Human shit trumps bullshit

Rabbits do it, dogs do it, carnivorous plants, insects do it, even butterflies do it, and now we know millions of people do it too:
Coprophagy is the consumption of feces, whether it is your own or others', sometimes out of habit, for necessity, or because you have a mental issue.
Coprophagia, although carries its risk, may not be as risky as, say, voting for an unfit person to be in charge of millions of people!

When dogs eat their own poo, they are craving something that is in their poo and is missing from their diet, often a dried food one, which may leave them without critical digestive enzymes.

When humans engage in coprophagia, unless therapeutic, there usually is an underlying mental issue, such as neurodegeneration, schyzophrenia, OCD, or fetishism (here).

But of course, there is the therapeutic poo ingestion (by colonoscopy) I've already told you about, which has been shown to help patients with c.difficile infections who suffer from persistent painful diarrheoa.
Clinical trials have also shown fecal microbiota transplantation - as we call it - is greatly helping people with ulcerative colitis, and is currently tested for a whole range of other disorders such as obesity (here), diabetes, autism, allergies, and eczema (here).

So although it might sound disgusting to ingest shit - by swallowing poo pills or up their bum - people either need it or truly feel that they need it.
Remember: if it's not proven to be therapeutic, you put yourself at risk because the bacteria you ingest have their own agenda... And they won't tell you what exactly!

See you next Monday for a less politically-inspired article,

Don't eat for 2, your pregnancy microbes do it for you!

When I started this blog last year, common belief was that as long as babies are in the womb, they are free of germs (early post on MBAI), but this is now shifting to the understanding that babies are being colonized prior to their birth. But how are they? And what does mum do about it?

 In that earlier MBAI post, I also wrote that a mum's microbiota changes during pregnancy to prepare for baby's birth and colonization. Today, I'm exploring this in more detail:

A 2012 study showed that the microbiota of a 1st trimester pregnant woman was different than the microbiota of a 3rd trimester pregnant woman and it had a profound impact on the woman's metabolism.

By transferring their respective human poo into germ-free bubble mice, they observed that the mice acquiring the poop from heavily-pregnant women became obese, insulin-resistant, and had a greater inflammatory response than lean mice that received poop from newly-pregnant women.
Extraordinary!
But why?
Those changes that include enhanced absorption of sugar and fat from food, and stimulation of the immune system are all in place to ensure a healthy fetal development.

Extracting more calories from food is a feature of bacterial strains that may live predominantly in overweight and obese people - read MBAI 'Is calorie counting over?'

The study also showed that this special pregnancy microbiota was not back to normal straight after birth as they tested it one month postpartum, which is interesting and makes me wonder if there are studies that show if it ever comes back to normal...(and that would explain a lot to a lot of mums...)

Did you put a lot of weight on during pregnancy?

See you next Monday,

How your microbes use candies to turn you into a zombie

Happy Hallowe'en everyone, I hope you had a fantastic WE.
Expect weird and wonderful posts across the net today as we celebrate and remember the dead tonight.

And it starts right here on MBAI with a Hallowe'en special and an article that was published a couple of weeks ago. It is entitled:

The effect of short-term exposure to energy-matched diets enriched in fat or sugar on memory, gut microbiota and markers of brain inflammation and plasticity.

And it (almost) means what today's title is.

It is based on the realisation that there is a clear interaction between our gut, our microbiota, and our brain - something I will explore very soon (e.g. why does the majority of people with autism, schizophrenia, anxiety, and depression has gastrointestinal issues and/or eczema and allergies?).

This October study was done on rats, and, although it will undoubtedly be different from human models, it does give a good clinical basis for future explorations in human populations.

It's hot hot hot for the authors as they've also published in June 2016 and it must be ground breaking for them to publish at least two papers within this short time period.

In their articles, they showed that consuming a diet rich in sugar and saturated fat can cause memory deficit:

This could be due to the growth of bad strains in their gut flora (that thrive on sweet and fatty nutrients), which triggers a brain inflammatory response in the region responsible for memory and cognition. Interestingly, rats didn't need to become overweight to experience this level of inflammation, just eating bad stuff did the trick.  

