The Poo Doctor: This Gut Mistake Leads To Cancer. The Cheap Spice That Helps Repair A Damaged Gut!

What's a fecal transplant? You take a healthy person's poop and you transfer it into the person who's sick. For

example, a patient of mine took an antibiotic which wipes out your gut, which became life-threatening. Our

choices were to remove the colon or to give her a fecal transplant. And so, I delivered the fecal transplant to her.

By the next day, the entire infectious issue got shut down. So, this is a great example to show how important our gut microbiome is because 60% of the weight of your stool is your microbiome.

Really? Yes. but it's not getting enough attention and we need to talk about that.

>> Worldrenowned gastroenterenterologist Dr. Will Bolich is back.

>> This time he's sharing brand new information regarding the gut microbiome >> and how poo might actually be the key to your health.

>> 60% of people that listen are currently struggling with some kind of gut problem and it manifests in these subtle ways like bloating, increased fatigue, difficulty concentrating, you don't sleep well at night, skin issues. So it

flies under the radar but ultimately leads to other health related problems afterwards.

>> So I've got so many questions.

>> Totally.

>> What's the cause of bloating?

>> So constipation is the number one cause.

But people who are bloated, please don't sip through straws, drink carbonated drinks, chew on gum, because you just make it worse.

>> Next. Are there decisions that you make as a parent that will have a lasting impact on a kid's gut function?

>> Yeah. By 3 years of age, you are basically fully adult-sized in terms of your microbiome. But antibiotics, bottle

your microbiome. But antibiotics, bottle feeding, and birth by cescareian section are associated with an impact on the microbiome, such as an increased risk of allergic, autoimmune, and metabolic diseases. And I'll explain why.

diseases. And I'll explain why.

>> And then, can I repair the gut?

>> Yeah, 100%. And every 3 to 5 days, you build a new gut barrier. And so, I've identified four things missing in our diet, as well as a daily routine that can optimize our microbiome. And when

you do these, you will thrive and you will live longer and you will have less disease. And I'm going to take you

disease. And I'm going to take you through all of these steps right now.

>> I see messages all the time in the comments section that some of you didn't realize you didn't subscribe. So, if you could do me a favor and double check if you're a subscriber to this channel, that would be tremendously appreciated.

It's the simple, it's the free thing that anybody that watches this show frequently can do to help us here to keep everything going in this show in the trajectory it's on. So please do double check if you've subscribed and uh

thank you so much because in a strange way you are you're part of our history and you're on this journey with us and I appreciate you for that. So yeah thank you Dr. Will. Before we started the

Dr. Will. Before we started the recording I asked you about this new book that you've written and the way that you spoke about it was incredibly

passionate.

Why? I I sincerely believe that if people take the advice that's in this book and they actually follow it, which is the hardest part. I'm completely

convinced it will transform your life.

And that's because we all are struggling with the same problem. We manifest it in different ways, but there's this common issue which is inflammation.

And it's the health story of our time.

It's not getting enough attention. And

this book is not only about shining the light on that. It's about providing people with the evidence-based tools that they need in order to be successful and to live an anti-inflammatory life.

And when you do that, you will thrive and you will live longer and you will have less disease.

>> Can you explain inflammation to me like I'm a 10-year-old?

>> Steve, you have an immune system that protects your body. Mhm.

>> And inflammation is when we turn that immune system on and we make it active.

And sometimes that's a good thing, right? If you had a if you had a tummy

right? If you had a if you had a tummy bug, you want to clear that infection, right? If you hurt yourself, you want to

right? If you hurt yourself, you want to heal that wound. That's when your immune system is really good. It's working for you. But the problem that we have these

you. But the problem that we have these days is that we're turning on the immune system when we don't need to. And it's

staying on 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

And that ultimately creates problems because it leads to new issues, new health conditions.

>> The word inflammation sounds like something has inflated or become swollen.

>> Yeah.

>> Well, that is a part of the process. For

example, if you hurt your knee, right, there there will be inflammation in your knee and it will get red, it will get swollen, it will become tender and like those are the typical characteristics of

inflammation when it arrives. But what

we're talking about is chronic low-grade inflammation. And this is a tricky thing

inflammation. And this is a tricky thing because it can fly below the radar. It

can fly below the radar where you don't realize that it's there. Your doctor may not realize that it's there. And it's

and it manifests in these subtle ways where it's like you have increased fatigue. You have difficulty

fatigue. You have difficulty concentrating. You don't sleep well at

concentrating. You don't sleep well at night. You wake up with aches and pains

night. You wake up with aches and pains or you have joints that hurt a little bit or you've had skin issues, right?

And it's like, well, we all have those problems, but that's inflammation.

Inflammation is driving many of those issues. And so, it's important for

issues. And so, it's important for people to be aware that, you know, you may like these. There's so many patients that go to their doctor complaining of these symptoms. And the doctor's kind of

not really sure what to do about that.

And I think it's time for us to like open our mind and bring awareness to the possibility that there is this issue inflammation that's driving that problem, the symptoms, the health

conditions of which there are many. And

ultimately, we need a plan to address that.

>> And is can you be like skinny and in shape and still have inflammation?

>> 100%.

>> So it's not just a a weight thing. No,

it's not just a weight thing because if you if you think about, you know, people who are competitive bodybuilders, they look amazing on the outside and they're

falling apart on the inside. And these

people often suffer with digestive health problems. I know because they reach out to me, including many people that are wellknown who look incredible and they're suffering with gut issues and then ultimately they're at risk for

other health related problems afterwards. So on this point of

afterwards. So on this point of inflammation is when your immune system kind of stays on. Why does it stay on and uh I mean how do I turn it off?

>> Well, we we have to start with uh acknowledging that the reason why this causes problems is that it let's like sort of use an analogy of the immune

system is your small army and they're there to defend you. And when we activate the army and they're actually going to war, you have to expect that there's going to be damage to the

surrounding areas, >> right? Like if people if if there's a

>> right? Like if people if if there's a war occurring, of course there's decimation and damage that occurs and it's brutal. And the problem is that if

it's brutal. And the problem is that if we're activating the immune system, the the areas that are surrounding it, that's your body, right? And the

decimation and destruction that's occurring is within your own tissues, within your organs. As I was researching this book, I I I actually took three years to understand this topic. And what

I discovered is a connection between your immune system and your gut that is undeniable.

And that connection becomes the powerful fa factor that allows you to understand why it happens and how we can fix it. We

have uh our gut microbiome and there are 38 trillion microbes that live inside of our large intestine and they include bacteria and yeasts and

and archa which are these things that have been on the planet for 4 billion years and possibly parasites. And so in this entire community of microorganisms,

they're there with a purpose and that is to support you and your physiology. One

of their key jobs is actually to uh basically feed the gut barrier that lines your entire intestines.

>> Do you want to show me on using this?

>> Sure.

>> Is this a the right part of the body?

>> So now the large intestine um is the home to your microbiome. So

these 38 trillion microbes this is their this is their residence. This is their domain where they live. Now this entire system which is like on the order of 20

or 25 feet so like something on the range of 6 to 8 mters it's coated with a single layer of cells which we call the epithelial layer and

that is your gut barrier and it's a quite fascinating part of your body because this is like the castle wall and keeps the bad stuff out but simultaneously needs to allow the good

stuff in and These cells they turn over every 3 to 5 days. So it's a beautiful thing actually because every 3 to 5 days

you have an opportunity to create a brand new gut barrier. So within the system the microbes that live inside your colon their job is to basically

repair and restore the gut barrier. And

when the gut barrier is intact it's going to do its job of protecting the immune system.

And when the gut barrier starts to break down, then things can sneak across which we would refer to as increased intestinal permeability, but the common

language is leaky gut. The immune system will see and recognize things that aren't supposed to be there. And so the immune system then steps up and wants to

take it out. And that basically means it needs to get activated and attack.

And that is inflammation.

So the breakdown of these three systems that start with the microbes, microbes are actually your first layer of defense and then leading to the breakdown of the

gut barrier is what ultimately activates the immune system when we have things that are sneaking across that are not supposed to be there. the reverse can also be true. And that to me is where

the exciting opportunity exists is that if you can heal the gut microbes, then the gut microbes can get back to work and do their job of repairing and restoring the gut barrier. And when you

create a strong gut barrier, then basically you're protecting the immune system. And then what you see actually

system. And then what you see actually is the immune system cools off and it becomes more tactical and capable of doing its job.

>> Okay? And when we're eating lots of bad stuff and you know many of the things we're going to talk about today are causing a breakdown in those microbes which is causing the gut barrier to

worsen which is causing the immune system to kick in which is causing the inflammation and the inflammation is therefore causing our cells to be

damaged. What's the immune system

damaged. What's the immune system overfunctioning causing?

Like you you're talking about the army analogy where there's an army and they're at war and some of them are damaging the surroundings.

>> How is it damaging my surroundings? My

immune system being on all the time.

Well, so what ends up happening is it sets off this sort of chain reaction which can have an effect throughout your entire body where the immune cells, it's not just a couple of immune cells, they

start to basically send out signals and these signals we call them cytoines. So

you can measure those cytoines and those are basically communication tools that the immune cells are using with each other to basically call for help. So and

as they get revved up these cytoines start to go out and then this leads to a cascade of even more immune cells releasing even more cytoines. And so and

then kick off this wave and this is what ultimately you can feel throughout your entire body. um and it and it has these

entire body. um and it and it has these consequences of basically causing damage to these individual tissues. So it

depends on which tissue we're referring to. Inflammation in the liver we would

to. Inflammation in the liver we would call hepatitis, right? But at the same time we have overwhelming evidence at this point that inflammation in the

brain which we call neuroinflammation has been associated with mood disorders.

So like major depression inflammation in the brain has been associated with cognitive disorders like Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease. So, and

it's not to claim it's not to claim that all disease literally is related or caused by the gut microbiome. That's not the call.

gut microbiome. That's not the call.

