FMT Capsules

Fecal Microbiota Transplants (FMT)

Fecal Microbiota Transplant (FMT) is a medical procedure that is becoming increasingly popular as a way to restore balance (eubiosis) to the microbiome. FMT involves transferring healthy bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms from a donor's fecal matter into the gastrointestinal tract of a patient with an unhealthy microbiome.

It is strongly recommended that patients discuss their plans with their doctor and obtain medical oversight from them. Human Microbes is not a medical provider and cannot provide medical advice.

What are FMT Capsules aka “poop pills”?

The stool donor's fecal matter is processed into a pill form, known as FMT capsules, “poop pills”, or “crapsules”, which are then swallowed by the patient. The pill breaks down in the stomach or small intestines and releases healthy bacteria into the patient's gut, helping to restore balance to the microbiome.

Since the fecal matter is double-encapsulated and frozen in the capsules, there are no unpleasant odors or tastes involved. The capsules are easy to take and can be purchased directly from stool donors. The ease of simply swallowing a capsule makes FMT capsules a popular choice for people interested in restoring their gut microbiome with FMT.

How effective are FMT capsules?

FMT capsules have the benefit of coating the whole small intestine, vs lower-route methods like colonoscopy, which only coat the large intestine, and require a laborious, inconvenient, and costly procedure that carries risks like perforation of the colon.

So far, most studies show that FMT capsules are similarly effective compared to other methods of FMT [1]. However, it may be best to combine FMT capsules with a deep retention enema.

How are capsules prepared, shipped, and stored?

Our stool donors prepare the capsules from carefully selected fecal matter and process it into a pill form for easy ingestion. Capsules are available in standard pill sizes and are designed to dissolve in the gut where the released healthy bacteria help to replenish the microbiome.

Capsules are kept frozen during delivery, ensuring that they remain fresh and potent. Delivery can be arranged worldwide via courier services. Once delivered, “poop pills” can be stored at home in your freezer. It is not recommended to store or thaw them in the refrigerator since they may melt and stick together. Capsules can be stored long-term for many months or years as long as they remain frozen. You could temporarily store them in a fridge for short-term and immediate use, but it’s best to just take them while frozen.

DIY FMT Capsules

Buying whole stools allows you to make your own capsules or enemas, which can be more cost effective, and thus a great alternative for price-conscious consumers.

Watch the video below to see how our stool donors process their stool into capsules. You can follow the same directions if you would like to make the capsules yourself.

You can see that our stool-encapsulation method is very simple. Many alternative methods are unnecessarily complicated. Overprocessing the stool can be detrimental in a variety of ways. For example, there is data suggesting that there are a wide variety of beneficial organisms and compounds in whole stool [1][2], and overprocessing can lead to detrimental exposures, such as oxygen, which will kill anaerobic microbes.

Many people report good results from DIY FMT at home, and these are often with zero processing. Thus our current opinion is that fresh, whole stool containing all microbes and microbial byproducts in their natural environment is the best.

You can review the information at HumanMicrobiome.info/testing to see that we are a long way off from being able to replace whole stool with synthetic poop pills. Many microbes are unknown, it’s not known which are the important ones, and it’s not known how to replicate them.

FDA-approved poop pills for C. difficile

While there is now an FDA-approved “poop pill” for C. difficile, it’s very expensive and comes nowhere near to the power of whole stool from a super-donor. The poop pill is a human-sourced probiotic with a handful of bacterial strains, compared to whole stool which has thousands of species of bacteria, archaea, fungi, and viruses. And those thousands of species all have innumerable strains that are constantly exchanging genes and adapting to their environment. The gut microbiome is an extraordinarily complex ecosystem that will take us many decades to understand and synthetically replicate.

Where to get FMT capsules

Unfortunately, due to FDA restrictions which you can read more about on our blog, we cannot sell stool for the purpose of FMT within the USA. We have stool donors who have been screened according to standards we think would be highly effective and safe. But until we can get an IND for FMT, our donors’ stool should not be used for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in man or other animal.

It may be possible that if you’re outside the USA you can purchase stool or FMT capsules from our donors for FMT.

There may be opportunities on our social media and the microbiome forum for you to get involved and help us work towards making safe and effective donors more widely available for FMT.

Visit our Orders page to learn about ordering stool or “crapsules” from our donors. Our donors can ship within the USA, Canada, and many other international countries via dry ice.

Our Ordering FAQ has more information about our stool donors, screening, ordering, etc.

We have been offering other methods for Fecal Microbiota Transplants such as rectal enema solutions and whole stools broken down into multiple pieces for easy portioning, thawing, and use. But as noted above, you should not be using our products to treat any disease. View our Orders page for more details.