# Is poop poisonous? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 31, 2003, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-poop-poisonous/221918 "2003-12-31T08:38:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![gluteus\_maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@gluteus\_maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gluteus_maximus)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-poop-poisonous/221918/41 "2004-01-03T10:43:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cervaise \* > \*\*It is a fungus. \*\* . [What kimchi is.](http://www.kimchi.or.kr/english/) ---
**Author:** ![UselessGit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/74df32/32.png) [@UselessGit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UselessGit)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-poop-poisonous/221918/42 "2004-01-03T10:45:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gluteus maximus \* > \*\*We have to give cites for _guesses_, now? \*\* I cry your pardon, **Gluteus Maximus** , I hadn’t slept for a couple of days (Icelandic new year 😛 ) and in my state of slightly gigglish hangoverism I may have thought this was funny. Almost sobered up now… ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-poop-poisonous/221918/43 "2004-01-03T11:02:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by quiltguy154 \* > \*\*He had a patient that was on massive amounts of antibiotics;consequently, her intestinal flora were really screwed up. He prescribed a milk shake, into which he placed a small amount of feces[thinking the small amount of flora he’d be introducing would grow and re-colonize her bowels] \*\* Sounds like UL to me. Probiotic supplements (pills containing beneficial bacteria) are commercially available. ---
**Author:** ![istara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e79b87/32.png) [@istara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/istara)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-poop-poisonous/221918/44 "2004-01-03T15:55:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by scr4 \* > \*\*Sounds like UL to me. Probiotic supplements (pills containing beneficial bacteria) are commercially available. \*\* Yes but didn’t we have a thread on here a while back that referenced faecal transplants for just this problem. **Googling…** Only cite I can find: [http://www-east.elsevier.com/ajg/issues/9511/ajg3277edi.htm](http://www-east.elsevier.com/ajg/issues/9511/ajg3277edi.htm) ---
**Author:** ![istara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e79b87/32.png) [@istara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/istara)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-poop-poisonous/221918/45 "2004-01-03T15:57:00Z")
> [@](#): > > It seems that the method of **delivery of the fecal slurry into the bowel** results in cure **Gagging…** ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-poop-poisonous/221918/46 "2004-01-03T20:18:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gluteus maximus \* > \*\*[What kimchi is.](http://www.kimchi.or.kr/english/) \*\* Yeah, I know. I’ve had it and like it. See the “media jokes and references nobody ever gets” thread, or whatever it’s called. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-poop-poisonous/221918/47 "2004-01-03T20:41:15Z")
A year or two ago, I interviewed a male opioid addicts who reported that for a time he had partly supported himself by acting in a few pornographic films, two of which reportedly had scenes that involved him eating feces “straight from the tap,” as **Guinastasia** so wonderfully put it, as another man squatted over his face. He reported that he did in fact eat the stuff right as it came out of the other guy’s anus. (Well, “eat” isn’t exactly the right word – he said he mushed it around in his mouth a bit and then let it dribble out, but that he did occasionally swallow some.) But it wasn’t genuine poop he was dealing with – they had the other guy evacuate his bowels, cleaned him out extra good with an ice water enema[sup]1[/sup], and then used another enema bag and tube to deposit into his rectum a kind of cinnamon / cocoa / water paste that looked mostly realistic, but wasn’t dangerous like real poop would be. Fecal bacterial contamination from the bowel and anus must have been minimal, because he said he couldn’t smell or taste anything but the cocoa and cinnamon, and he said that he never got sick from it. The film producer apparently had created his own special recipe for the mixture, which he was constantly tinkering with, because my interviewee said that the first time he did it the taste was perfectly fine, sweet and not too thick, but the second time it was fairly bitter and made him feel like he was choking. So there’s one actor’s account. Maybe that’s the norm, or maybe they usually use genuine crap. A question for the ages! * * * [sup]1[/sup]He said it had to be cold because when they tried hot water, the sphincters just relaxed and let it run right back out, while cold water made them clench up and let the water soak in for ten minutes or so to really clean things out. Mmmm, mmmm. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-poop-poisonous/221918/48 "2004-01-03T22:10:38Z")
Kimchi is fermented cabbage. From the above link: > [@](#): > > Well-fermented kimchi has anti-biotic characteristics as lactic acid bacteria produced in the process of fermentation suppresses the growth of harmful bacteria. Which explains why it is not harmful: > [@](#): > > pathogenic bacteria are everywhere but they only become dangerous when they are given food, moisture, warmth and time Certainly kimchi gives bacteria everything they want. ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-poop-poisonous/221918/49 "2004-01-03T22:30:22Z")
Fecal enemas to deal with diarhea du to lack of proper intestinal flora (usually due to antibiotic treeatment) are not UL. I read articles concerning this in journals while in college.They try to get close family members with similar diets to be to donors. ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-poop-poisonous/221918/50 "2004-01-03T22:39:45Z")
BTW Cite on page 5 of: [http://courses.washington.edu/xphm560/4thweek/antibiotic-associated\_diarrhea\_oct20.pdf](http://courses.washington.edu/xphm560/4thweek/antibiotic-associated_diarrhea_oct20.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2004, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-poop-poisonous/221918/51 "2004-01-03T23:14:04Z")
> [@](#): > > How are the toxins from the bacteria not getting into the blood stream through the colon? Why is it so different if they get into the stomach? Firstly the colon is largely impervious to everything except water. Humans can not absorb nutrients from most of the large intestine. It’s a bastard because that’s where microbial fermentation produces lots of important vitamins, including B & C. If we had permeable bowels we wouldn’t be so prone to malnutrition. Since the bowel is impervious to nutrients it’s also impervious to most toxins. The second consideration is food supply and competition. The bowel flora are living on on our refuse, quite literally. They subsist on those things that our own digestive processes can’t absorb. In general this means that they are living on substances with either little calorific value or else very hard to digest. Either way their growth is slowed. Added to this the flora has come to equilibrium. If any toxic bug starts reproducing out of hand we flush the system, and the nasty with it. That is true of both the colon and the upper tract. If these colon bugs make it through the stomach the system is screwed up. Suddenly they find themselves in the duodenum, with large amounts of high value nutrients and no effective competition. They multiply out of hand and because the wall of the small intestine is thin and permeable the toxins can get across. > [@](#): > > Also, why can’t they migrate into the stomach, taking the reverse path, slowly? Two reasons. Firstly peristalsis only pushes one way, and that is form mouth to anus. Microbes can’t swim fast enough to counter this. Secondly there are at least two valves that prevent this. The first is the ileocecal valve that separates the small intestine from the colon, the second is the pyloric sphincter. In both cases these sphincters only allow food to pass through when there is sufficient pressure behind it. This prevents anything form moving upwards along the tract. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-poop-poisonous/221918.md?page=2)