Show Notes
Dr. Trisha Pasricha is a gastroenterologist, Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School, and the Ask a Doctor columnist for The Washington Post. Her new book gets deep into the stigmatized, taboo, rarely discussed topics of our bowel movements and farts, no less the science that backs that up, with lucid explainers for the mechanisms (such as the gut-brain axis). Her research is on the gut origin of Parkinson’s disease.
Here’s a quote from Trisha early in the book: “I’m not a wellness guru. I’m a scientist.” Another quote from a Vanderbilt professor: “An effortless, socially appropriately timed bowel movement is the second greatest bodily pleasure known to man.”
The proportion of people with bowel issues is remarkable, a brief summary: Some of the topics covered in our lively, fun and highly informative conversation: —The 3 P’s Propulsion, Pliability, Pelvic Floor —Ten Myths —99% of farts have no odor; the 1% that do are from hydrogen sulfide, Pepto-Bismol substantially reduces the latter (and an incredible experiment of people with rectal tubes and judges smelling their gas) —What is the normal frequency of pooping? —the Bristol Scale of poop appearance and what it means —Transit time —The uselessness and danger of bowel cleanses —Fibermaxxing —5 minutes max on the toilet and positions to help propulsion —Psyllium and laxatives —The art of wiping and bidets —Fecal incontinence —Not to miss urges and the TRPV1 and PIEZO2 receptors —Impact of coffee, alcohol, NSAIDs (Ibuprofen, aspirin, naproxen, etc), and hydration —What are the different definitions of constipation? —What gives poop its color? ********************************************
Thank you YOUR DOCTOR KLOVER, Nickhil Jakatdar, Ph.D., Bob Fleischman, karemm, Jessica Nguyen, and >600 others for tuning into our live video with Trisha Pasricha! Join me for my next live video and newsletters in the app. And a big thanks to Ground Truths subscribers (> 200,000) from every US state and 212 countries. Your subscription to these free essays and podcasts makes my work in putting them together worthwhile. Please join! If you found this interesting PLEASE share it! Paid subscriptions are voluntary and all proceeds from them go to support Scripps Research. They do allow for posting comments and questions, which I do my best to respond to. Please don’t hesitate to post comments and give me feedback. Let me know topics that you would like to see covered. Many thanks to those who have contributed—they have greatly helped fund our summer internship programs for the past two years. It enabled us to accept and support 47 summer interns in 2025! We aim to accept even more of the several thousand who will apply for summer 2026.
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