It's more so to say that we need to understand that our immune system is so powerfully connected to our microbiome that you cannot separate the two. And

there's evidence to suggest that we can we can manipulate. So whether it be antibiotics which decimate the gut or the alternative the the opposite would

be a fecal transplant which rapidly reinvigorates the gut and restores that gut architecture and ecosystem.

>> What's a fecal transplant?

>> So fecal transplant is where you take a healthy person's poop and you transfer it into the person who's sick.

>> And where are they administering it?

>> The way that I've always done the fecal transplant because I've done many throughout my career is during a colonoscopy.

So if in theory >> colonoscopy what's a colonoscopy?

>> Yeah. So colonoscopy is is a medical procedure where typically you would be asleep and while you're asleep I take a

long flexible tube that is about the size of my index finger and I can pass that with control all the way through the entirety of your

large intestine which is about five or six feet long. And I can actually dip into the last part of the small intestine which we call the terminal illium which is down here in the right

the right lower part of the abdomen.

You're administering the fecal transplant because they they have this vicious infection called CDEF and and again those infections this infection can be life-threatening. And

you're administering the fecal transplant because the antibiotics are not working. So you need an alternative

not working. So you need an alternative where the idea and goal is to restore balance within the gut ecosystem.

>> Yeah. You're putting good bacteria in, not taking bad bacteria. Yeah.

>> Not taking all bacteria out, I guess.

>> So you put and you put the good bacteria in and when this happens, you're actually all at once reinstalling potentially hundreds of species

in balance in the right amounts. So,

it's like an entire ecosystem transplant. It would be like us being

transplant. It would be like us being like, "Okay, uh here's this forest that's not doing well. We're going to take the Amazon and we're going to transplant it into the space." And now

that we have all these animals that like do well in the space, the forest is washing. It's vibrant again. So, going

washing. It's vibrant again. So, going

back to our point about the immune system, the reason why the immune system is staying on is because I have damaged my gut and it's essentially trying to repair my gut. And so if I live in a

permanent state of a damaged gut because of what I'm consuming, then I'm going to live in a permanent state theoretically of inflammation. The thesis from my

of inflammation. The thesis from my perspective is that the modern world and the way in which we live is damaging our gut, damaging our microbiome, and then

we're suffering the consequence of that which is disruption of our gut barrier and ultimately the activation of our immune system in this forever war, which is chronic great inflammation.

How was cancer associated with this? We

you talked about 130 different diseases and in your book I think it's around page 22 you mentioned I think it's chemotherapy where you're making an analogy between how chemotherapy kind of

wipes everything out and how a poorly kept gut is associated with an increase in cancer likelihoods.

Let's start with this. Your body

produces 3.8 million cells every second.

Your immune system has the responsibility of identifying where there's a problem and taking it out. You

can't possibly create 3.8 million new cells and not have some genetic abnormality that could turn into cancer.

Right? So, the responsibility of the immune system is to basically be perfect every day of your life and remove those problematic cells before they turn into something bigger and better.

It's an impossible task. There's an

entire story that's unfolding now in this conversation about how the gut microbiome is connected to our immune system and the way in which we treat cancer and it's it started really in

melanoma. We have been using sort of

melanoma. We have been using sort of immune manipulations for a very long time to treat melanoma. But what changed is they were using these things called

amunotherapy.

To be more specific, immune checkpoint inhibitors. So it turns out that your

inhibitors. So it turns out that your immune cells have like basically a kill switch. If there was a problem, you

switch. If there was a problem, you could like flip it off immediately.

And that specific receptor is called PD1. And the tumors,

PD1. And the tumors, they're so nasty because they produce this protein that basically activates the kill switch, >> turns off your immune system,

>> and it turns off your immune system.

So the immune checkpoint inhibitor, the idea is to basically flip that switch back on. And by flipping it on, activate

back on. And by flipping it on, activate your immune system, which will then wake up, see this cancer, be like, okay, that needs to be taken out, and go after it.

If someone received antibiotics before the immune checkpoint inhibitor, they didn't do well. So then it raised the question, maybe this is a microbiome thing. So they said, okay, well, if

thing. So they said, okay, well, if antibiotics do this, what happens if we move in the opposite direction and basically act like restore the microbiome with a fecal transplant? And

what they discovered was incredible results. There's now multiple studies in

results. There's now multiple studies in melanoma where they take people and they give them a fecal transplant from someone who was a responder and give it to the person who's about to

go get treated. And that's what they did. And and with incredible results,

did. And and with incredible results, like literally twice as many people were beating cancer relative to the

expectation. The fascinating thing about

expectation. The fascinating thing about that is that it's not just a cancer story. There's research now in

story. There's research now in Parkinson's disease. So Parkinson's

Parkinson's disease. So Parkinson's disease is a neurocognitive disorder. So

that means basically it's a it's a brain condition.

>> Mhm.

>> Well, it turns out that Parkinson's probably starts in the gut and this is actually a disorder of the gut brain

connection because both parts are involved. It's not just the brain

involved. It's not just the brain condition. The brain condition is

condition. The brain condition is actually the more severe part. So

for the people who are listening at home, we have a model out and I have just lifted their skull like uh Hannibal Lectar and exposed their brain tissue.

And what we want to talk about is the brain gut connection, the connections between the brain and their intestines.

And so we have classically thought of Parkinson's disease as being a brain a brain health problem. But I'm here to tell you that this problem begins down here in the gut and involves the

connections between the two because every single person that I've ever seen with Parkinson's disease, they're constipated.

All of them.

And what's interesting is that they've now shown that the constipation comes before the Parkinson's disease. So

now this doesn't mean for people who are constipated, there's a lot of you out there. This doesn't mean that if you're

there. This doesn't mean that if you're constipated, you're going to develop Parkinson's disease. There's a very

Parkinson's disease. There's a very small percentage of people, but it's important to understand that the the manifestations of this health condition actually start in the digestive system before they actually transfer up to the

brain. And so now in this study, Steve,

brain. And so now in this study, Steve, what they did is they took these people who have Parkinson's disease. They gave

them a fecal transplant.

>> They gave them a poo transplant.

>> They gave them a poo transplant. And

what they found was a year later they had a durable continued benefit in terms of their movement issues.

There are now other studies with Parkinson's disease that are showing benefit both for the brain and the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, but also for the gut in terms of that constipation that I was talking about. I

mean, it begs the question, these poo transplants sound great.

>> Can the average person go and get one?

>> I think we need to talk about that.

>> Yeah, we need to talk about that because there was a Netflix special where they made it sound like uh you should just do it at home. Do not do that. Please do

not do that. So, number one, we need to study and adequately understand what the risks are. The the fecal transplant

risks are. The the fecal transplant makes it sound like this is like the quick easy thing that you do and you fix your entire life, but that's not the

same as rebuilding your microbiome using the lifestyle and diet tools that actually are going to give you the meaningful health impact that you're searching for >> over the long term.

>> Over the long term, a huge percentage of the population struggle with gut problems. We asked the D of aio audience and uh roughly it was over 60% of people

that listen said that they're currently struggling with some kind of gut problem whether it's bloating or some kind of discomfort or just digestion issues generally.

Now that's 61% of people responding to those three words bloating, discomfort, irregular digestion. Then about 15% of

irregular digestion. Then about 15% of people said that they have IBS. Like 14

15% of people said self diagnose that they think they have irritable bowel syndrome.

Am I right in thinking the causes of what they're saying they have are wildly different potentially?

Or is it like one or two things? Cuz I'm

trying to figure out how I help those 61% of people that like me have eat something sometimes and then feel and then not really sure what it is, feel a little bit bloated, might feel a

bit gassy, um might have strange digestion, but not necessarily sure what's causing it and when. Yeah, I mean this is the same issue that I struggle with, right? So I I I write a book with

with, right? So I I I write a book with the goal of trying to help as many people as possible knowing that you can't there's no one-sizefits-all, right? So ultimately it's about

right? So ultimately it's about empowering people with the right information and helping them to identify. I literally wrote about this

identify. I literally wrote about this in my author's note right in the front of the book, which is basically to say you're all going to read the same book, but the way in which this book touches you is going to be unique to you.

There's going to be something in there that you're going to find that you're like, that's my moment. That's my aha moment, right? And for many people, like

moment, right? And for many people, like just looking statistically, looking at the average American diet, there's a huge opportunity when it comes to diet.

And that is where I put a lot of energy and attention because I just I know what the stats say. So, I know America needs this. But at the same time, there's a

this. But at the same time, there's a conversation that gets into other topics that look, the way that we live is different than the way that our grandparents grew up when they were kids.

>> Mhm. To me, it's more about like helping people to see like what is that one thing for them. There's some people who are going to be listening to this that it's not their diet, it's not sleep, it's not circadian rhythm, it's trauma.

And I think that these are things that need to like we need to shine a light on that. We'll do all of that. On this

that. We'll do all of that. On this

point about bloating, discomfort, irregular digestion, if I have one of those things, does that theoretically mean that something is not right?

>> Everyone gets bloated once in a while.

So, I think I think it would be unfair to make it sound like you should never have any adverse symptoms at all.

>> Right.

>> But if it's prolonged, >> but if it's prolonged, if it's a chronic health issue, if you're the type of person who you wake up in the morning and you say, "I hope today is going to be a good day. I hope I don't have to deal with that specific issue." You you

have a problem like we already know. And

then we have to work on that to address that issue. And how we go about that, I

that issue. And how we go about that, I think needs to be on some level personalized.

But the tools that are at our disposal remain the same. So it's just a matter of like let's put it on the table. Here

are your choices. You pick which ones are most applicable to you. Where are

the opportunities for you? And I I can't tell you that without knowing more about you.

>> What about this issue of people getting gassy like farting a lot?

>> Yeah.

>> Is that typically associated with one particular gut issue or is that again could that be a plethora of issues?

>> So it could be it could be a plethora of issues. This is this is a common

issues. This is this is a common problem. If I have to like start with

problem. If I have to like start with what is my number one thing, it's constipation for sure. 100%. There are

so many people who are listening right now that are constipated and they don't even know it because they poop every day and they think that how often they poop

is the definition. And that's not true.