So, in case these observations do translate into human data, try not to binge on sweets too much...

What are your plans for Hallowe'en?

See you next Monday,

Abstracts can be found here and here.

Microbiome recipe: peanut-ginger chicken

Today, on Van Leeuwenhoek's 384th birthday, I'm sharing with you another recipe from the amazing 'The Well-Fed Microbiome Cookbook'.
It is quick and easy to make, its various flavours explode in your mouth for a satisfying and filling meal - What more do you want from your lunch/dinner?

If you'de like to know more about this recipe book, feel free to read my previous posts about it, including recipes like butter chicken, fruit and seeds parfait, and spinach and feta omelet.

Enjoy

Have you tried any of them yet? Which one is your favourite?

See you next Monday

Microbiome recipe: butter chicken

According to Cancer Research UK:

•  42% of cancer cases could be avoided
• 1 in 2 people in the UK born after 1960 will be diagnosed with some form of cancer during their lifetime
• 4 in 10 cancer cases in the UK each year are linked to lifestyle factors

When I read this, I thought it was absolutely shocking - why aren't we doing more to save ourselves exactly?
Diet is one major thing we have full control of and can help avoid so many disorders and health issues. So today, I'm sharing with you an amazing recipe from The Well-Fed Microbiome Recipe book: butter chicken. I didn't really know why it was called butter until I prepared it, marinated it overnight and tasted it the day after, accompanied by its sauce and rice. It was so absolutely delicious!!

Have you tried any of the recipes yet? What's your favourite?

Want to know more what other ingredrients you should binge on to improve your gut flora, i.e. your health?
See you next Monday

How do you poo?

I know I know, not the most romantic thing to talk about on a Monday morning...
You may have noticed recently a lot of FB posts about it and probably dismissed them...

It is, however, a very serious matter that we need to address: how to poo!!

You may think - I don't need to know, I'm fairly regular!

But did you know that constipation is defined as experiencing at least 2 of the following symptoms over the preceding 3 months:

• Fewer than 3 bowel movements per week
• Straining
• Lumpy or hard stools
• Sensation of anorectal obstruction
• Sensation of incomplete defecation
• Manual maneuvering required to defecate

I'm 100% sure 100% of us have been constipated at some point in our lives. So no need to be shy about it... Constipation may be one symptom but it can have multiple causes; one might simply be the lack of fibres in one's diet (come over here if you'd like to know more about fibres and diet).

If you are also wondering what your poo is supposed to look like, don't worry, there is a chart for that (I know, right!!!)

Are you a Sausage type 3/4?

But how can I get a perfect 3, or even a 4?

And as a picture is worth a thousand words, here are four:

Picture 1: the puborectalis muscle (A)

E and F are your bottom, poo comes through B, C, and D. Why the hell is there an A there that just cuts the flow... Well I will let you guess why...

Picture 2: a garden hose

Remember using one of those, the frustration when it was all twisted...

Picture 3: the solution

By elevating your knees, the puborectalis muscle relaxes allowing for a no-need-to-strain poo to go through

Picture 4: A stool for perfect type 3/4 stools

A potty training essential for toddlers... and adults!

Have you seen similar topics on FB recently? Have you adopted the correct way to poo?

Let me know (or not) in the comments section

See you next Monday,
The garden hose and the potty training step are affiliate links - thank you

Microbiome recipe: feta and spinach omelet

Morning!

This week, I'm sharing with you a second recipe from 'The well-fed microbiome cookbook'.

The recipes are divided in two phases: the first one is about repairing our gut, the second one about revitalizing it.

We are all trying to find something healthy to eat in the morning that doesn't involve sugary cereals, too much bread, and buttery croissants, right?

This recipe is absolutely perfect and only takes 5 minutes to prepare. I was surprised about adding feta in my omelet, but it tasted absolutely divine!

Please note that in this series, I'm not going to give out the recipe as I think it wouldn't be too fair on Kristina Campbell if I were to share her hard work for free, right? I do think, however, that her book is lacking a couple of pictures to show how the recipes are supposed to look like, so here are mine:

Very tasty, filling, and healthy! What more do you want?

Have you ever tried feta in an omelet?

See you next Monday!