Oily floating matter in stool

Normal people usually defecate once a day, and the health of the human body can be judged based on the defecation situation. The nature of the stool will also change with the food a person eats the day before. If a person eats a lot of liquid food and fruit the day before, the stool will be smoother. If a person drinks very little water the day before, the stool will most likely be dry. So why are there oily floating substances in the stool?

Oily stool may be caused by excessive intake of fat. 5 key points of low-fat diet can help improve

With a normal diet, 2-6 grams of fat are excreted through feces every day. If oily stools are noticeable after defecation, it can be considered a symptom of "steatorrhea". You need to pay attention to whether you consume too much fat in your daily diet (more than 100 grams per day); or if you have recently used anal suppositories or excessive laxatives, which may increase fat excretion.

Therefore, it is generally recommended that if you find yourself suddenly experiencing a suspected case of steatorrhea, you may wish to try changing your diet and adopting a low-fat diet according to the following 5 key points to see if this can alleviate the oily stool phenomenon:

Point 1: Do not drink whole milk, drink low-fat or skim milk instead. If you are lactose intolerant, you can choose sugar-free, low-fat yogurt or yogurt.

Point 2: Avoid eating foods with high oil content such as fried noodles, fried rice, sesame cakes, pot stickers, fried dough sticks, and pan-fried buns. Instead, eat starches with lower oil content such as white rice, toast, steamed buns, potatoes, and vermicelli.

Point 3: Try to choose lean meat, remove the skin and fat, and avoid fat, pork belly, pork knuckle, pork skin, and chicken skin.

Point 4: Many condiments, such as shacha sauce, bean paste, sesame paste, peanut butter, salad dressing, etc., have very high fat content, so you need to pay special attention to the amount you consume.

Point 5: Eat more fresh vegetables and fruits to supplement vitamins and minerals.

Controlling diet but still having oily stools? Beware of 4 hidden diseases

If you reduce your intake of greasy food but still have oily stools, it may be closely related to diseases such as pancreatic disease, enteritis, gallstones, etc., which may cause the pancreas and gallbladder to not function normally and have poor intestinal absorption. The following four factors are the most common:

Factor 1: Pancreatitis and gastrectomy, resulting in poor digestive function.

Factor 2: Diseases such as biliary tract disease, gallstones, and cirrhosis cause insufficient bile secretion.

Factor 3: Intestinal mucosal lesions caused by diseases such as oral ulcers and enteritis affect absorption.

Factor 4: Low familial lipidation ability, low chylomicron formation and transport.

Therefore, if in addition to the symptoms of steatorrhea, you also have abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea, bloody stools, weight loss and other symptoms, you should immediately seek the help of a hepatobiliary gastroenterologist to confirm the cause and receive early treatment.