Why Does My Poop Smell Sweet?

Family Medicine, Primary Care Roots Community Health Center, Hippo Education, Kameda Medical Center

Supervised by Kenji Taylor, MD

Sweet-smelling poop may happen when changes in your body, such as high blood sugar or shifts in your gut bacteria, cause unusual chemicals to be made during digestion.

Explanation

Inside your gut, tiny bacteria help break down your food and make chemicals that give your poop its usual smell. When you eat foods high in sugar or if your blood sugar is very high—as sometimes happens in diabetes—the digestive process may be altered. High blood sugar can cause the body to break down fats instead of using sugar, leading to the production of ketones. These ketones might make bodily wastes, including poop, smell sweeter than normal. Additionally, eating lots of modern dietary sugars and sweeteners can change the mix of your gut bacteria. This change may lead them to produce different compounds with a sweet odor during the digestion process. In rare cases, certain genetic conditions that affect how the body processes proteins and sugars might also cause a sweet smell in your stool. If the sweet smell continues or you feel unwell, it’s a good idea to talk with a healthcare provider. They can check your blood sugar levels, review your diet, and make additional recommendations.

(References)

Kitabchi AE, Umpierrez GE, Miles JM, Fisher JN. Hyperglycemic crises in adult patients with diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2009 Jul;32(7):1335-43. doi: 10.2337/dc09-9032. PMID: 19564476; PMCID: PMC2699725.
Di Rienzi SC, Britton RA. Adaptation of the Gut Microbiota to Modern Dietary Sugars and Sweeteners. Adv Nutr. 2020 May 1;11(3):616-629. doi: 10.1093/advances/nmz118. PMID: 31696209; PMCID: PMC7231582.
Elhawary NA, AlJahdali IA, Abumansour IS, Elhawary EN, Gaboon N, Dandini M, Madkhali A, Alosaimi W, Alzahrani A, Aljohani F, Melibary EM, Kensara OA. Genetic etiology and clinical challenges of phenylketonuria. Hum Genomics. 2022 Jul 19;16(1):22. doi: 10.1186/s40246-022-00398-9. PMID: 35854334; PMCID: PMC9295449.
Kang DY, Kim H, Ko S, Kim H, Shinn J, Kang MG, Byeon SJ, Choi JH, Shin SY, Kim HS. Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter-2 Inhibitor-Related Diabetic Ketoacidosis: Accuracy Verification of Operational Definition. J Korean Med Sci. 2022 Feb 21;37(7):e53. doi: 10.3346/jkms.2022.37.e53. PMID: 35191230; PMCID: PMC8860766.

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