• Question: IS POO ACIDIC

    Asked by finlayr to Adam, Catherine, Karen, Leila, Nazim on 12 Mar 2012. This question was also asked by georges.
    • Photo: Leila Battison

      Leila Battison answered on 10 Mar 2012:

      No, our poo is usually alkaline, rather than acidic, because it contains bile, which is strongly alkaline. Bile is produced in the liver, stored in the gall bladder, and injected into the start of the small intestine. It is used to break up fats before they are digested.

      Acidic poo can be a sign that you are lactose intolerant, or that you have a bacterial or viral infection in your digestive system.

    • Photo: Adam Stevens

      Adam Stevens answered on 10 Mar 2012:

      I will cede to the biologists for this one, but i definitely know my poo is pretty nasty…

    • Photo: Catherine Rix

      Catherine Rix answered on 11 Mar 2012:

      We have a group in my lab who do work with poo samples, They collect the gases released from the poo and test them to see if they can find any chemicals that indicate disease. I’m not sure that I could do their job!

    • Photo: Karen Masters

      Karen Masters answered on 12 Mar 2012:

      I don’t really know. I suspect it depends what you’ve been eating.

      I have little kids – I see a lot of poo, and it changes quite significantly depending on the food which has been eaten!

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