Eating poop is good for you

Question

Bacteria and parasites primarily feed off of degenerated cells in the body (Hall 27) and the "negative symptoms" associated with parasitic "infection" are simply the beginning stages in cellular detoxification. 

The bacteria and parasites found in poop --commonly Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica, Shigella spp, Echinococcus multilocularis, and others-- are not harmful, but rather, when contracted, they cause your toxified body to fight off the healthy germs, which therefore causes an initial undesirable response; this is temporary. After your gut microbe has been recolonized with poop bacteria, symptoms will cede. 

Eating poop is an essential part of a healthy diet. 

Answer 1

This statement is false. Eating poop would provide little to no heath benefits, and in fact puts you at risk of severe illness. Poison Controls website states, “ Depending on the pathogens in the feces, you may experience a range of symptoms including vomiting, diarrhea, and fever. If vomiting and diarrhea are severe, dehydration can occur. If feces are contaminated with hepatitis A, liver toxicity can occur. Other diseases may be transmitted via feces as well.” While not all feces contain serious disease, the risk highly outweighs any sort of heath benefit. Most sites that claim that consuming feces is beneficial contain zero evidence to back up their claims, and they solely rely on the fact that feces contain some (but very little) good bacteria. However, if you are referencing “eating poop” in the medical world, there is some good news. In 2013, doctors discovered that by transplanting the feces of a healthy individual into the intestines of an individual suffering from C Diff it would significantly help or even irradiate the disease. Doctors were able to eliminate the C Diff bacteria 80% of the time, creating a new “cure” to a very harmful illness. Another method doctors used to deposit the healthy feces into the infected individual was orally, using small pill capsules. Although I wouldn’t classify that as “eating poop,” that may be the answer you were looking for. 

A link to Poison Control’s warnings of consuming feces: https://www.poison.org/articles/feces

A link to Yale’s study of C Diff: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/2016/01/11/eat-poop-and-live/

Comments

I like how you used poison.org and a Yale study as your evidence both very reliable and have lots of info to add in your response to fully debunk this claim. also love how you went and researched the other side of the argument to see the other side and you also mentioned why people might believe eating poop is beneficial.

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This is a very good response because you added multiple sources to back up your claims. You also included adequate facts and data about how it is not beneficial to your health. Specifically, the quote "If feces are contaminated with hepatitis A, liver toxicity can occur. Other diseases may be transmitted via feces as well.” This solidifies the fact that it has been researched and tested.

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This was a great fact check, I like how you were quick and to the point; "eating feces is not good for your health and in fact puts you at risk", this was perfect. I also liked how you went with "poison control" when fact-checking this claim because it puts it into an even better understanding that 'poison control' is telling you no.

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This claim has no validity and your sources are a good way to prove they are false. The idea is bizarre and using the poison control warnings proves that the idea is unsafe and not ok for human consumption. The risks you mentioned such as liver toxicity and risk of contracting diseases are more than enough to prove this claim false.

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Thank you for the time and effort into your response. This evidence is very solid. Good use of sources and citations. "eating feces is not good for your health and in fact puts you at risk," was a great way to get to the point

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The links to Yale’s study as well as poison control’s information really solidified your answer for me, as Yale is obviously one of the most prestigious schools out there, I trust in their research. As for your use fo poison control, another trustworthy source of information that holds no biases, only factual information. Your factcheck is thought out very well and easy to understand.

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I really like how you used Poison.org and a Yale study for your evidence — both are highly reliable sources and provide plenty of information to thoroughly disprove the claim. I also appreciate that you took the time to research the opposing viewpoint, explaining why some people might think eating poop has benefits.

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I completely argue with your factcheck on this statement. I like how you used multiple sources instead of just listing one source. It shows multiple reasons why your comment is stronger. I also agree with your factcheck in that eating poop would be pretty harmful to the body including severe illness. The two sources you have are very strong and perfect for your argument. The yale site did a great job of listing that us humans are not like other animals and we can't compare that to eating poop.

