Actually, it's "supposed" to be the other way around: Elaine Yu, a researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital, is conducting a clinical trial to see whether swallowing pills made of thin people's freeze-dried fecal matter will make fat people thin.
You read that right. Fecal matter. Poop. Fatphobes have basically been telling fat people to "eat shit" for years, and now they want to make us literally eat shit. For science. For our own good.
I call bullshit. There's so much wrong with this. It's a joke!
For starters: There's a shit ton (sorry) of bacteria in feces. There's a reason we wash our hands after going to the bathroom. Can you imagine licking your hands after flushing the toilet? Ew. I hope you have health insurance.
And then there's the fact that long term weight loss is "almost impossible". If a risky crash diet or a deadly eating disorder or just not eating for a couple weeks probably has the same efficacy as swallowing a stranger's excrement, why not try one of the former? Less yucky, just as useless.
What concerns me most about this study, though, is that there are actually people who are invested in this. You can bet your ass (sorry again) Elaine Yu is being paid big bucks for this. Massachusetts General must be hoping for a miracle here. And countless women are wistfully daydreaming about how they'll actually be treated like human beings if they can just find a damn diet pill that works.
They're shit out of luck.
I'm convinced that one day, we'll all come around and realize Health At Every Size is the way to go. Until then, let's enjoy this shit show.
Awesome post. As usual, you were right on the mark! Love your blog!
ReplyDeleteJust to point out that fecal transplants are carried out safely, regularly and help some people immensely. So other people's shit can be used to benefit others. Hell, even the bacterial strain in Yakult was isolated from shit, so it does offer some benefits. Not to say that is can, or should be used for weight loss, just so you know that other people's shit can really help some people who need it.
ReplyDeleteNowhere did I mention that fecal transplants aren't helpful for treating illnesses. I am saying that feeding people shit, or even proposing to, is dehumanizing and disgusting.
DeleteOk, I thought that you thought that using other peoples faces altogether was disgusting, I just wanted to point out that it helps some people, including my uncle who recovered a lot from UC from it, even though some people thought it was disgusting, it gave him his life back. sorry I misunderstood that you only meant orally.
DeleteAnd I totally agree with everything you're saying!
ReplyDelete