So constipation is what happens when you're not adequately emptying your bowels.

And that could be a frequency problem, but it could also be that it's a partial poop.

>> Oh, okay. Cuz I thought constipation was if you just haven't been you can't go you go to the toilet and nothing comes out.

>> Look, don't get me wrong. If you if you don't poop for a week, I know you're constipated. I don't need to ask any

constipated. I don't need to ask any more questions. If you go a week, but if

more questions. If you go a week, but if it's there are people who they poop every other day. That's their normal.

They feel fine. They don't have any gut symptoms. They don't have a constipation problem. We're okay.

problem. We're okay.

>> Right? Right. So frequency is not the be all and end all.

>> It's part of the it's part of the equation, right? But there's also people

equation, right? But there's also people who they poop and I I want to sort of paint the picture and forgive me like I feel very comfortable talking about poop. This is what I've done for a

poop. This is what I've done for a living.

>> But they they go to the bathroom in the morning. They struggle.

morning. They struggle.

It's not satisfying. They had to work really hard to get a little nugget to come out. And then they feel like they

come out. And then they feel like they still have to go.

and maybe 45 minutes later they poop again. Okay, that's not a new poop.

again. Okay, that's not a new poop.

You're doing partial poops. You're

probably doing a 20 or 25% poop. So, you

could poop three, four times during the day. You might not still be fully

day. You might not still be fully emptying your bowels, right? And so that so that's an example of a person who can actually be struggling with bloating and constipation and not think because

they're like, "Doc, I'm pooping three times a day."

>> Where is the gas coming from in that?

Why why do people you eat something and then you fart a lot? What's going on?

>> So gas so gas travels with poop. Um uh

you may I don't mean you specifically, Steve, people listening may notice this that you wake up in the morning and you're farting like crazy. And that

farting continues until you actually have your morning bowel movement. And

then once you have your good, healthy morning bowel movement, you feel solid and you're not farting anymore, right?

the gas travels with the poop. So, and

the reason why this happens is because first of all, your poop is not just the leftover remains of your food. Actually,

your poop is predominantly your microbiome.

60% of the weight of your stool is microbial.

>> Really?

>> Yes.

>> When you say microbial, you mean like the bacteria?

>> The bacteria.

>> 60% of it.

>> Let me give you an example. If I took your drink and I added some soluble fiber, which is prebiotic, into your drink.

>> Yeah.

>> There's no grit, there's no roughage, you don't even know it's there. And

you're going to have a bigger, healthier bowel movement tomorrow as a result of what I just did. Why? Because I fed your microbes and they grow stronger and then they multiply. And because they

they multiply. And because they multiplied, you have a bigger bowel movement, >> right? That's the way that that works.

>> right? That's the way that that works.

Now, don't get me wrong. You eat, you know, a salad, you're going to end up with a bigger bowel movement as well, but a big part of that is the fiber within that salad that's feeding these microbes. They multiply, they grow, and

microbes. They multiply, they grow, and you have a big bowel movement.

>> So, if that was my if that was my my store, my poop, I'm holding a chocolate bar here. 60% of that would be the

bar here. 60% of that would be the microbes.

>> 60% of that would be the microbes. Yes.

So for that person when the poop is in gridlock and it's not moving through then those microbes are basically sitting there with unlimited time to

ferment and produce gas.

>> Okay?

>> So anything they come into contact with, they're just going to start working on it. So and it's not just like a fiber

it. So and it's not just like a fiber thing. Anything they come into contact

thing. Anything they come into contact with, it could be protein, they will ferment it. They will produce gas. So,

ferment it. They will produce gas. So,

this is a big part of the reason why constipation is so strongly associated with gas and bloating.

>> When people eat dairy and things like that, and I think some people that have gluten, they they often tend to get a little bit gassy.

>> Yeah.

>> Is that constipation?

>> Gas and bloating is not just a constipation issue. I would argue that

constipation issue. I would argue that constipation is the number one cause of that particular issue, but there's many potential causes. Number one could be

potential causes. Number one could be motility. That's constipation.

motility. That's constipation.

>> What's motility?

>> Motility is the way in which your intestines move. So if the intestines

intestines move. So if the intestines move too fast and out of rhythm, you get diarrhea. If the intestines slow down

diarrhea. If the intestines slow down too much, sluggish, you get constipation. We want the intestines in

constipation. We want the intestines in a rhythm because when they're in a rhythm, just like your heart, that's when they perform their best. So in a rhythm basically means predictable,

consistent daily bowel movements. That's

ultimately where we would love to be, right? And that in a way taps into like

right? And that in a way taps into like an entire circadian conversation that we can have later. This is a part of your circadian rhythm is a fantastic morning bowel movement. Motility is just one of

bowel movement. Motility is just one of the causes of gas and bloating. The

second is the microbiome. If you have a microbiome that's damaged and struggling, it's not going to be able to do its job the way it's supposed to. And

part of its job is processing and breaking down fiber. Because the fiber in our diet, we don't have the enzymes to digest it. So, it works its way through the intestines, comes into

contact with the microbes, and the microbes, they have literally 60,000 enzymes that we don't have as humans.

They go to work as teams. Fiber stops being fiber, produces short- chain fatty acids. This is the way that it's

acids. This is the way that it's supposed to work.

When your gut is not happy, they're weak. the microbes are weak and you're

weak. the microbes are weak and you're asking them to do work and they can't handle that and you end up with sloppy digestion and that's gas and bloating.

The third thing can be your diet. So you

just mentioned dairy which contains lactose. Lactose can be easily fermented

lactose. Lactose can be easily fermented to produce gas.

You mentioned gluten.

Gluten itself is a protein. So can

gluten technically be fermented? Yes, it

could be technically fermented, but that's not really the that's not really what's going on. What's happening is that gluten containing foods, which are

wheat, barley, and rye, also contain these carbohydrates called fruans.

And fruans are actually really good for our microbes. They're prebiotic.

our microbes. They're prebiotic.

But if you consume a very large amount of them and you're not used to eating these foods, it can cause gas and bloating. these

days. When I was younger, if I had uh if I had pasta, I was fine. If I have pasta these days, I'm going to feel it for the next like two two days.

>> Really?

>> Yeah. I don't know. And I don't even know what's going on. But then other people can eat pasta as much as they want, it seems. >> Out of curiosity, can you go to Italy and eat pasta and be okay or no? Same

thing.

>> I haven't really not really tried. Um,

>> anecdotally, I think when I remove when I have like nongluten bread or non-gluten pasta, I I think I'm I feel much better. But I but I'm well aware from speaking to people like

yourself that such a small percentage of the population is actually gluten intolerant, but we all kind of think we are to some degree. I think it's was what's the the numbers? Is it like 20% of people think they are or something?

So, like here in Los Angeles, it's um like probably 80% of people >> think that >> well like almost everyone's gluten-free.

Yeah. Right.

>> Which >> they don't need to be. And and actually it can cause problems. It can it can cause problems to be gluten-free unless you know what adaptations to make.

>> So, what are you when you ask that question about Italy, what are you getting at? There's a processing issue

getting at? There's a processing issue in the United States involving wheat, which is that they allow the wheat to be

sprayed with glyphosate, which is Roundup. It's a weed killer.

And you they do that to basically dry it out as quickly as possible. So, imagine

for a moment that you're a farmer, and you have this this field of wheat. You

harvest it. Okay, here are your choices, Steve. You can wait a couple weeks and

Steve. You can wait a couple weeks and let it dry out naturally in the air and and store it somewhere or you can spray it with this chemical and it will be dry by tomorrow and then you can chip it up.

>> Yeah.

>> Right. And the problem is that glyphosate is not on the label. You

would never know whether it's sprayed or not sprayed unless you're buying organic. If you buy organic, then by

organic. If you buy organic, then by definition they're not allowed to spray it.

You would never know if it's there. The

the the thing about glyphosate is that it's been approved to exist in our food system under the assumption of safety

because what it does is it shuts down this thing called the Schikim pathway and that kills weeds or it kills plants

and we have a workaround and it has to do with basically amino acids. We have a workaround where we can basically create those amino acids as humans,

but the plants can't. So the plants die, we live. But there's a problem, which is

we live. But there's a problem, which is that the microbes that live inside of our large intestine,

they don't have the workaround.

So that microscopic amount of glyphosate, you would say, well, us big humans, that's so small. Yeah. But what

do you think happens when it comes into contact with them?

We know that glyphosate disrupts the microbiome, that it depletes the beneficial bacteria, and the ones that tolerate it the best are the inflammatory ones, >> the bad bacteria.

>> The bad bacteria. So, you're shifting the balance. And this is this is a small

the balance. And this is this is a small thing, but I hear from people, Steve, that go to Italy, they say, "I can't eat wheat in the United States." And then they go to Italy and they're fine. And

you think it's that glyphosate.

>> Yeah. They don't do that there.

>> So if I tried I'll try organic pasta tonight and maybe that'll be better.

>> Yes. And then like the alternative choice is how do you do with bread? Are

you okay?

>> Uh not all bread. My my generally I stay away from bread.

>> Okay. Do you ever eat sourdough?

>> Yeah.

>> Do you do okay with sourdough?

>> Yeah.

>> There we go. So here's here's the second part of this equation. Put the

glyphosate. Put that to the side for a moment. Let's talk about the fruans that

moment. Let's talk about the fruans that we were talking about a moment ago.

>> When you ferment your uh your wheat, when you ferment your dough, you actually reduce the frucan content.

>> What's fru?

>> So these are the the longchain carbohydrates that exist in wheat, barley, and rice.

So if it contains gluten, it also contains these fruans. Like gluten is not the only thing in wheat, right? And

these fruans, again, they're good for you. They're good for your microbiome.

you. They're good for your microbiome.

But people who have a slightly damaged gut, they struggle to process and digest them. So this would explain why some

them. So this would explain why some people they eat they eat, you know, wheat containing, gluten containing foods and they struggle, but they do okay with sourdough because if you

ferment the the bread, it takes it reduces the frucine content and actually then you can tolerate it.