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Great factcheck! You’re right that eating poop poses serious health risks, as pathogens like E. coli and Salmonella can cause severe illness. I also think it’s important to highlight that while fecal transplants are a medical breakthrough for treating C. Diff, this is very different from casually consuming feces. The risks of infection far outweigh any potential benefits. Nice job clarifying that!

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I really like that you used both a yale study and a poison control article to fact check the question you responded to. I think both are very reliable sources that are trust worthy and can contribute real evidence as to why it is not good for you.

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While I entirely agree with your conclusion I did notice something that may cause issue. While you give a strong argument for fecal consumptions negative side effects the initial claim suggests that said negative side effects will ultimately improve health in the long term. So while agree that the negatives and risks of consumption are far too great, and the lack of a cited source makes this supposed study hard to track and evaluate, it doesn't exactly disprove the claim.

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This is a well reasoned and informative fact check. You clearly explain why the statement is false by emphasizing the serious health risks associated with consuming feces, including vomiting, diarrhea, liver toxicity, and the transmission of disease. The use of Poison Control as a source strengthens your argument, especially since it's a trusted authority on public health and safety. I also appreciate how you clarified the medical exception with fecal transplants for C. Diff patients. That part shows good nuance, and you're right to point out that while it involves fecal matter, it’s done in a controlled, clinical setting not the same as simply "eating poop." This is a great example of separating misinformation from actual medical science.

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I like how you support your claim and also the original claim! It is great that you explained the detailed symptoms or effects when you eat poop refering to a reliable article. You also investigated the paper related to the original claim and presented a new fact for us! Thank you!

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I fully agree with your statement. I think that it's more impactful that you used multiple sources which further prove your argument. I'm not sure how someone could claim that eating feces is good for you but I think you made a great argument as to why its not.

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I appreciate that you did extra research into the different ways eating poop could have been interpreted. I also like the sources you used and got to learn about a safe way to "consume" feces, which was something I didn't know previously and is a pretty cool fact. Great fact check!

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Eating poop is not safe and doesn’t have real health benefits. It can make you very sick with symptoms like vomiting, diarrhea, and fever. In some cases, it can even cause serious problems like liver damage if the poop has certain viruses or bacteria in it. While some websites claim there are benefits because poop has a small amount of good bacteria, there’s no real proof. The risks are much greater than any possible benefit. And even though this is common sense it great that you fact check this which support your argument.

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I like how you made sure you fact checked this with poison control and the Yale study it really made sure that people knew this was false. These are reliable sources and made sure you knew what you were talking about.

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I appreciate this fact-check and how it expands on possible interpretations of the original claim with the information about the C Diff study. I would also have loved to see some specific links to the sites that describe the health benefits of consuming feces which "contain zero evidence to back up their claims." Obviously, I believe that you found these questionable websites, but now I want to read them, too. When I went and looked up this claim, most of the resources dealt with the hypothetical question of "what if you ate feces," as if assuming most people knew that it was not a healthy choice. But then again, that's where I appreciate the foreword-thinking of your fact-check and the C Diff article.

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I believe this was a strong fact check that was able to provide you with a supported answer using the sources you included. Your use of the sources to disagree and then add facts of the opposite matter was very crucial in obtaining the information I need stemming from the original claim.

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I like that your claim feels thoroughly researched and well informed. You clearly explain the health risks of consuming feces and compare them with the medically supervised use of fecal transplants for treating infections. Your inclusion of credible sources like Poison Control and Yale also adds value to your argument.

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I really appreciate how you didn’t just shut the claim down—you explained why it’s wrong with legit sources like Poison Control. That quote about the symptoms from consuming feces really drives the point home. I also liked how you didn’t ignore the one medical use for fecal matter and explained the C. diff treatment in a way that’s easy to understand without being gross or sensational. It shows you actually did your homework and weren’t just dismissing something for the sake of it. The way you separated the myths from the real science made it feel super trustworthy. Great job balancing facts, clarity, and tone—it reads like something I’d actually believe and want to share.

