Poop Pills Help Fight Certain Infections

Eat shit and live!

Swallowing poop sounds like a crappy way to feel better, but for some suffering from severe gut infections, it could be life-saving.

Dr. Thomas Louie and other Canadian researchers carried out a clinical trial where sufferers of Clostridium difficile, or C. diff, took pills literally made of fecal matter to get well. (Via CTV)

According to LiveScience, C. diff can occur after people take antibiotics to treat other infections, which eventually wipe out good or beneficial gut bacteria. That's where microbiota or fecal transplantation comes in.

Dr. Louie had been working on fecal transplantation for years, but found that patients had difficulty handling tubes down the throat or enemas. That's when he decided to go with pills.

The tiny capsules contain healthy microbes extracted from stool samples of family members or donors. NBC quotes Dr. Louie who said, "There's no smell. There's no taste. … It looks like peanut butter."