>> Oh, okay. So you think it might be the fruine in the bread that I have an issue with and sourdough doesn't have fruine in it. Yeah, there was there was a study

in it. Yeah, there was there was a study that was in gastronurology a few years ago. G gastronurology is the top journal

ago. G gastronurology is the top journal in my field where basically they they sent people home with a bunch of breakfast bars. All right, not

breakfast bars. All right, not chocolate, but nonetheless, they sent people home with a bunch of breakfast bars, three of them. One of them was a placebo bar, so they didn't add anything

special. One of them contained a very

special. One of them contained a very large concentration of gluten and then the third one contained the frucans.

And the placebo is our standard. We're

going to compare to that. When people

ate the gluten containing bar, and these were, by the way, people that um they did not have celiac disease, they did have gluten problems according to them, right? So like this is like the 20% of

right? So like this is like the 20% of people that you mentioned a moment ago who think they might have a gluten problem. When they ate the gluten

problem. When they ate the gluten containing bar, they actually had less symptoms than the placebo.

So in other words, the gluten is not the problem.

But when they ate the fruc containing bar, they were triggered.

So basically what this said is that we have been taking this concept of gluten intolerance and we've we've misnamed it.

It's not a gluten intolerance, it's a fruine intolerance. These are people who

fruine intolerance. These are people who are tending to struggle with these particular parts of that food. What

foods contain fruine? So, uh, wheat, barley, and rye, >> okay?

>> And different there's there's many different types of fruans, by the way.

So, you may not react to all of them.

You may react to just some of them, >> but like garlic and onions are also classic. So, you hear people who are

classic. So, you hear people who are like, I can't eat garlic. I feel it's horrible. Right? That's a that can be a

horrible. Right? That's a that can be a fru issue. Te, amaranth, sorghum,

fru issue. Te, amaranth, sorghum, um, quinoa. These are these are whole

um, quinoa. These are these are whole grains that don't contain gluten and they also don't contain frucans.

>> How long does it take to repair the gut when you have done damage to it? That's

a very broad question intentionally, but generally for the average person who's done who sort of irritated their gut, how long does it take to restore and for those microbes to go back? It really

depends. You have to start with, okay, what's your starting point, right? Like

how deep is the damage? How bad is it?

Because for the people who have ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease, those are forms of inflammatory bowel disease.

Those people have the deepest dis dispiosis. Dispiosis is the word that we

dispiosis. Dispiosis is the word that we use for a damaged gut. Is it possible to reverse that?

>> Um, it's possible to put them into remission so deeply that they don't have a flare.

>> Is that what the flare looks like on this little model that I have in front of me?

>> Yes. So, so going back for the people who are listening and not on YouTube, you can flip over to YouTube if you're interested. But what I'm showing here is

interested. But what I'm showing here is the model of the large intestine. And

the model includes a little area that it looks raw, >> ulcerated, it's bleeding. It if you if you were to bump up against it, it's going to start to you'll start to see

blood coming out. So, it's like a it's a very vulnerable sensitive uh area. Now,

these inflammatory bowel diseases, Steve, I have an interesting study on this topic. They are to me the classic

this topic. They are to me the classic gut inflammatory health condition.

And what's happening is the immune system is attacking the microbiome.

So technically, it's not actually autoimmune because autoimmune would be you're attacking your own body. The immune

system is not attacking your intestines.

The immune system is attacking your microbiome and rejecting it.

And because that's happening, your intestines are stuck in the middle.

>> So this here is the immune system attacking the microbiome. It's attacking

the microbiome which is in the tube of the large intestine and the immune system is trying to get at it and kill it.

>> Why?

>> And because it's decided that it's the enemy. So the immune system is confused

enemy. So the immune system is confused because when we're born, we don't have much of a microbiome at birth. It's the closest that we will get

birth. It's the closest that we will get to not really having anything. And then

during the first three years of life, you build your microbiome through your life experience. And by three years of

life experience. And by three years of age, you are basically fully adult-sized in terms of your microbiome. During this

time, your immune system is learning from and with those microbes. So,

there's this interplay between the two that is undeniable where when the microbiome is healthy during childhood, during those first three years, it results in a healthier immune system.

>> So, what's going on here? The immune

system is supposed to acknowledge your microbiome as being friendly and it does not. It decides that your microbiome is

not. It decides that your microbiome is the enemy and so it's taking it out. So

what what what do you think is for someone that has like irritable bowel syndrome or Crohn's disease and they or they you know they have one of these big sort of ulcers in their small or large

intestine. Is it because of their

intestine. Is it because of their lifestyle typically a lifestyle change or >> or is it lots of things? What's the

number one perpetrator?

>> Okay. There's clearly a genetic component.

>> Okay.

>> Okay. So, we have to we have to be upfront about that. Like these are these are things that are not necessarily within a person's control entirely >> because I mean there's no evolutionary reason why this would happen.

>> Like there's no evolutionary reason why you'd have severe gut digestion problems. >> No, it's not to there's no advantage to it at all. And and these things that uh

that occur, they were quite rare years ago. In fact, in third world countries

ago. In fact, in third world countries today, there's not much inflammatory bowel disease. There's not a lot of

bowel disease. There's not a lot of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis in third world countries. If you go to Africa, there's very little. And what

then what you see though is as countries industrialize, there's a takeoff and they start ramping up. So within the United States over the course of 40 years from 1970 to 2010, ulcerative

colitis and Crohn's disease cases were increasing by up to 55%.

And you can get that at any age.

>> You can get that at any age. Yeah.

>> So even if I'm healthy right now, I could do a set of things that would give me this.

>> Yes. In fact, if you take So back to our conversation about antibiotics, if you take antibiotics, your risk of developing an inflammatory bowel disease in the next year just doubled.

>> Oh gosh.

>> If you disrupt the gut with antibiotics, which the antibiotics do, there's nothing that will basically like decimate the gut faster. Reducing gut

diversity. disrupting the gut barrier by 50% during a course of antibiotics and activating the immune system. It really

speaks to that like if you take antibiotics, these risks of inflammatory health conditions really start to go up.

We see this in both adults and kids.

>> You had a patient of yours called Michelle who took antibiotics and had a life-threatening swelling of her colon.

This is this is the colon, right?

>> Uh >> show me where the colon is.

>> So the colon is the large intestine.

>> Okay, fine. Yeah. Yeah.

>> And so she took an antibiotic and had a life-threatening swelling of the of her large intestine.

>> So she took an antibiotic. She took

clintomy which is a classic skin antibiotic.

>> Okay.

>> And the problem is that clintomyosin wipes out your gut like hard.

And when that happens, there's a risk that this pathogenic like bad bacteria called CIFF, if it's in there, it can multiply and

then you get this infection, the C diff infection that causes inflammation of the entire colon. So this patient, Michelle, what happens, I was on call and I get this text and they say, "You

got to come to this room right now. This

patient is sick." And she had just been transferred in from an outside hospital.

So, I was in the middle of typing up a consultation. Drop that, run through the

consultation. Drop that, run through the hospital, walk into the room. She's

clutch clutching her belly and she's moaning and groaning and she has no clue where she is. She's sweaty. She's pale.

Her vital signs are completely out of whack. Her heart is racing. She's

whack. Her heart is racing. She's

breathing really fast. And um and I did a little test which is that I gently

bumped her bed just like that. And if a person has severe inflammation of their intestines, they will jump if you do that because

they have peritonitis, right? Or you could call it an acute

right? Or you could call it an acute abdomen.

So just by bumping the bed like that was ENOUGH FOR HER TO AND SHE'S SCREAMING, RIGHT? And clutching her belly and she

RIGHT? And clutching her belly and she has no clue where she is or what is going on. She's completely delirious.

going on. She's completely delirious.

Uh she was maxed out on antibiotics.

Our choices were to rush her to surgery, remove the colon, or alternatively to give her a fecal transplant and give her a shot at keeping her colon.

So, I take her down to the operating room and I actually um used a I mean, I won't bore you with the details, but I used a special technique that's atypical for what I would normally do because the

inflammation was so severe to pass a scope.

So, this scope that I used was a smaller scope to be more gentle.

>> A scope being a tube.

>> A scope is a tube. And I mentioned that if you get a colonoscopy, it's the size of my index finger. So that's like probably about a centimeter across. But

I I instead went with a smaller scope that's more like 5 millime 6 millimeters across. It's more gentle and it just

across. It's more gentle and it just makes it harder to do. But I I basically passed the scope through her rectum and all the way through her intestines to

get it over here on the right side. So

that's basically like I have now passed all the way through her large intestine.

And in that location, I delivered the fecal transplant to her.

And so the amazing thing is that number one, that procedure went really well.

By the next day, she was a normal human being. She was laying in bed. She was

being. She was laying in bed. She was

able to have a conversation.

And after 2 days, she was so normal that we were able to send her home.

So the entire severe infectious issue that she was facing got shut down and corrected by restoring

her microbiome. And then when you

her microbiome. And then when you restore the microbiome, the C diff basically gets suppressed and the immune system falls back into balance. The

inflammation washed away.

>> So do you have like a like a fridge full of these fecal matters that you can just tap into when when you need it? No, but

there is a company in in Massachusetts that does.

>> Um, and so and that's what most hospitals use is they'll basically have this sent in. But it's actually kind of interesting because there's there's new development in this space where for the

first time drug companies are actually identifying how to manipulate the microbiome using things that are not actually a fecal transplant but sort of derived from the idea. M

>> now what they're developing is a way to rebuild the gut and protect it during this period of vulnerability. So that's

the new thing that's coming.

>> You must hear about so many different types of diets and juice cleanses and whatever else that influencers and

podcasters promote that you absolutely hate because you have a deeper understanding of the consequences on the gut. What are some of the biggest diets or I don't know

these sort of trends that you absolutely despise because they are misinforming people about how to create a healthy gut?

>> Well, I think the thing from my perspective is that um uh trends fluctuate hard.