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Okay, this response definitely gets the job done in calling out a dangerous claim, and I think you hit on a lot of the right points, especially by bringing in the Poison Control link. But I think some of your wording could use more clarity. For instance, when you say feces have “very little good bacteria,” that’s kind of misleading. Feces are mostly bacteria, and while it’s true that a lot of it isn’t good for you to consume, some of those microbes do play helpful roles in the body (just not when eaten straight-up). That’s actually the whole basis for fecal transplants, which you mention later, and I thought that part was super interesting. Overall, though, I appreciate how you pointed out that medically supervised FMTs are completely different from just randomly ingesting poop, even if some people try to equate them.

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I like how you used two different credible sources to back up your claim. Especially when you use poison control because they specialize in topics like the one that the original claim is about. Using direct quotes also made your claim stronger which I think is really good. Also using a study from a university also gives your claim more credibility. I think that it is interesting and smart that you also researched the opposing side because it ended up making your original claim more powerful.

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Good job on your answer! I like how you clarified the difference between the risks of eating poop and the medical use of fecal transplants for C. diff treatment. I also like how you included the Poison Control warning, which makes the point pretty clear about the serious risks, like vomiting, diarrhea, and even liver toxicity

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I liked the thought you put into your response. Your sources are very credible and they are very direct and to the point. I found it very interesting about how C Diff can be cured by feces. I thought that added a lot to your response because it gave some hope to the opposing point of view.

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There is no validity in the claim. Overall, your fact check was very well done. I like how you presented evidence from Yale and Poison control. Both resources are reliable and unbiased. I like how you mentioned "Eating poop would provide little to no health benefits, and in fact puts you at risk of severe illness." They also state, "If feces are contaminated with hepatitis A, liver toxicity can occur." Your response is a good length and very detailed. The sources you choose are good indicators that the claim is false. Overall, your fact-check proves this claim is false and that eating feces is not good for health.

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I liked how you used multiple references for this source and addressed the comment with seriousness. The citing from medical references and Yale university show great credibility and display that the bacteria’s listed are not in fact beneficial to the human body.

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This is a very thorough fact check, I like how you were very quick to the point and provided evidence to support that the claim was false immediately. I appriciate your attention to detail and the fact that you included multipule, cedible sources like Yale and Poison Control to convey the fact that the claim is false. Also the fact that you included poison control as a source, further supports the fact that the claim is false.

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I like how you used Poison.org and a Yale study as your evidence — both are very reliable sources and add a lot of strong information to fully debunk the claim. I also really appreciate that you took the time to research the opposing side and explained why some people might believe eating poop is beneficial.

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FALSE!! The bacteria and parasites found in poop, while some could be "beneficial", will overall cause more harm than good to the human body. According to the National Capital Poison Center: "If you unintentionally eat a small amount of feces, you may not experience any symptoms. Feces are not sterile. Eating feces will cause damage to the body, especially in the digestive and stomach parts of the body. Feces can carry bacteria, viruses, and diseases that will work their way back into the body and have many negative effects.

https://www.poison.org/articles/feces

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I like how strong your claim and evidence are, along with the sources you used being credible and offering multiple perspectives. Overall, I think you did a very good job in your response to this claim.

Answer 2

This claim is false. Eating feces is not good for your health; it is the opposite. Eating feces will result in getting viruses and infections. Parasites like Cryptosporidium and Giardia can live in feces, and when consumed, they can cause dehydration and diarrhea. Animal feces carry bacteria that can be harmful to humans by causing infections. When you eat dog feces, you can be infected with Escherichia coli, salmonellosis, yersiniosis, and Campylobacter, which can result in you having diarrhea, or long-term symptoms can include arthritis and irritable bowel syndrome. Eating feces shows no signs of healthy benefits but shows signs of giving you harmful bacteria, parasites, and viruses, which is horrible for one's immune system. We poop because it's the way our bodies naturally get rid of waste, and not meant for us to consume in anyway. This article was medically reviewed by Debra Rose Wilson, who has a Ph.D.

Article link:https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/what-happens-if-you-eat-poop

Comments

Thank you for this strong evidence supported answer. I admire your uses of factual  citations and on par choice of terms used.

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Though this claim is fairly ridiculous, you presented a very strong answer with representational support. You made it very clear to highlight the validity and standing of the author in your counter-publication and pointed out the harmful bacteria and diseases associated with consuming feces.

