quote:

ORIGINAL: porcelain26

Basically, from your mouth to your rectum is one long, hollow tube. Not really, but I see where you're going with it. Nothing within that tube is sterile (hence the reason's it's so easy to get food poisioning, etc). You get food "poisoning"...which is a misnomer in itself...from contaminated or spoiled food, not from inside the "tube" itself. So, whatever comes out of your rectum is naturally teaming with bacteria...extremely harmful bacteria for that matter. The bacteria within your colon is called 'flora'. No, the bacteria naturally occuring in the colon is called "normal flora".  It is not "extremely harmful".  That flora is suppose to be there to help break down waste so that your body can get rid of it. However, taken outside of it's natural environment, that flora becomes toxic. No, it stays the same, it does not suddenly develop toxicity.  It can, however, grow and multiply and cause skin infections, such as bedsores or abcesses if it gets through a break in the skin of some kind.Hepatitis A That's a virus, E. Coli, one strain normally lives in the colon, part of the normal flora, is a common cause of bladder infections and urinary tract infections, caused by improper wiping, or, in the elderly, from lack of proper nursing care such as infrequent diaper changes.  Now, the E Coli 0157:H7 is the one found in contaminated meat, and causes severe diarrhea and hemorraging and can even lead to death. Salmonella.usually caused by eating contaminated poultry...all of those nasty bugs you hear about people getting sick and dying from, which are called pathogens or abnormal flora are readily found fecal material. Readily?  How about occasionally, in sick patients.

I don't care how many precautions you take, how clean your colon is before you eat something in order to form stool...there is NOTHING safe about eating fecal material. However, what you choose to do in the privacy of your own home is your own business.  [/quote 

quote:

ORIGINAL: porcelain26

I had a really long post...but I decided against it. Afterall, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.

Everything in my original post is true (the original version of this post, pointed it all out, too, but wasn't done in the kindest spirit). If you have more questions about this topic, or if you're concerned about disease and illness. You can go look up the information yourself on a mirade of websites.

WebMD.com
medicinenet.com
The Centers for Disease Control

Or just google "Flora in the intestines", and you can see for yourself what you're putting yourself at risk for.

The main point is that WITHIN your colon, the bacteria that are there are not generally harmful. Outside of your colon, they can be extremely dangerous and cause serious illness and even death.