Can Bacteria from baby poo be used to prevent and treat diseases?

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In news that will make many of us feel more than a little queasy, new research suggests baby poo could be used to prevent and treat diseases. Yes, baby poo. The faeces produced by tiny humans. Here’s the deal. The bacteria in baby poop could produce a probiotic cocktail that could be used to prevent and treat illnesses such as obesity and cancer, says a new study published in Scientific Reports. Researchers took samples from the nappies of 34 healthy babies. They isolated 10 bacterial strains, which they found were effective in helping the body maintain a healthy gut.

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That’s because those bacterial strains were found to help the body produce short-chain fatty acids, which play a key role in maintaining a healthy gut microbiome. Lovely. Dr Hariom Yadav, the author of the study, said: ‘Babies are usually pretty healthy and clearly do not suffer from age-related diseases, such as diabetes and cancer. ‘And, of course, their poop is readily available.’ Good point. So, where do we go from here? Should we swap our daily kombucha for baby poo?

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We’re going to say no. Loads more research will be needed before scientists can definitively state that there are probiotic benefits to baby poo, but even if they could, getting these benefits likely wouldn’t be as simple as waiting for a nappy change. It’s not the entirety of baby faeces that’s effective, but the bacterial strains found in the poo. Should researchers have further backing to prove baby poo’s gut-related effects, it’s more likely that they would use the bacteria in a probiotic supplement rather than recommending taking baby poo straight from the source.

 

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