Researchers are inviting people across the UK to turn their poo blue and play online brain games.
The citizen science project from the Gut Immune Brain Axis (GIBA) Network+ is exploring whether the speed that food moves through your gut is linked to how quickly and accurately you can complete simple thinking tasks.
The study team hope to gather data from thousands of participants, ranging from children aged five and over to older adults.
The project’s launch has been featured this week by BBC News.
Tracking a blue muffin’s journey
The study encourages participants to bake and eat specially coloured blue muffins and record how long it takes for the food dye to appear in their stool.
These muffins can be baked at home using a simple vegan-friendly recipe. This includes a standard blue food dye purchased online.
Alternatively, GIBA Network+ members can apply for engagement awards of up to £1,000 to order muffins and flyers that are then distributed at events and festivals across the country.
Once participants have eaten the muffin, they measure how long it takes until they have a blue poo.
They are then asked to play mini online games. These measure their problem-solving skills and decision-making under pressure.
It takes roughly 10 minutes to play all of the games and participants are provided an instant summary of their results after completing them.
Professor Jon Swann, Director of the GIBA Network+ and Professor of Biomolecular Medicine at the University of Southampton, said:
“Everyone’s gut works at a different speed – it’s an indicator of gut function, and tells us something about our gut health. But we still don’t really know what that means for our brains.
“By measuring how quickly these blue muffins pass through you, we can determine if a faster gut transit means a sharper mind – or if slower digestion changes how you think.”
Links between gut and brain health
The research aims to reveal more about the connections between gut and brain health.
“We want to map out how gut-digestion times shift across age groups, sexes and regions, and how that correlates with brain performance,” said Professor Swann.
“While faster digestion may sound better for health, there is likely a sweet spot. A slow gut transit means food takes days to move through our body potentially being broken down to chemicals that can affect our brain, but rapid transit time reduces our body’s ability to absorb water and important nutrients.”
The GIBA Network+ is funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation.
Dr Amanda Collis, BBSRC Executive Director of Research Strategy and Programmes, said:
“Research into the gut-immune-brain axis is revealing that the microbes and processes in our gut may influence far more than digestion alone.
“Through the GIBA+ Network, BBSRC is supporting researchers to uncover how signals between the gut, immune system and brain affect health, behaviour and cognition.
“The blue poo test is a brilliant example of how citizen science can help tackle these questions at scale.
“By taking part, members of the public can contribute to research that could improve our understanding of the links between gut function and brain performance, while learning something fascinating about their own bodies in the process.”
The researchers hope to publish results next year.
Discover more about the study and how to take part at: giba-uk.org/blue-poo