>> Yeah.

>> Right. In 2020, it was like the vegan diet was in.

>> In 2023, it was the carnivore diet. You

couldn't have more diametrically opposed diets.

>> Yeah.

>> Right. And and so the problem is that to the person who's at home and they're trying to get this figured out, it's very easy to get sucked into whatever the trend is because that's what you're hearing about when you open up your

social media, right? Whereas as I sit here, the science has not changed that dramatically in the last 5 years. We are

working on this, but these are small fluctuations in terms of our understanding of things. It's not a radical. We don't whiplash like that,

radical. We don't whiplash like that, >> right? So nor has your biology. you have

>> right? So nor has your biology. you have

the same biology five years ago. So this

entire concept of like whipping people over the place is total from my perspective. I want to start by saying

perspective. I want to start by saying that any person who has the audacity to change their diet in the interest of their health,

like I actually I actually think that's incredible and it doesn't matter what your choice is because you're just trying to figure it out. And ultimately

I just want people to be better. But the

problem is that there's a lot of dietary advice that's insane and it comes on both sides, Steve. So, absolutely, I don't believe that a 100% meat or organ

diet is imbalance or the optimal solution for longevity.

But on the flip side, like a fruit only diet, I would never support or recommend either. That's completely insane. What

either. That's completely insane. What

are we doing? So I think that like these highly the more restrictive that you get the more that I think you're drifting away from what is quite simple which is whole food in balance.

>> What about these like juice diets and stuff like that? People do people do like a 7-day juice diet or water diet or whatever.

>> So you will you will often feel better if you have gut issues and you take away the stuff that's irritating your gut.

And so simplifying your diet and doing something like that, you can make yourself feel better on a temporary basis and think that you did something, generally speaking, that's not really doing much of anything at all.

>> How long does it take to both kill and then create new new gut microbes?

>> Well, so the beauty of it is that your gut is very forgiving. So the choices that you make today will be reflected in your microbiome by tomorrow. The beauty

of it is that these microbes like their superpower is that they are able to procreate so fast.

>> Procreate meaning making babies. So they

can make they can create new generations like estimates are potentially as quick as 20 minutes. And so we can use that to our advantage because if we actually support them with what they need, change

can come real quick. And you know, I get back to every 3 to 5 days.

You build a new gut barrier.

So, there's an amazing opportunity that we have to actually see some quick health effects. Are there any big sort

health effects. Are there any big sort of health myths or diet myths that you're concerned about that people are currently following or believe in particular? Is there anything you look

particular? Is there anything you look out into the world and think, "Oh god, that's going to be awful for the gut."

Oh gosh. It's not something that I pay a ton of attention to because I'm not on TikTok to be honest with you.

>> So, um it's I find it interesting that actually like Tik Tok some of the trends that have come more recently are actually on point.

>> So, which feels great because I love it when like people are getting excited about stuff that's good. The like the fiber maxing trend.

>> I'm not hiding about them. So fiber

maxing, it feels like after not really talking about fiber for a really long time, people are starting to come around to the benefits that come

from fiber.

And this was really exemplified on Tik Tok with this fiber maxing trend where people are basically trying to increase their fiber profoundly.

So the issue though is that you have to ease your body into it. So, I think the idea is the right idea of where people are trying to go, but the execution, I just want people to do it in a way where they feel okay. Cuz if they don't feel

well, they're going to bail and then they're going to think, well, fiber is not for me.

>> And what was this trend? It was people trying to just get above their up and above their daily recommended dose of fiber by eating high fiber foods.

>> Yes. And acknowledging that 95% of people in the United States and 90% of people in the UK are deficient in fiber as we sit here right now. And what

complications or implications does that have for one's gut microbiome?

>> Massive.

>> Because fiber is feeding the good bacteria.

>> Fiber is the principal food for the good bacteria. And it is the precursor to

bacteria. And it is the precursor to short- chain fatty acids. So the short- chain fatty acids are what we create when fiber comes into contact with microbes. Short chain fatty acids are

microbes. Short chain fatty acids are the thing we create when fiber comes in contact with the gut microbiome.

>> Yes.

>> Bacteria. Okay. And the short- chain fat fatty acids are really good.

>> They're so good. In fact, of all of the things that I've studi studied and learned about, these are the most anti-inflammatory thing that I've ever come across.

So, there's three of them, three main ones. Acetate,

ones. Acetate, propriionate, and butyrate. They all

have their own distinct effects within the body. They have effects right there

the body. They have effects right there in the gut, on the microbes, on the gut barrier, on the immune system.

>> And these are produced, these three things you just named are produced when fiber comes in contact with the gut microbiome.

>> Yeah. So, like if you were sterile, if you didn't have, if you were born without a microbiome >> um like you ever hear about Bubble Boy?

>> Oh, yeah. There was a film or TV show, wasn't there?

>> Yeah. It was like a documentary in the 70s of this kid who was he was born with this rare genetic immune disorder. And

so his family in order to try to protect him, they isolated him thinking if if no bad stuff can get in, then he would be fine, right? So like he lived in a

fine, right? So like he lived in a sterile bubble. So in theory, if you

sterile bubble. So in theory, if you were sterile, you would never get the benefits of these short- chain fatty acids >> because you'd never have bacteria.

>> Because you don't have bacteria.

>> Okay?

>> So we have the the opposite of that problem, which is that we have bacteria, but we don't feed them. We don't give them fiber. You can't create something

them fiber. You can't create something from nothing. So you have to give them

from nothing. So you have to give them the fiber in order to allow them to create the short- chain fatty acids from it.

>> And these short- chain fatty acut microbiome in my gut here. I put fiber in there in the form of what foods are the best foods for fiber.

>> Okay. So what we have here is an entire array of choices.

>> And the beauty of it is that there's only one thing that I can spot on these two plates that does not contain fiber.

Do you want to guess? I guess that it is.

>> Okay.

>> You want me to give it to you?

>> It does.

>> Is it the It's not the turmeric, is it?

>> No, but the turmeric probably doesn't have very much.

>> Okay.

>> No, it's the oil because the issue is that this is 100% fat. So, you by definition cannot have any fiber inside of an oil.

>> Okay. Sorry.

>> It's like sunflower oil, olive oil.

>> So, yeah, whatever whatever type. Now,

it could have polyphenols, like extravirgin olive oil has polyphenols that are really good for the microbiome.

>> Extravirgin olive oil is actually incredibly good for the microbiome, but it doesn't have fiber. Everything else

has fiber. So, we have all these different plant-based foods. And the

beauty of it is that it doesn't have to be complicated. Fruits, vegetables,

be complicated. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, seeds, nuts, and legumes, they all have fiber.

>> Meat, anything that's not a plant does not have fiber. Oh,

>> okay. So, if it grows in the ground, it has fiber. So if it comes if it comes

has fiber. So if it comes if it comes from a plant, it has fiber and that includes, by the way, the mushrooms. So the mushrooms are technically fungi.

Um, but they share a lot of the same characteristics that the plant-based foods do. So there's fiber, there's

foods do. So there's fiber, there's polyphenols, all of these things we want to include in a healthful diet. So if I eat these high-fiber foods, they go into my gut, the microbiomes produce this thing called short- chain fatty acids.

And the short chain fatty acids, they produce more good bacteria, but also they help my immune system calm down.

Yes. So, if you think about, let's go back to the model that we led off with, which is that there's these three parts to your immune system or actually your I should call it your defense system

because your gut microbes are the first layer of defense, right? That was what was broken down by the antibiotics and Michelle.

>> Mhm. The second layer of defense is your gut barrier, which is the lining of your gut that protects the immune system.

>> And then the third part is the actual immune system itself. We don't even want to have to activate that. We'd rather

the first two parts take care of it for us. Right? So the beauty of this is that

us. Right? So the beauty of this is that you eat, you consume these high-fiber foods. They come into contact with your

foods. They come into contact with your microbes right here in the large intestine. Specifically, the right colon

intestine. Specifically, the right colon is the classic spot.

and they they unpack them and they release the acetate, propriionate and butyrate.

And those three things impact your microbes, impact your gut barrier, impact your immune system. Now, of the three, my favorite is butyrate because

it's the butyrate that has the biggest effect on the microbes, on the gut barrier. like you literally need

barrier. like you literally need butyrate in order to produce the proteins that hold your uh your gut lining together. Um and the butyrate has

lining together. Um and the butyrate has a direct effect on our immune cells. So

these are again the most anti-inflammatory thing that I've come across and part of why we're suffering with these going back to the original conversation about these chronic inflammatory health conditions and you

asked me where do they come from? We

live in an industrial world where 95% of us at a minimum 90% of us are not getting even close to the amount of fiber that we need. And when we compare

this to other places, so there was an interesting study that came out recently where they looked at the microbiome of

people in Italy, Singapore, and then they had native tribal people in the Bolivian Amazon

and native tribal people in Malaysia. So

two indigenous tribes living a you know hunter gatherer lifestyle.

against Italy and Singapore.

And what they discovered is that there's this radical difference in terms of the diversity of the microbiome. There's a

difference in terms of um their their ability to produce short- chain fatty acids.

And there's this question that comes up about aging because as we age, inflammation increases.

Is that inevitable?

Are we stuck in a position where like based upon our age we should just expect that we're going to have more inflammatory issues? What they found in

inflammatory issues? What they found in the tribal populations is that actually that's not true at all. So they were protected against inflammation

regardless of their age because of their lifestyle.

But they were living and it's not just what they eat. It's they they wake up when the sun comes up. They sleep when the sun goes down. They're connected to their tribe. They're not looking at

their tribe. They're not looking at Instagram. Like there's so much to that

Instagram. Like there's so much to that story. The point being though that in

story. The point being though that in the industrial world like we're not consuming a sufficient amount of these types of foods. I guess they're not also drinking alcohol and vaping.

>> No.

>> Which we, you know, do a lot more in the Western world.

>> Yeah, we do.