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Nice fact check. You provide solid and clear evidence and explain it thoroughly. You have one strong source, and I encourage you to try to find a second one to back up your proof.

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This fact-check does a solid job debunking the claim, pointing out real health risks like infections from germs such as Cryptosporidium and Escherichia coli. It uses trustworthy sources, which makes it believable, but could simplify its examples a bit for easier reading and a more relaxed factcheck. Overall great work though.

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You did a great job on clearly explaining the health risks and providing specific examples of the harmful bacteria and parasites that can be transmitted. One thing that stands out is your inclusion of specific illnesses, like Cryptosporidium and Giardia, which adds a sense of credibility to the opinion you state.

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I like how your response was very straight forward and you instantly stated that the claim was false. It was also helpful that you included the many different bacterias, viruses and parasites that can come from eating poop. I found it very interesting that eating dog poop can result in arthritis because I would not consider the long term affects of consuming something unhealthy. The final sentence about why we poop was also solid and I appreciate how you included a solid conclusion to wrap up the evidence. Finally, your use of a medical source backed up your response well.

Answer 3

In conclusion, the claim that eating poop is good for you and aids in detoxification is false. Proven by a vast amount of scientific and medical knowledge. Ingesting poop exposes the body to numerous harmful pathogens and carries significant health risks. This claim is false and dangerous. Consuming poop could lead to a number of viruses, bacteria or even parasites. In 2008 there was a lethal case of a young man who consumed a bowl of spagetti with feces in it and the case was so serious he died 10 hours after consuming. According to The National Library of Medicine.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/what-happens-if-you-eat-poop#risks 

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3232990/

Comments

Your response is very well written, and I like that you add an additional example of how ingesting fecal matter is harmful, further proving the claim to be false. Your sited information is trust worthy as well, giving credibility to your answer.

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I like your incorporation of using an example as evidence. The sources that you cited also give a wide range of examples of how ingesting feces can negatively impact someones health.

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I like your response. It is good that you cited a reliable source (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

Answer 4

This statement is entirely false. Eating poop is not good for you and not a healthy thing to include into your diet. Eating feces can lead to getting diseases as well getting severely ill. Poison Control informs us that the pathogens in the feces, cause many symptoms including vomiting and dehydration. The falsehood with eating poop as a healthy diet is not worth the risk you put your body at to prevent diseases and illnesses. As a human species we were never intended to eat our own feces or any feces in that matter. 

Link to Poison Control :

https://www.poison.org/articles/feces

Comments

I appreciate the poison control link and I think it was necessary to this thread.

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I liked that you used an external and credible source to back up your point and prove this claim to be false. I think you could use some more sources, specifically a primary source that shows clear data linking feces consumption and poor health, but nonetheless this was a good factcheck.

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I agree with your conclusions, and you do a good job summarizing the poison control article that you use as a source, however it seems like basically everyone factchecking this claim used the same poison control article (for good reason, as it is a reliable source) so it could be beneficial to add a second source in addition to the poison control one.

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Your answer was very clear and concise, and I found it very easy to understand. I also really appreciated the research that was put into this answer with sources, as well as reasons not to partake in eating poop

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This is a very well thought out summary of why eating fecal matter is unhealthy, which really goes without saying, but some people need to be told this sort of thing, I guess. There are some unfortunately twisted people out there who seem to think otherwise, and I suggest staying as far away from them as possible.

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Although your response is pretty short, I appreciate it because I feel like you got your point across, and the use of your sources was very good. I like how you started that consuming feces is not just harmful, but very dangerous as well. Pointing out that you can get diseases from eating feces is very important, in my opinion.

Answer 5

This statement is blatantly false. The bacteria and parasites found in poop, while some could be "beneficial", will overall cause more harm than good to the human body. According to the National Capital Poison Center: "If you unintentionally eat a small amount of feces, you may not experience any symptoms. However, feces can make you sick. Depending on the pathogens in the feces, you may experience a range of symptoms including vomiting, diarrhea, and fever". Feces can carry bacteria, viruses, and diseases that will work their way back into the body and have many negative effects. Feces are not sterile, nor should it be considered edible. Eating feces will cause damage to the body, especially in the digestive and stomach parts of the body. 

https://www.poison.org/articles/feces

Comments

I agree that this statement is false. I like how you incorporated a reason why someone may think eating feces is fine. That helps better your fact check, because you found out a reason why the user may have thought eating feces was fine, when it ultimately ended up being false.

