The Nature of Things gets down and dirty
Vancouver microbiologist flush with ideas while she explores the most intimate of our bodily functions
What do you know about your poo? Is it a good shape? Does it smell OK?
You know you have thought about it, now you can learn more by watching Myth or Science: The Power of Poo on The Nature of Things.
For this episode, Vancouver microbiologist Dr. Jennifer Gardy and her team turn their scientific sights squarely to stools.
“I’m curious to see what the public makes of this. It is something we all do, but it’s maybe something we don’t talk about as much,” said Gardy, who has done other Myth or Science episodes for The Nature of Things. “I think we found a really nice place with this episode. When you are talking about poo, you don’t want to be grossing people out.”
Gardy feels our interest in poo, however quiet we keep it, is just a bit of an extension of a larger curiosity about our bodies.
“I think people always want a little bit of knowledge about what’s going on inside them,” said Gardy, who swallows a tiny camera to show viewers what is going on inside her colon in real time.
Gardy continues to go well beyond the call of duty with the call of nature. For one segment about the supposed difference in the smell of the stools of vegetarians versus meat eaters, Gardy adhered to both diets.
“You get to s--t out your own experiments,” said Gardy, laughing. “This is the weirdest episode I have ever done. I had to s--t in containers three times and send it off.”
Gardy also got to watch as student volunteers smelled the samples.
“They both smelled perfectly bad,” said Gardy, who works out of the B.C. Centre for Disease Control. “It was cool watching the data come in in real time.
“Poop is a pretty stinky subject. Why does it smell? Is there away to make it smell better by changing what you eat? Turns out, not really.”
The smell test left Gardy’s two samples tied, so nice smelling poop does not belong in the pro column for vegetarianism.
“The fun about that story is a lot of time when we do these myth or science episodes we’re kind of demonstrating science that has already been shown in a study. We are kind of re-doing the experiment. This was one we legitimately just tried this out ; is this going to work or not?”
Gardy’s hands-on approach continues when she answers the question: Can we turn poo into potable water? It’s true and Gardy proves it by knocking back a glass of freshly de-poo’ed water.
The show on feces facts opens with the discussion of how much fecal content gets distributed around a regular family bathroom. Yes, you guessed it, a fair bit, but don’t freak out ; take a deep breath (maybe not in the bathroom, though).
“As a microbiologist, I want people to know that germs are awesome and for the most part, they are pretty harmless and they are friendly. I kind of worry about a bit of the microbial fear mongering,” said Gardy. “Hey maybe close the lid on the toilet when you flush.”
Gardy and gang are also on top of the latest trends. Sorry Goop followers, that $500 Gwyneth Paltrow-endorsed colon cleanse is ineffective.
“I like any opportunity to be a microbial evangelist and remind people that we are full of microbes. They are in us. They are on us. They are around us and without them the world would just turn upside down,” said Gardy. “Microbes are beneficial and we shouldn’t be trying to clean ourselves out too much.
“You need to remind people that our bodies are pretty amazing places. They are full of great microbes doing great things. We’ve got good immune systems. We’ve got organs to do all the detox we need. Our bodies are pretty finely tuned machines. We don’t need to go in there monkeying with things in the name of pseudo-science and fads and health trends.”
“It is bunk,” said Gardy about all the detox and cleanse trends.
What isn’t bunk is the extent of information that can be gathered by studying our waste. During The Power of Poo, Gardy visits with Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientists as they collect and study samples from sewers.
“Let’s really take the pulse of this neighbourhood,” said Gardy, referring to the data gleaned from the subterranean samples from Cambridge, Mass.
How about closer to home? Despite what Michael Douglas’s character said in Basic Instinct, you are not crazy if you turn around and look in the bowl before flushing.
“You don’t want liquid, you don’t want super-hard rabbit pellets. You want brown-green-type colour.”
Good to know.