>> What impact does that have on the gut microbiome? Because I don't typically

microbiome? Because I don't typically hear people talking about alcohol in the gut microbiome. What we know is that it

gut microbiome. What we know is that it definitely affects the gut barrier.

>> I guess total clarity wiping up my my oral microbiome as well to some degree if I'm pouring vodka.

>> And it would be the same as it would be the same as using an alcohol-based mouthwash, >> right? Which which now we don't

>> right? Which which now we don't recommend anymore.

And so yeah, so alcohol, there was a study actually that changed my mind when it comes to alcohol. So I actually don't drink hardly at all anymore. like very

rarely I'll have a glass or two with my wife if we're on a special dinner. And

in this study they they basically gave people a significant amount of alcohol and then they tracked every 30 minutes the measure of their blood alcohol level

and simultaneously the measure of what's called lipopolysaccharide.

So it's it comes from the inflammatory bacteria that live inside of our microbiome. It's not supposed to be in

microbiome. It's not supposed to be in your bloodstream.

If it's in your bloodstream, that generally indicates that your gut barrier is insufficient and weak because it's able to get across. And the problem

is that the immune system has been trained to identify that lipopolysaccharide

as the enemy and so it gets activated.

So, and this is where inflammation comes from. So, in this study, they had people

from. So, in this study, they had people have a number of drinks and they start tracking every 30 minutes. And what you saw was that as the blood alcohol level goes

up in parallel, the lipopolysaccharide goes up. When the alcohol peaks, so did

goes up. When the alcohol peaks, so did the lipopolyaccharide.

There was this weird thing that happened. I don't I can't explain why,

happened. I don't I can't explain why, but the alcohol level peaked. It started

to come down and then actually bumped back up. And when that happened, the

back up. And when that happened, the lipopolysaccharide followed the exact same pattern.

And the lipopolysaccharide did not return to normal until the alcohol level was zero.

So when I saw this from my perspective, to be clear, it wasn't a study of one drink, although we do know that one drink is sufficient to disrupt your

sleep and cause other health issues. But

when I saw this, I saw enough to say I don't think there's any amount of alcohol that's safe. To summarize what's going on there, the alcohol is coming into the body. It is impacting the gut

in some way which is making the gut go into dysfunction and that dysfunction lasts for a little while cuz I'm trying

to understand why you you looked at that and thought do you know what absolutely not I'm not going to drink as much as I was.

>> Yeah. So basically alcohol was causing leaky gut.

>> Oh leaky gut. Okay.

>> Yeah. So alcohol was causing leaky gut.

That's what that's what we saw in that study. And the fact that the amount of

study. And the fact that the amount of leaky gut was proportional to the amount of alcohol in the blood and that the leaky gut did not return to normal until

the alcohol level was zero says to me that any amount of alcohol that's detectable in the bloodstream can create this problem which is going to cause inflammation which is going to

cause inflammation. We know with total

cause inflammation. We know with total clarity that people who are heavy drinkers, their gut is totally destroyed and that that's actually a requisite

step on the pathway towards developing cerosis and alcoholic liver disease. So

there are some people who seem to get away with it where they can be a heavy drinker and they never actually get cerosis.

And it >> cerosis is >> cerosis is the so the liver sits in your right upper abdomen and its job is to

detoxify your bloodstream. And all of the blood

your bloodstream. And all of the blood that goes to your gut, the first place that it goes after your gut as it returns to the heart is your

liver. And it's actually a smart setup

liver. And it's actually a smart setup anatomically because we don't want toxic blood to get access to the heart and then circulate and ultimately get back

to the brain. So we allow the liver to protect and defend it. But the cerosis what's happening is that basically the liver which is soft and spongy like

imagine a sponge that you can put it under a faucet. The water goes in one end, wiggles its way through, comes out the other end. Okay? Instead of that,

it's just a piece of plastic, right?

It's hard. It's not letting anything through. That's what that's what happens

through. That's what that's what happens when a person develops cerosis.

>> So, and there's many causes of cerosis.

Cerosis comes from inflammation. So all

serot all cerosis health conditions ultimately are inflammatory health conditions. They're all part of the 130

conditions. They're all part of the 130 health conditions associated with inflammation. But in this particular

inflammation. But in this particular setting what we're talking about is alcohol. And what I'm saying is that to

alcohol. And what I'm saying is that to create that inflammation in the liver based upon the available data it seems that you have to disrupt the gut microbiome in order to get there. So

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chemical on the uh plate over there.

Turmeric. People talk about turmeric a lot when they're speaking about inflammation.

>> Yeah.

>> I'm not really sure what the truth is on turmeric and inflammation.

>> Yeah.

>> You have to be a little bit careful because you could easily overdo it.

>> Oh, really? So, well, so we just have to be smart with the way that we approach because the turmeric that we're really talking about is if you were to take it on a consistent daily basis, which

actually from my perspective makes a ton of sense for people that have chronic inflammatory health issues.

>> So, turmeric is helping inflammation go down somehow.

>> It turmeric is helping inflammation to go down because it blocks another one of the cytoines. So, in the same way we're

the cytoines. So, in the same way we're talking about those walkie-talkies and basically pulling the batteries out, >> turmeric helps to accomplish that.

>> So, there's a specific cytoine that that turmeric has that effect. And so, it's the you mentioned curcumin. So, curcumin

is the phytochemical found in turmeric. Turmeric is the root.

>> Okay.

>> Curcumin is the chemical, >> okay, >> that actually does the thing. And it

turns out that kurcumin is what we call a polyphenol. So polyphenols, as we sit

a polyphenol. So polyphenols, as we sit here and we look at this beautiful array of all these colors, every single one of these foods contains

polyphenols that define the color and that impact the gut. Like the onion here would have keretin and many people have heard of keretin as being beneficial for longevity. Same would be

true for the garlic. So there's

different polyphenols for different colored foods and 95% of them require our gut microbes in order to be activated.

So with turmeric, you just need to be careful with supplements because if you overdo it, if you take too much, that could create an issue, though. Here in

front of me, I have a I guess I guess this is a perfect gut day. Have you seen this?

>> Yeah.

I wanted you to explain to me step by step how to have a perfect gut day.

Nice. All right.

So, I'm going to I'm going to define for people the way that I would approach the perfect 24-hour rhythm. We have an innate circadian rhythm. Circadian

rhythm basically means that our body functions on a 24-hour clock. Why?

Because we evolved with the sun. The sun

goes up and it comes down. And that is one of the most powerful things that defines everything that exists both for us as humans and in our entire environment. Right? So everything around

environment. Right? So everything around us also evolved with the sun and is connected to it. Around 50% of our genes

are turned off or on at specific times of day based upon our circadian rhythm.

More than 50% of our microbes rise and fall during the course of our day to meet the moment. Our body thrives on consistency. So, what I want to talk

consistency. So, what I want to talk about is how do we create a consistent daily routine that can optimize our microbiome. And

I'm going to take you through all the different all the different steps. Let's

imagine that the sun comes up and it's 7 in the morning.

>> Yeah.

>> All right. and you naturally wake up and you are consistent about it, you're off to a great start. Consistency with the time that you wake up is a fantastic way to start your day. And what I want you

to do in the first 5 minutes of your day is I want you to initially just focus on um waking up and

thinking about your day and how you're going to approach it. Because starting

at 7:05, you're going to wake up your microbes.

You're going to wake up your body with hydration.

So, we're going to opt for water.

And in a perfect world, I would love to add a prebiotic fiber supplement to that water. So, like our company is called 38

water. So, like our company is called 38 Terra. You could add that there or you

Terra. You could add that there or you can add an alternative.

This is the hydration. The water turns on your gut, turns on your brain, turns on your kidneys.

>> So, not coffee straight away.

>> No. So, pause the coffee.

Start with hydration. And we're waking up your gut with the water and also with the prebiotic fiber that's going to feed those microbes in your gut. Okay. So,

that's at 7:05. And let's pretend that takes you 10 minutes. And so now it's 7:15 and we're going to basically flip the

switch to tell your body it's time to go that we're starting a new day. And this

is actually the most powerful moment. So

if there's only one thing that everyone takes away, I want it to be this because I'm giving you the two most powerful levers in terms of activating your

circadian rhythm. Number one, sunlight

circadian rhythm. Number one, sunlight or at a minimum bright light exposure.

So what happens is that light passes through our our eye and hits the retina in the back of the eye, enters into the body detects this and it

enters into the optic nerve. And right

at the very first spot where you could collect information from both your left eye and your right eye sits this part of your brain called the supra kaismatic

nucleus, the SCN.

And the SCN is the orchestrator. That is

the master clock of your circadian rhythm. So like I would think about it

rhythm. So like I would think about it like school. So when we were kids and we

like school. So when we were kids and we went to school, we might have all been wearing a watch. And that watch gives us a general idea of where we are in our day. All your organs, all your tissues,

day. All your organs, all your tissues, more than half your microbes, they have their watch. They have a feel for where

their watch. They have a feel for where they are in the day. But it's the alarm that goes off between classes that ultimately is what matters the most.

That's the central clock.

>> That's your SCEN. Your SCEN is basically managing all of that. And there's an entire cascade of things that follows from when you tell the SCEN today

started.

So that light exposure is what basically activates the SCN to release cortisol through a through a series of events. It

releases cortisol. All right. Cortisol

is the morning hormone.

It is it it allows us to get activated.

It makes protein and and uh energy available to our cells. It makes us focused. It actually suppresses our

focused. It actually suppresses our immune system.

In that moment, you want more cortisol.

And by getting morning light exposure, you can bump it by 50%.

>> So, we're off to a good start. The

second lever that we can pull with our outdoor time is exercise.

You don't need to do like a full scale workout. I'm not talking about the most

workout. I'm not talking about the most vigorous exercise of your day. I'm

talking about light exercise.

But if you just move your body, right, which during the summertime, what you would do is like you might go outside and you might have a ruck fest and you take a walk, right? When the

weather is good. And when it's January and the weather isn't so hot, you might actually have a light box. The light box allows you to stay inside.

