What causes metallic smelling poop?

Despite the fact that it’s unpleasant to look at or think about, our excrement reveals more about our health than we might realize. Our bowel patterns can be affected by our general health, gut health, and lifestyle choices like smoking, and even our psychological health can be reflected in our feces.

Have you ever noticed that the odor of your waste or diarrhea is metallic? If so, you might be asking why this is happening. Continue reading to find out what causes metallic smelling poop.

What causes metallic smelling poop?

If you consume too many foods high in iron, it is the most obvious reason why your farts, excrement, and anything else coming out of your behind could smell like metal.

Your gut may have a significant number of sulfur-producing bacteria if your excrement smells metallic in most cases. But this can also happen if you take iron supplements or even if you have stomach bleeding. It may be even more likely that this is the case if you notice that your stool is darker in color than usual.

Make sure to get to the doctor right away so they can check your stool for blood if you detect this discoloration in your stool. Colorectal cancer would be the most concerning condition that could result in this.

You must undergo a fecal occult blood test to check for minute quantities of blood in your stool and perhaps a colonoscopy to check for obvious changes.

Your diet can have a huge impact on how your stools smell. While fatty or oily foods can cause unpleasant gas, supplements or diet medications that you may be taking are more likely to cause a metallic scent.

This metallic-smelling stool is an undesirable side effect of the preservatives and color pigments contained in many vitamin pills that are widely used in modern society. Two substances that can cause this side effect are vitamin B supplements and garlic supplements.

This metallic odor may also result from several drugs. Antibiotics that are frequently prescribed, such as metronidazole, have reportedly been linked to this metallic odor. You are responsible for identifying any obvious changes following pharmaceutical use.

Bring up this issue with your doctor to ensure that he is aware of these adverse effects even though it is likely only an inconvenient side effect that won’t increase any danger.

Another reason for smelling like metal in your stools would once more have to do with your food. Studies show that following a Paleo diet frequently results in this. This diet places a strong emphasis on consuming lots of good fats while consuming few carbohydrates.

It is only natural for you to start producing more ketone bodies as a byproduct of your metabolism as your body gets used to this new diet. Ketone bodies might also produce this metallic odor when you pass gas.

Summary

For a variety of causes, your poop may be smelling metallic in nature, but you should also think about the consistency of the movement in addition to the smell. If there is blood in your stool, it may have a rusty metal odor.

You won’t know unless you examine it and check to see if there is blood in your stool. Remember that excrement with a metallic odor can occur for a variety of causes, and smell cannot indicate the cause.

You may also be interested in:

Is sweet smelling poop a sign of diabetes?

Frequently asked questions

Why does my poop smell foul?

Stool that smells particularly foul has a foul scent. This is frequently caused by the meals that people eat. But occasionally, bad-smelling stools can be a sign of an underlying medical issue.

What causes foul smell poop?

Smelly stools can also be a symptom of intestinal infections. Gastroenteritis, an inflammation of the stomach and intestines, can develop as a result of consuming food infected with bacteria, viruses, or parasites like E. coli or Salmonella. You may first have abdominal cramps and then have runny, foul-smelling feces shortly after contracting the virus.

Stools with a bad odor are frequently caused by malabsorption.

When your body cannot properly absorb the nutrients from the food you eat, malabsorption takes place. This typically happens when a disease or virus stops your intestines from receiving nutrients from your diet.

Diarrhea and gastrointestinal distress are possible side effects of some drugs.

If you have an allergy to any of the compounds in some over-the-counter multivitamins, taking such supplements may also result in foul-smelling feces.

You can experience unpleasant-smelling feces following an antibiotic course until your natural bacterial flora returns. A negative effect of exceeding the recommended daily amount of a multivitamin or any one vitamin or mineral is the development of foul-smelling diarrhea.

Antibiotic users may experience brief stomach distress and unpleasant-smelling stools. This is so that the delicate balance of good and bad bacteria in the gut is not disturbed by antibiotic use. Once the healthy gut bacteria have restocked following an antibiotic course, symptoms typically go away quickly.

A form of sugar called lactose can be found in milk and other dairy products. An enzyme called lactase is used by the body to break down lactose. The amount of lactase produced by a lactose-intolerant person is insufficient to digest lactose. Those who are lactose intolerant could have smelly poop.

Why does my poop have a sulfurous odor?

If you consume a lot of foods high in sulfur, such as dairy goods, garlic, and meats, your bowel movements may begin to smell like sulfur. This is also true of some vegetables, including broccoli, kale, and cabbage.

It’s a common problem with eggs. Keep in mind that how your excrement smells are not necessarily an indication of your health; sometimes, it is simply a reflection of your diet.

Why does my poop smell like rusty metal?

There are numerous reasons why your poop may smell like rusted metal. Your poop might smell like rusty metal if you have blood in your stool. There is a catch, though. You might not be able to tell until you take a look at your own stool to notice if it contains blood or not.