New ‘magic pills’ could cure obesity
A groundbreaking treatment could change the lives of millions, finds Sinead Corcoran.
The secret to getting skinny may finally be revealed, but it’s a bit hard to swallow. A New Zealand research facility has undertaken a revolutionary study on four overweight teenage girls and developed a ‘‘magic pill’’ that could be a diet and exercise alternative to losing weight – a capsule filled with human faeces.
The aim of the study, which finishes at the end of next year, was to trial these ‘‘poo pills’’ on obese adolescents. They wanted to see if the faeces of a fit, healthy person could alter the gut microbiome of an overweight person, which would in turn help them lose weight and maintain a healthy weight.
If their theory is right, this groundbreaking treatment could change the lives of millions.
‘‘Most of what we know about the gut microbiome we learnt from studying mice,’’ says Wayne Cutfield, Professor of Paediatric Endocrinology at the Liggins Institute.
‘‘If you take the gut microbiome from a thin mouse and put it in a fat mouse, the fat mouse gets a lot thinner.’’
Cutfield says the basic science behind this is that the bacteria from a healthy person or ‘‘superdonor’s’’ gut is able to ‘‘scavenge calories from waste’’, meaning the recipient will lose weight.
So what does it take to be a superdonor? You’d basically have to be Art Green, former Bachelor and a proponent of the paleo diet.
‘‘Superdonors needed to be completely healthy and not be on any medication, slim based on their BMI, have a healthy diet and exercise regularly,’’ says Cutfield.
Only about 10 per cent of the uber-healthy people who volunteered to be donors for this study made the cut.
In a three-episode series, The Good Sh*t follows four overweight teenage girls to see if this revolutionary treatment actually works.
The Liggins Institute chose obese adolescents for their study due to the limited treatment options that overweight teenagers have to manage their weight.
‘‘Bariatric surgery is only available in limited amounts for adults and the drugs used to treat adult obesity aren’t licensed in children, and they aren’t very effective anyway,’’ says Cutfield.
‘‘We chose to focus on this because teenage obesity is probably the biggest health problem New Zealand faces.’’
Alofa, one of the participants, joined the study when she realised she wanted to make a lifestyle change.
‘‘I was probably the heaviest that I’ve ever been,’’ she said.
‘‘One of my family members had a wedding coming up and I was like ‘jeez, what are the photos going to look like?’ That, and it was getting really expensive plus-size shopping.’’
Alofa said a turning point for her was a frightening moment on a school trip.
‘‘We had gone camping in the caves, and I got stuck in one of the caves. I was like ‘I actually don’t know how I’m going to get out of here’. That was a real eyeopener for me.’’
Alofa says a challenge of the study was that it’s a double blind trial. This means neither the scientists nor the participants will know who has been given the real drug
‘‘We had gone camping and I got stuck in one of the caves. I was like ‘I actually don’t know how I’m going to get out of here’. That was a real eye-opener for me.’’ Alofa, left
until the end of the experiment. ‘‘I needed to have the mindset that if this didn’t work or if I didn’t even get the real pill, that there was still hope I would be able to lose the weight myself.’’
So could anyone benefit from poo pills? If they actually work, then yes.
‘‘If this treatment is shown to be effective, it could benefit millions of people, says Cutfield.
‘‘We know that dieting and rigorous exercise can work, but humans are hedonistic creatures. These pills are a once-only treatment, that you only take over two days and our results show that the effects last at least six months.’’
What you’re really wondering though, is how anyone can stomach swallowing someone else’s faeces. ‘‘What we do is strain and sieve out the bacteria and get rid of all the waste, which is the smelly bit,’’ says Cutfield.
‘‘We clean the bacteria up and put them in capsules so they’re completely odourless. That’s the key thing because if you could smell it, like ripe French cheese three feet away, you’d go ‘I’m not sure I can do this’.’’
A final tip from Cutfield – this isn’t dinner time viewing.
‘‘Don’t eat your butter chicken while you watch this.’’
The Good Sh*t is a three-part series premiering tomorrow at 8.30pm on Three.