Ep 166: Fecal Transplants
Poop Transplant? What are Fecal Microbiota
We’ve covered a lot of bizarre medical remedies—from brushing teeth with urine to rubbing cat poop in your eyes. But today’s topic might take the cake: fecal microbiota transplants. Yes. Poop. In your body. On purpose.
Ancient Poop Smoothies?
Some sources claim fecal transplants date back to 1000 BC China, with a charming remedy called “yellow soup.” According to a modern doctor, this was a diarrhea treatment made from—you guessed it—poop and water. Delicious?
But here’s the catch: all the historical references trace back to this one guy, and no one seems to have the original text. Ancient poop mystery? Maybe. But the story lives on.
Ge Hong & Li Shizhen: Poop Pioneers
By the 4th century, Chinese doctor Ge Hong was writing medical manuals that included fecal cures. A millennium later, Li Shizhen published a massive medical encyclopedia listing poop as the third most common ingredient in remedies (right behind herbs and ghosts—not joking).
Shockingly, poop smoothies weren’t on his “don’t try this at home” list.
Then… Nothing. For 1000 Years.
Despite the Egyptians rubbing cat poop into eye infections, fecal transplants went radio silent for centuries. Why? Probably because drinking someone else’s stool is super gross, even by medieval standards.
Poop Is Back, Baby: 1958 and Beyond
In 1958, Dr. Ben Eiseman in Denver revived the idea—by injecting healthy poop into the colons of patients with severe infections. Gross? Yes. Effective? Also yes.
Turns out, restoring good gut bacteria helps fight infections like C. diff, and science loved it. Over the years, fecal transplants expanded to treat ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s, and more.
Today, the poop is screened, tested, and FDA-approved. You can even take it as a pill—like Vowst, released in 2023. That’s right: butt medicine, now available in capsule form.
Would You Do It?
Medicine is wild. People used to chant over poop soups—now we’ve got poop pills saving lives. It’s gross, it’s fascinating, and… it works.
So, would you take a fecal transplant?
Let us know. And remember: trust your gut—even if it needs someone else’s.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fecal_microbiota_transplant#History
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ge_Hong
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_Chinese_medicines_derived_from_the_human_body
Shi YC, Yang YS. Fecal microbiota transplantation: Current status and challenges in China. JGH Open. 2018 Jul 30;2(4):114-116. doi: 10.1002/jgh3.12071. PMID: 30483574; PMCID: PMC6152466.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6152466/#jgh312071-bib-0002
https://web.archive.org/web/20170314080738/http://medcom.uiowa.edu/health/fecal-transplantation/
https://cmjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13020-019-0253-x
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Shizhen
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27503660
https://asm.org/articles/2024/february/fecal-microbiota-transplants-past-present-future
