 4: a sausage with cracks, or smooth and soft. This is ideal.
- Type 5: soft blobs with clear edges. Usually fine.
- Types 6 and 7: mushy or watery. This is diarrhoea; see sudden diarrhoea or chronic diarrhoea.
Colour
- Brown: normal, from bile
- Green: usually green vegetables, or food passing through quickly
- Yellow, greasy, floating and hard to flush: fat not being absorbed. See a doctor if it continues.
- Pale or clay-coloured, especially with dark urine or yellow eyes: bile may not be reaching the bowel. See a doctor soon.
- Red: may be blood, or red dragon fruit or beetroot. See blood in the stool.
- Black: iron tablets can do this, but black, tarry stool can mean bleeding from the stomach and needs prompt attention
When to see a doctor
See a doctor for blood in the stool, black tarry stool, pale stool with yellow eyes, a change in bowel habit lasting more than a few weeks, or weight loss. From 45, everyone should also have colorectal cancer screening, even with normal stools.
General information only. Reviewed by Dr Chia Chung King, 2026-11-13. Book a consultation.