After food passes through the stomach and small intestine, it enters the large intestine. This organ is loaded with bacteria. They convert any of food’s sugars or starches into acids, gases and alcohol. They do it through a process called fermentation. (Fermentation also gives rise to wine, beer and yogurt.)
But to trigger that fermentation, the researchers needed samples of the bacteria present in the human gut. Since they couldn’t reach in and scoop some out, they did the next best thing: They scavenged some that had been excreted in the researchers’ own stool (in other words, they pooped into a pot and saved it). Pee-ew!
“It was stinky,” Moore told Science News for Students. “But that’s why we keep air freshener in the lab.”
Fighting inflammation
The team fermented the undigested cocoa material by mixing it with these stool bacteria. And those microbes released a host of compounds. Among them were some of the same ones that blocked the inflammation of cardiovascular cells (those from the heart or blood vessels) in experiments that Finley’s lab had done earlier. Finley reported his team’s findings earlier this week.
Inflammation normally helps the body fight infections. But sometimes it goes into overdrive, quite inappropriately. This can happen, for instance, when people develop heart disease, diabetes or Alzheimer’s. All are disorders that commonly afflict older people. Small cocoa-based chemicals that relieve or delay inflammation might help people manage the ravages of these diseases.