None of the gravity-defying balancing acts Ed Sullivan featured on his show (there were The Baronton Sisters, for example, who lay on their backs while spinning full-size tables with their feet) come close to the astounding balancing act that goes on 24/7 in your gut. There, trillions of bacteria work together to keep your immune and organs systems up and running.

But when those bacteria get out of balance, well, running is a good word to describe what may come next. One deadly infection associated with a disrupted gut biome is Clostridium difficile or C. diff. Every year, half a million Americans suffer from the severe diarrhea it triggers, and about 14,000 die.

Recently, fecal transplants from a person with a healthy gut biome to the intestines of someone with C. diff have proved effective in controlling the disease. But there's a huge ick factor for many folks. Well, now there may be a way around that - a side-effect-free gel capsule containing a huge variety of bacteria extracted from a healthy fecal sample.

Thirty-one of 32 folks who'd had repeated bouts of C. diff saw it go away after taking one round of pills containing fecal microbes. Interestingly, C. diff wasn't eradicated; the balance of bacteria in their guts was restored so that the good guys controlled the bad.

If you have chronic intestinal distress, ask your doc about bacterial replenishment. And everyone can keep his or her guts well-balanced with a daily supplement of spore probiotics containing bacillus coagulans GBI-30, 6086 or lactobacillus GG.