diff --git a/lib/reverse_proxy/runner.ex b/lib/reverse_proxy/runner.ex
index 566796c..118de9f 100644
--- a/lib/reverse_proxy/runner.ex
+++ b/lib/reverse_proxy/runner.ex
@@ -25,6 +25,39 @@ defmodule ReverseProxy.Runner do
       |> process_response(conn)
   end
 
+  @spec get_body(Conn.t) :: String.t
+  def get_body(conn) do
+    case conn.body_params do
+      %Plug.Conn.Unfetched{aspect: :body_params} ->
+        case Conn.read_body(conn) do
+          {:ok, body, _conn} ->
+            body
+          {:more, body, conn} ->
+            {:stream,
+              Stream.resource(
+                fn -> {body, conn} end,
+                fn
+                  {body, conn} ->
+                    {[body], conn}
+                  nil ->
+                    {:halt, nil}
+                  conn ->
+                    case Conn.read_body(conn) do
+                      {:ok, body, _conn} ->
+                        {[body], nil}
+                      {:more, body, conn} ->
+                        {[body], conn}
+                    end
+                end,
+                fn _ -> nil end
+              )
+            }
+        end
+      _ -> # this makes the assumption that we are dealing with JSON
+        Poison.encode!(conn.body_params)
+    end
+  end
+
   @spec prepare_request(String.t, Conn.t) :: {Atom.t,
                                                   String.t,
                                                   String.t,
@@ -42,30 +75,7 @@ defmodule ReverseProxy.Runner do
     method = conn.method |> String.downcase |> String.to_atom
     url = "#{prepare_server(conn.scheme, server)}#{conn.request_path}?#{conn.query_string}"
     headers = conn.req_headers
-    body = case Conn.read_body(conn) do
-      {:ok, body, _conn} ->
-        body
-      {:more, body, conn} ->
-        {:stream,
-          Stream.resource(
-            fn -> {body, conn} end,
-            fn
-              {body, conn} ->
-                {[body], conn}
-              nil ->
-                {:halt, nil}
-              conn ->
-                case Conn.read_body(conn) do
-                  {:ok, body, _conn} ->
-                    {[body], nil}
-                  {:more, body, conn} ->
-                    {[body], conn}
-                end
-            end,
-            fn _ -> nil end
-          )
-        }
-    end
+    body = get_body(conn)
 
     {method, url, body, headers}
   end
diff --git a/mix.exs b/mix.exs
index 1e9739a..95244d1 100644
--- a/mix.exs
+++ b/mix.exs
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ defmodule ReverseProxy.Mixfile do
     [{:plug, "~> 1.2"},
      {:cowboy, "~> 1.0"},
      {:httpoison, "~> 0.9"},
+     {:poison, "~> 3.1"},
 
      {:earmark, "~> 1.0", only: :dev},
      {:ex_doc, "~> 0.14", only: :dev},
diff --git a/mix.lock b/mix.lock
index e9859ab..eb2eead 100644
--- a/mix.lock
+++ b/mix.lock
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
   "mime": {:hex, :mime, "1.0.1", "05c393850524767d13a53627df71beeebb016205eb43bfbd92d14d24ec7a1b51", [:mix], []},
   "mimerl": {:hex, :mimerl, "1.0.2", "993f9b0e084083405ed8252b99460c4f0563e41729ab42d9074fd5e52439be88", [:rebar3], []},
   "plug": {:hex, :plug, "1.2.2", "cfbda521b54c92ab8ddffb173fbaabed8d8fc94bec07cd9bb58a84c1c501b0bd", [:mix], [{:cowboy, "~> 1.0", [hex: :cowboy, optional: true]}, {:mime, "~> 1.0", [hex: :mime, optional: false]}]},
-  "poison": {:hex, :poison, "3.0.0", "625ebd64d33ae2e65201c2c14d6c85c27cc8b68f2d0dd37828fde9c6920dd131", [:mix], []},
+  "poison": {:hex, :poison, "3.1.0", "d9eb636610e096f86f25d9a46f35a9facac35609a7591b3be3326e99a0484665", [], [], "hexpm"},
   "ranch": {:hex, :ranch, "1.2.1", "a6fb992c10f2187b46ffd17ce398ddf8a54f691b81768f9ef5f461ea7e28c762", [:make], []},
   "ssl_verify_fun": {:hex, :ssl_verify_fun, "1.1.0", "edee20847c42e379bf91261db474ffbe373f8acb56e9079acb6038d4e0bf414f", [:make, :rebar], []},
   "ssl_verify_hostname": {:hex, :ssl_verify_hostname, "1.0.5"}}
diff --git a/test/fixtures/body.exs b/test/fixtures/body.exs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9bbfbdb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/body.exs
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+defmodule ReverseProxyTest.Body do
+  def request(_method, _url, body, _headers, _opts \\ []) do
+    {:ok, %{
+      :headers => [],
+      :status_code => 200,
+      :body => body
+    }}
+  end
+end
diff --git a/test/reverse_proxy/runner_test.exs b/test/reverse_proxy/runner_test.exs
index 11fc33a..9b74541 100644
--- a/test/reverse_proxy/runner_test.exs
+++ b/test/reverse_proxy/runner_test.exs
@@ -69,6 +69,26 @@ defmodule ReverseProxy.RunnerTest do
     assert conn.resp_body == "8000001"
   end
 
+  def parse(conn, opts \\ []) do
+    opts = opts
+           |> Keyword.put_new(:parsers, [:json])
+           |> Keyword.put_new(:json_decoder, Poison)
+    Plug.Parsers.call(conn, Plug.Parsers.init(opts))
+  end
+
+  test "retrieve/3 - body parsed with Poison" do
+    conn =
+      conn(:post, "/", "{\"test\": \"data\"}")
+      |> put_req_header("content-type", "application/json")
+      |> parse()
+      |> ReverseProxy.Runner.retreive(
+           ["localhost"],
+           ReverseProxyTest.Body
+         )
+
+    assert conn.resp_body == "{\"test\":\"data\"}"
+  end
+
   test "retrieve/3 - chunked response" do
     conn =
       conn(:get, "/")