Stool
Bile Acids
Analysis of fats, water content, proteins, starch, sugar, and bile acids in stool.
€ 95,00
All tests
Gut · Stool
Water content (feces)
How much water the stool contains; a measure of how loose or firm the stool is at the time of sample collection.
At a glance
- Measured in stool
- In 1 test panel
- No special preparation
Explanation
Water content (feces): what is measured?
The laboratory measures what part of the stool consists of water. The large intestine normally removes most of the water from the gut contents. The faster the gut contents pass through, the more water remains in the stool.
What can it detect?
- A sign of diarrhea or constipation at the time of sample collection
Result
What does the result mean?
Water content (feces) too high
A high water content fits loose stool or diarrhea, for example due to a gut infection, diet, laxatives or stress. A high water content can dilute or, on the contrary, raise the results of other tests. It says nothing about the cause of the diarrhea.
Water content (feces) too low
A low water content fits hard stool and slow passage through the gut, for example due to little fiber, drinking too little, too little exercise or medicines such as strong painkillers. A low water content on its own has no further meaning.
After an abnormal result
Without symptoms, an abnormal result from this test usually needs no follow-up. With symptoms that fit poor digestion, the GP can request pancreatic elastase in the stool or a blood test for celiac disease, and if needed refer you to a gastroenterologist or internist (specialist in internal medicine).
Reliability
How reliable is the test?
Food remnants in a single stool sample mainly say something about what you have eaten and how quickly the food passed through the gut. How well the result shows or rules out poor digestion has not been well studied, neither in people without symptoms nor in people with bowel symptoms. If poor fat digestion (malabsorption) is suspected, the specialist may have fat measured in stool collected over a few days. For pancreatic function, pancreatic elastase in the stool has been studied better.
What can affect the result?
- Food in the days before sample collection (fat, meat, raw vegetables, legumes, dairy, sugars) largely determines the result.
- Diarrhea or, on the contrary, constipation changes the result, because the speed through the gut determines how much is digested.
- One stool sample gives a snapshot; the composition differs from day to day.
- Medicines such as laxatives, antibiotics, stomach acid inhibitors, pancreatic enzymes and weight-loss medicines that block fat absorption (orlistat) affect the result.
Who it is for
Who is the test useful for?
Useful for
Because diet strongly determines the result, this test says little in people without symptoms, and even with symptoms it does not identify a cause. With symptoms that may fit poor digestion, such as long-lasting fatty or mushy stools, unintended weight loss or long-lasting diarrhea, testing through the GP is the right route. Pancreatic elastase in the stool and a blood test for celiac disease are then more targeted first tests. With blood in the stool, unintended weight loss or new bowel symptoms after the age of 50, this test is no substitute for a visit to the GP.
How common is it?
There are no Dutch figures on how often an abnormal result for these tests occurs. Bowel symptoms themselves are common: according to the guideline, irritable bowel syndrome affects about 4 in 100 adults. Conditions in which food is truly poorly digested, such as chronic inflammation of the pancreas, are much rarer.
Dutch medical specialists' guidelines (FMS) on irritable bowel syndrome (NHG and NVMDL) and chronic pancreatitis
Get tested
Water content (feces): test panels
Water content (feces) is part of these test panels. You order online and have your blood drawn at a collection point or collect the sample at home.
Evidence
Sources
This explanation is based on Dutch guidelines and independent information. It is general information, not a diagnosis. Discuss an abnormal result with your GP.
More about risks and resultsMore explanations
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