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This is a very good response to this idiot, I like how you don't even have to mention that they don't even have a source for their claim, because their statement is so dumb and easy to refute you don't even need to. Well done citing poison control, they are the leading expert on why its bad to eat poop.

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Eating poop is definitely not healthy and can cause serious health problems. When you eat feces, you're exposing yourself to harmful bacteria, parasites, and viruses that your body isn't prepared to handle. You could end up with infections like E. coli or Salmonella, parasites like tapeworms, or even viruses like hepatitis. It can lead to nasty symptoms like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, and in extreme cases, things could get way worse. Bottom line: eating poop is dangerous, and it’s best to avoid it.


Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) - "Parasites - Coprophagia"
Mayo Clinic - "Health risks of fecal matter exposure"
World Health Organization (WHO) - "Infectious diseases from fecal contamination"

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While I appreciate the fact that you are commenting on the statement as a whole being false. However, your reasoning may be misguided. You don't mention the possibility that eating a small amount of poop could result in possible benefits. If someone eats too much poop they will get sick, of course. However the statement in the article says that "eating poop is good for you." This includes only eating a small amount of poop. Your response only covers what would happen if one eats too much poop. I would recommend including evidence that eating any amount of poop is negative for the body.

Answer 6

This claim is false, and also extremely exaggerated. The claim given at the end, "eating poop is an essential part of a healthy diet" is not at all what a "healthy" diet consists of. I skimmed tons of sources, and Healthline seemed the most reliable and has not already been used for a fact-check response. According to Healthline, eating poop is "minimally toxic" and even though it contains bacteria naturally found in your intestines and are not harmful while they are in your intestines, it doesn't mean it isn't harmful to be ingested by your mouth. Healthline includes that bacterias usually found in poop are campylobacter, salmonella, E. coli, Shigella, which can lead to gastrointestinal infections. Eating poop even the causes possibility for the viruses Hepatitis A and E  to be transmitted. Eating these bacterias could cause nausea, diarrhea, vomitting, and fever. Healthline also points out that if children eat feces, it isn't the greatest concern as long as you give the child water and wash their hands and mouth, but if they eat other animal feces they are susceptible to other parasites such as roundworms. The Healthline article points out that eating poop shouldn't cause severe symptoms, it probably isn't the smartest and healthiest thing to incorporate into your diet and may cause long-term issues with your digestion.

https://www.healthline.com/health/what-happens-if-you-eat-poop#The-bottom-line

Comments

This is false the idea that parasites and bacteria only feed on dead cells and that infection symptoms are just detox isn’t actually true. Science shows that harmful microbes like Salmonella, E. coli, Shigella, and parasites can cause serious illness by attacking healthy tissues, not just cleaning up dead ones. Some bacteria in poop are part of our gut, but many are really dangerous if they get into the wrong place especially by eating poop, which is definitely not a healthy or safe thing to do. Articles from Medical News Today and University Hospitals explain how parasites and fecal bacteria can actually make you really sick. So this claim isn’t just misleading it could be dangerous if people actually believed it and decided to follow it.

Sources: https://www.healthline.com/health/what-happens-if-you-eat-poop#:~:text=Sometimes%20you%20may%20accidentally%20ingest,associated%20with%20accidental%20poop%20ingestion.
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/what-happens-if-you-eat-poop#:~:text=A%20person%20who%20ingests%20human,themselves%20can%20contract%20the%20infection.

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Even though this claim sounds pretty ridiculous, you gave a really strong response backed by solid evidence. You clearly emphasized the credibility of the author you referenced and did a great job explaining the dangerous bacteria and diseases linked to eating feces.

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you did a good job providing solid evidence, and highlighting the risks to eating poop was important to back your response. Maybe you could have expanded on where the claim actually came from, like if it was a joke or a meme. Or maybe shock content. Overall solid breakdown!