It can also be caused by anxiety, food allergy, drugs, or other problems in the colon. Diarrhea is usually caused by a bacterial or virus infection from food or water. This type of stool has spent the least time in the colon.

Type 7: Entirely liquid and watery with no solid pieces.

Type 6: Fluffy pieces with ragged edges.

Type 5: Feces form soft blobs with clear-cut edges that are easily passed through the system.

Type 4: Feces are smooth and soft in the form of a sausage or snake.

Type 3: Comes out looking similar to a sausage but with cracks in the surface.

Type 2: Lumpy and sausage-like in appearance.

This condition is usually caused by a lack of fluids, lack of friendly bacteria, stress, excess mucus, and not enough good fiber, though it can also be a sign of other conditions.

When feces sit in the colon for too long, it can cause constipation. Type 1 has spent the longest amount of time in the colon and is generally difficult to pass.

Type 1: Feces come out in separate, hard lumps, similar to nuts.It could also be caused by something simple, like constipation due to a lack of fiber in the diet. Skinny, stringy poop may be caused by a condition that triggers inflammation in the colon, like Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis. If you have floating stools for a prolonged period of time (over two weeks), this may be something you want to bring up with your doctor, especially if it's accompanied with other symptoms like abdominal pain. 5 With a stool diary, you can keep track of what you're eating and how it affects your stools. Malabsorption-when you can't absorb all the fat and other nutrients from the food you're ingesting-can cause your poop to float.

This is sometimes an indication that you've been eating something you couldn't digest properly, like desserts, excess dairy, or fatty things like fries. It's not always a bad sign, but floating stools might be an indication of lactose intolerance, gluten sensitivity, bad digestion, or air inside your intestines.

Dark blood in stool