change of stool color, is this important?

[paul02]

i have recently cut out yeast and wheat (mostly) from my diet as i think i might have a mild allegy to them. i have noticed a change in the color of my stools from a more dark brown (i think) to a tan or lighter brown color. i have read that a change in color to 'clay' or 'pale' can be important.
also, what is clay color anyway? would that be a grey color?

many thanks

[Christopher]

Paul,

You may want to check and see if you are lactose intolerant.  That conidition leads to a break down of the sugar in milk and prevent the creation of glucose, which can lead to high acidity in your stool.  That may be causing the color change, but i have not found any information on-line to confirm that.

Lactose is also found in bread products, which is why, if you are cutting those out of your diet, you may be seeing a positive result.  You may want to try cutting all dairy (milk, cream, butter, cheese, etc.) out of your diet for two weeks and see what the result is.

Chris

[paul02]

many thanks mary ann.
paul

[MARY ANN]

the thing is to keep an eye on it and if other symptoms arise seek the advice of a gastro/digestive specialest.if your stool turns very pale or yellow, light green , black  which is normally old blood or red  blood apears or a lot of constant stomach pain .then i would be concerned.good luck.

[paul02]

many thanks for your advice. the only problems im having are feeling bloated with too much gas! thats why i cut out on the wheat and yeast (beer and pizza mostly).
the bloating is getting less but still a problem sometimes.
thanks again,

[MARY ANN]

hi,  no clay is more like a rusty orange or rusty red look. to me it sound like your stool has changed colors due to your diet change .are you having any other symptoms? if not it doesn't sound as though you have anything to worry about .