The color of your poop is not really a topic for a table conversation. Not even something you share on social media. But now it is. #bluepoopchallenge has been trending on Twitter and Instagram for a while now. Blue poo shows how healthy your intestines are! Will you join the challenge?
The blue poop challenge (#bluepoochallenge) was created by the American research firm Zoe. They conduct research on the gut microbiome on a large scale. The microbiome is made up of microbes. These are small 'critters' that consist for the most part of bacteria, but also of fungi, yeasts, viruses and other single-celled creatures. Together they form the microbiome † Most of the microbiome is located in our digestive system, especially in the large intestine. And it largely determines how we digest food and also how our immune system works.
The Blue Poo Challenge was created by Zoe as a fun way for people to discover for themselves how long it takes for food to pass through your digestive tract.
For the experiment of the blue poo challenge, bake your own muffins. There you put some blue dye on a gel basis. So not water based. You eat two blue muffins for breakfast and note the day and time you eat them. Then you keep track of how long it takes before you see blue-green poo appear. You write down the day and time again.
The difference between the last and first time is the time it took the muffins to go through your digestive tract. If you want you can enter that information on Zoe's English site. You will then receive your results by email and you will be linked to someone who had exactly the same time. When filling in, you also indicate what you usually eat. That data is also included in the search for a 'poo buddy', the one who probably has the same kind of microbiome as you.
Don't feel like entering your data? The average time of all participants is twenty-eight hours and forty-two seconds.
If you don't like muffins, you can use the colorant also do it through pancakes, or even through a fried egg. As long as the food is solid and not liquid.
According to Zoe's researchers, the time it takes says more about the health of your gut than how often you go to the toilet or the shape of your poop.
Text Manon Sickle
Image Getty Images
Source Joinzoe.com
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