You just got to make sure it's 10,000 lux is what you're looking for. So the

light box is the substitute for the sun.

And then you could do any form of exercise. You could do squats, you could

exercise. You could do squats, you could do lunges, push-ups, whatever it may be.

You could do jumping jacks, >> do yoga.

>> Right? So during this period of time, if you get light exposure and you exercise, the exercise can add another 25 to 50%.

This is a compounding effect that's going to give you the ultimate morning cortisol peak. And this is essential to

cortisol peak. And this is essential to propel your day because by getting this, you will be more focused. You will be able to do more from a cognitive perspective like your endurance will be

enhanced.

Um, you also will uh sleep better tonight and you will you will notice this on day one. I promise you. So, all

right. So, and you're going to do that for about 20 minutes. So, from 7:15 until 7:35, you're going to be doing your light and exercise. Okay? Ideally,

outdoor light whenever possible. If you

wear glasses, by the way, take off your glasses. You don't have to look directly

glasses. You don't have to look directly at the sun. At 7:35,

we're going to basically come back in and this is a time for us to now have our coffee and also quiet time.

So, like to me, we don't have enough time in our day. The day is so fast-paced, right? We need to be intentional about

right? We need to be intentional about creating opportunities to like activate our parasympathetic nervous system >> which is >> so there's two sides to our autonomic

nervous system. Autonomic is just like

nervous system. Autonomic is just like you have like you you can't totally control it. It's just going

control it. It's just going one side is sympathetic. Sympathetic is

the part that gets you going fast. Like

this is your accelerator. All right? And

the other side is your parasympathetic which is your break. It's your rest and recovery.

So, now that you've done your outdoor time and your exercise, you come in and we want to give you 10 minutes of just like quiet, low-key, sympathetic time.

So, that could be meditation, breath work, could be reading your Bible, could be journaling, right?

Whatever it is that works for you. So,

you do that with your coffee for 10 minutes and that brings us to 7:45.

And now you have breakfast. All right.

So, and breakfast um is the perfect opportunity to take your supplements.

>> Okay. So, what breakfast? What

supplements?

>> Okay. So, your breakfast and >> what is my breakfast strategy? Am I

going for a lot of food? Do I need to have breakfast? Why do I need to have

have breakfast? Why do I need to have breakfast?

>> You should have breakfast. You should

definitely have breakfast. Yeah. So, um

your metabolism changes during the course of the day.

your strongest metabolism is first thing in the morning.

And so what that means is that you could literally eat the exact same food at 7:45 or at 3:00 in the afternoon. And when

you eat it at 7:45, you will get better blood sugar control. You will get better blood fat control. So those are those are manifestations of our metabolism.

And when they're under control, that's actually really good for our body.

So whenever possible, we want to shift our food towards earlier in the day.

>> And what kind of foods?

>> I would argue that we go high fiber and moderate protein.

>> Low sugar.

>> No sugar. Yeah. Low low sugar, right?

>> Low or no sugar.

>> Refined carbohydrates should get left out as much as possible.

>> What's a refined carbohydrate? Give me

>> flour or sugar.

>> Okay. So no

>> no baked goods, >> no eggs benedict. Uh, so the exception from my perspective would be if you're going if you want to have avocado toast than a sourdough.

>> Awesome.

Prefer not. They're delicious.

>> But no, I prefer not because ultimately what we want is we want we want high fiber and moderate protein. And by doing that combination, it's maximum

satiation. So you're going to feel full.

satiation. So you're going to feel full.

You're giving your body what it needs from a protein perspective. and you're

simultaneously giving your gut what it needs from a fiber perspective.

>> Oats.

>> So, I mean, you could do oats do for the reasons that we were discussing glyphosate earlier, the oats should be organic.

And if you were to do them, do them as minimally processed. So, like I don't

minimally processed. So, like I don't really love instant oats. What about for kids? If I'm, you know, giving my kids a

kids? If I'm, you know, giving my kids a breakfast, should I be thinking about anything in particular? cuz you know a lot of a lot of parents um I've talked about this quite a few times before but when I was younger I'd get a lot of

orange juice and I didn't realize that orange juice was just like sugar water.

>> Yeah.

>> Is there anything that parents should be thinking about when they're giving kids their breakfasts?

>> Of course. Um and I think that the most important thing is that you need to model for your kids what a healthy breakfast looks like >> by having it yourself.

>> By eating it yourself >> because if you don't do that then they're you can't expect them to. So,

um, healthy breakfast. My kids, I have four kids, so my kids love avocado toast. They love avocado toast. Um, you

toast. They love avocado toast. Um, you

could absolutely do yogurt with berries, right? You could do berries and nuts.

right? You could do berries and nuts.

There's a lot of different choices in that regard. So, overnight oats, chia

that regard. So, overnight oats, chia pudding, these are different choices that you could do for sure. On this

point of kids, before we carry on with our perfect morning and day routine, are there decisions that you make as a parent to give your kids certain things

that will have a lasting impact on their immune and gut function?

>> 100%.

Yes. And the I think it opens up a discussion about where the connection between our gut and immune system starts. It starts before birth.

starts. It starts before birth.

The first three years are critical.

So, let me unpack that just a little bit, Steve. They have studies where they look

Steve. They have studies where they look at mom's microbiome during pregnancy.

All right? So, like mom poops, they analyze her poop and they're able to basically identify patterns that are associated with the kid

developing allergic diseases later on.

>> Oh, okay. They also have studies where moms who increase their fiber intake during pregnancy reduce the likelihood of their kids developing allergic diseases later on as

well.

>> What about kids taking antibiotics? Does

that have a when you're forming your gut microbiome at a young age? Does that

have a consequential impact?

>> 100%. Antibiotics,

uh, bottle feeding and birth by cescareian section. And by the way, all

cescareian section. And by the way, all of my kids were born by C-section. It's

not what we wanted, but it's what happened. But those three things are

happened. But those three things are associated with an impact on the microbiome and the immune system. And if

you look downstream over the course of the first 5 years, increased risk of allergic diseases, increased risk of autoimmune diseases, increased risk of metabolic diseases

>> because in a C-section, it the baby didn't pass through >> the birth canal.

>> The birth canal and the birth canal would have given the baby some of the mother's microbiome.

>> Yes. So,

>> and then breastfeeding does the same. It

gives the baby microbiome.

>> Breastfeeding gives them access to mom's skin microbiome.

>> Okay.

>> But also breast milk contains these things called HMOs, human milk oligosaccharides. It's quite fascinating

oligosaccharides. It's quite fascinating to consider this.

We evolved where mom's breast milk contains these things, human milkosaccharides. There's over 200

milkosaccharides. There's over 200 varieties. They have no nutritional

varieties. They have no nutritional value to the child directly. So why do we why do we have them? Because they're

prebiotic. So these human milk oligosaccharides in breast milk were basically designed to feed the developing baby microbiome.

>> So and this is part of why we get into some challenges where when you replace it with with the bottle the formula you might put fiber in there but it's like a

mono fiber. It's not the same as the 200

mono fiber. It's not the same as the 200 plus varieties of human milkosaccharides.

So there was a study that was done out of Finland where they looked at roughly,00 kids and they tracked them for 5 years

and during this time 5 years they got a microbiome specimen poop specimen from the kid at 3 months and 12 months of age

and they looked at okay so some of these kids develop allergic diseases so eczema, food allergies asthma,

um, rhinitis, allergic rhinitis.

All right, those are the classic allergic diseases.

And what they found is, okay, there were certain factors that predicted who was going to develop allergic diseases by the age of five. Number one, exposure to

antibiotics in the first year of life.

Number two, being bottlefed.

All right. Then they looked at the microbiome at 12 months. So, and just to be clear, these kids, they they had not

developed the allergic disease yet.

That comes later, but they looked at the microbiome at 12 months and they could tell who was going to develop the allergic diseases later on because there

was a specific pattern.

What was missing were the bacteria that produce short- chain fatty acids.

>> And the short- chain fatty acids are that chemical we talked about earlier on that >> that you get from fiber >> which produces those three things. Yes.

>> But butyrate >> butyrate, acetate and propriionate.

>> And and in in fact when they checked the poop for butyrate levels, the butyrate levels were low.

So in essence what they discovered in this study that was quite fascinating is that you can look at the microbiome and predict who will later on go on to develop these confu the confused immune

system with these allergic diseases.

>> So going back to our daily routine.

>> Yep.

>> Where are we to?

>> Yes. Yes, we're at 7:45 and you So, you want your high fiber, moderate protein, as little sugar as possible, breakfast, and this is the perfect time to take

your morning supplements because the morning supplements, the ones that I recommend that are evidence-based are vitamin D, omega-3s, and turmeric.

>> That's for inflammation.

>> So, these are for inflammation.

>> Okay.

>> Yeah. So, now I also believe that we should test whenever possible. There's a

test for vitamin D. There's a test for omega-3s. If you have enough, you don't

omega-3s. If you have enough, you don't need to take the supplement. But if

you're deficient, that's where supplements play an important role. So,

I believe that that supplements should be taken consistently in a circadian fashion.

So, that means that we take our morning supplements at the same time every day.

>> Why?

Because basically everything about our microbes and our body and the way that it works thrives on consistency. So

supplements would be the same.

>> And when we do this, so it's been 7:45.

We've had our breakfast. We've taken our morning supplement stack and now it's been an hour since we woke up and it's time for a fantastic bowel

movement. And that is the manifestation

movement. And that is the manifestation of all the work that you've done.

Because when you get your morning light exposure, that helps to contribute to that bowel movement. When you exercise, that contributes to that bowel movement.

When you drink your coffee, that contributes to that bowel movement. All

these different things ultimately lead to this to this place where you're having that good healthy bowel movement.

And that's indicative of a gut that's in rhythm and doing well. So that's your morning. Now you're

well. So that's your morning. Now you're

going to go to work. And I want to circle back to roughly the lunchtime hour. So you it gets to be lunchtime

hour. So you it gets to be lunchtime and it's 12:00 noon and basically I would advocate for people to have lunch with another person like the way

that you and I are sitting here at this table right now. So because we don't do that enough like way too much we're on our phone like this and eating at the same time that we're flipping and scrolling.

