What Are The Symptoms Of Gallstones?

Dark Urine Or Clay-Colored Stool

A healthy individual's stool gets its dark color from the bile used in the process of digestion. A small amount of bile in the intestine is absorbed to be re-used, while the remainder is secreted in the stool. Bile is used in the digestive system to enable the breakdown of fats into molecules the intestine can absorb. Fats are the component of food that is the most difficult for the body to digest and takes the longest to digest. An individual with gallstones may experience symptoms related to the absence of bile when the gallstones obstruct the ducts that deliver the bile to the intestine. With a bile duct blockage, no bile can come through to aid in digestion and fats in the food an affected individual consumes are not broken down. These undigested fats remain in the stool until it is excreted. The stool is pale because there is no bile in it, and often has a foul odor as a result of undigested lipids. Darker urine may manifest if bile builds up behind the gallstone blocking it from reaching the intestine.