Why am I vomiting green or yellow bile?

Throwing up bile, a yellow or greenish liquid, can happen for many reasons. Some of the causes of a person throwing up bile may be serious and require urgent medical attention.

Someone who throws up bile should be aware of when to seek medical care and when vomiting bile can be relieved with home remedies.

What is bile?

Throwing up bile may be a sign of a serious problem.

Bile is the greenish-yellow liquid made by the liver and stored in the gallbladder. It aids food digestion by mainly breaking down fats and turning them into fatty acids.

Bile is made of the following:

• cholesterol
• salts
• bile acids
• bilirubin
• water
• certain metals

Causes of vomiting bile

Vomiting bile can occur whenever a person throws up, and their stomach is empty. This can happen when someone has stomach flu or food poisoning and has already thrown up all the food in their stomach. It can also happen if a person has not eaten for many hours.

There is a range of other reasons why a person may throw up bile, including:

• binge drinking
• morning sickness
• bile reflux
• intestinal blockage

While many cases of vomiting bile have a clear cause, vomiting due to an intestinal blockage or other condition may be more difficult to determine.