>> How is that good for my gut and inflammation though? So feeling socially

inflammation though? So feeling socially bonded to another person 50% this is by the way statistics that come from before the pandemic right so

the pandemic made this worse 50% of people in America were lonely before the pandemic even started

loneliness is the equ loneliness will destroy your longevity faster than just about anything loneliness is has been shown to be on par with smoking

cigarettes on a routine basis in terms of the impact that it has on your health and your longevity.

>> And you're quite clear there that you define loneliness as the feeling of disconnection versus being alone, >> right? Yes.

>> right? Yes.

>> Okay.

>> So, but being alone there, you have to think about where we came from.

So we um are tribal by our nature. Like you

have to understand that for millions of years, humans lived the specific lifestyle of being hunter's gatherers in our tribe.

There was no money.

The currency of wealth was your bonds to other people. That's what allowed you to

other people. That's what allowed you to survive and thrive.

Your family was like basically the the measure of wealth. The bigger the family, the more wealthy you were because you would work together to support one another and take care of each other. But then the broader tribe,

each other. But then the broader tribe, which is not 300 people, let alone hundreds of thousands on social media.

The broader tribe, which was this like family of families, we were in it together. If you and I were in the same

together. If you and I were in the same tribe, if someone attacked us, I know that you would step up to defend me and I would do the same for you. So this is causing some kind of cortisol issue,

stress issue that's then impacting the gut microbiome and causing inflammation.

>> If we want to torture a person, like literally the easiest way to do it is to put them in solitary isolation.

That's literally torture. We're so

social that we need that. And it's the cortisol response that that's going to cause that. That's that then causes

cause that. That's that then causes inflammation.

>> That is correct. So ultimately that is a manifestation of the brain gut connection.

>> Okay. We have a we have an innate need of human bonding and when that innate need is not met then it's actually quite stressful for us because we feel vulnerable and unsafe.

>> Mhm. We sleep worse as well. I was

reading about some stuff around um when people feel lonely they go into self-preservation which is kind of like I guess the the analogy would be if you drifted off from your tribe.

>> Yeah.

>> You would have to be a bit more alert.

You'd have to be on edge. You'd have to be wait you know you couldn't sleep for 8 hours in peace because you you're in danger now. Yeah,

danger now. Yeah, >> you don't have that sort of insulating factor of a group of people.

>> It's it's so interesting to think about like there's a condition called Stockholm syndrome and Stockholm syndrome is what happens if you take a person hostage and in that scenario

you're the person who's taken hostage.

You have a choice. You can reject the person who's taken you or you can actually find the good in them and bond with them. Mhm.

with them. Mhm.

>> And it's actually a survival mechanism that within that context of being taken hostage, people have a tendency to bond with their captor and have sympathy for them.

>> And that's and we think that's a defense mechanism because we're so social. We

need that as opposed to like being alone and being held captive.

>> Okay. So, so we socialize at lunch. We

have dinner with other people.

>> Yes. So, I want people to socialize at lunch to address this epidemic of loneliness that I think is highly problematic and not and not to be underrated because again, that's like smoking a pack of cigarettes. So, let's

imagine that we have a nice lunch time.

We're not talking about 10 minutes.

We're talking about 45 minutes that includes conversation, right? And we get to the end. And now, what I would encourage people to do before you go back to work is to get outside and take

a walk. So, there's two advantages to

a walk. So, there's two advantages to this. We talked earlier about the

this. We talked earlier about the benefits of sunlight in the morning and also the benefits of exercise in the morning. We're circling back to that.

morning. We're circling back to that.

But things are a little bit different this time. By getting outside, you're

this time. By getting outside, you're getting different rays of sun. So the

actually the types of rays that we get from the sun are slightly different and they're more likely to boost our serotonin later in the day. And that serotonin is

what lifts our mood, gives us focus, helps us to get to to get things done.

So this reinforces our circadian rhythm when we take a walk and we get outside a second time.

Also, the exercise, a 10-minute walk, just 10 minutes of simple walking is enough to get 30 to 40% improvement in your blood sugar control.

Because when you activate the big muscles in your leg, it helps to draw the blood sugar out of your bloodstream.

So like it's uh the messaging there is if you just ate too much and you don't feel well, force yourself to take a walk.

>> Mhm.

>> As opposed to laying on the couch.

>> Mhm.

>> All right. So um and the outdoor walk also activates our gut and helps our gut to get into rhythm and that reduces bloating after a meal. Okay. So, and

then you do that for 15 minutes. It's

one o'clock. You're back to work. I

encourage people to have a matcha green tea. Um, I'm a big matcha believer. This

tea. Um, I'm a big matcha believer. This

is the of all the teas that exist. It

has the highest polyphenol content and it's phenomenal for the microbiome.

So, and it gives you a nice boost to your afternoon.

Okay, let's accelerate to 4:00.

I saw you um I think was it in your book that I read this? Yeah. In your book it talks about how the gap between sort of 3 and 6 is the optimal time to exercise.

That's right. Yeah. So 3 and 6 p.m. The

reason for that has to do with our core body temperature. So our temperature

body temperature. So our temperature cools off at night. Our body temperature lowers at night and then during the day it starts to rise in the morning.

Exercise by the way in the morning helps to accelerate that. But our peak is 3 to 6 pm.

>> I felt attacked on page 159 of your book where you said, "My one request is that you do not have heavy exercise late in the evening as this activates the par sorry, the sympathetic nervous system and can negatively affect your ability

to quickly fall asleep."

>> Yeah. What What time are you working out?

>> I mean, last night it was like bloody god 11 till midnight.

>> Oh no.

>> That's like quite typical though because I don't know. I just It's when I get my time.

>> How's your sleep >> last night? feel great. But I mean like a series of issues took place.

>> Two hours. So, okay, fair enough.

>> Yeah, like a series of like my other issues.

>> The time I ate was bad and >> the time I went to the gym was bad and so was was a mess.

>> Yeah. Well, ideally 2 hours before bedtime.

>> Okay.

>> At least two hours before bedtime. So,

and like especially when it's vigorous exercise. If it's light exercise, it's

exercise. If it's light exercise, it's not a big deal.

>> But vigorous exercise is a different story.

>> Okay.

>> So, yeah. So, three three to six. This

is more from like an exercise performance perspective. Like that's the

performance perspective. Like that's the best time if you want to lift heavy weight, >> okay?

>> 3 to 6 p.m. So, let's imagine that we go and we get we smash a workout at 4:00, right? And so, I'm going to give us an

right? And so, I'm going to give us an hour to smash that wonderful workout and then now is 5:00 and it's the perfect time for dinner. I want to point something out real quick. I we had

breakfast around 8 and we had lunch around noon and we had dinner around 5.

We've spaced things out by about four hours. And that's actually the perfect

hours. And that's actually the perfect time from from the perspective of your digestive rhythm.

So there's this thing this this concept within the the gut that many people haven't heard of called the migrating motor complex where between meals your

gut has this entire thing that it does and it basically is like sweeping through and reorganizing itself.

But it gets disrupted if you eat.

>> Okay?

>> So it's ideal to give a 4hour space between these meals and that if you do that you will actually notice a difference in terms of how you feel with your digestion.

So because you've allowed your gut to fall into a rhythm.

All right. So we have our dinner. It's

5:00. We're moving into the evening and now it's going to be 7:00 at night.

And let's imagine, I know this time of year the sun is going down much earlier than this in most places. Um, but

imagine that it's 7 o'clock. Look, when

the sun goes down, you want to start to dim the lights in your house. You want to start to reduce

your house. You want to start to reduce your personal light exposure because light exposure, just casual lights within your home can cut your

melatonin down by 30%.

Melatonin is the sleepy time hormone.

So in the morning it's cortisol and in the evening it's melatonin.

And it's interesting because what we did in the morning with both exercise and with light exposure, it was designed not only to enhance that that

cortisol peak, but it also increases our serotonin.

Serotonin, the happy hormone that keeps us focused. Well, serotonin is actually

us focused. Well, serotonin is actually the precursor to melatonin.

So, when you make the investment of morning light, morning exercise, you're setting yourself up for excellent sleep in 14 hours.

So, and we want to protect that.

Melatonin is going to start to rise when it gets dark outside. And so, we want to dim the lights within our home. And we

want to really be cautious as we move towards 8:00. If our bedtime is going to

towards 8:00. If our bedtime is going to be 10:00, forgive me if that's too early for some people, but I think it's like nice to have a consistent bedtime. If our

bedtime is 10, then by 8:00, like we want to be sort of dialing back on our devices or wearing blue light blocking glasses.

The blue light blocking glasses can help to protect us. And then roughly 8:30, take your evening supplements. So, we

had our morning supplements, which were vitamin D, omega-3s, and turmeric. Now,

we want to take our evening supplements, which are zinc, and magnesium.

And if you take melatonin, that would be the time to do it. Or if you take a different sleepy time supplement, that would be the time to do it. Roughly 8:30

to 9, somewhere in that range. So,

because it's going to take about 60 to 90 minutes to really kick in around nine o'clock, we want to activate our evening ritual.

And so, in the morning, we had our quiet time. We should have a quiet time in the

time. We should have a quiet time in the evening too to intentionally activate our parasympathetic nervous system and get like relaxed before bedtime

so that at 9:30 we uh basically are preparing for bedtime and that might mean a hot shower like actually like heat at night hot

shower sauna is perfect because actually it cools off your inner core temperature believe it or not. So, and that's exactly what we want. We want a cool

room. We want a dark room and that will

room. We want a dark room and that will help us to sleep better because then at 10:00 we want to go to bed and 10:00 like it could be whatever time. But I

would argue that we should be consistent. It could be 10:30, it could

consistent. It could be 10:30, it could be 11. Whatever time you choose, adapt

be 11. Whatever time you choose, adapt to it. But the point from my perspective

to it. But the point from my perspective is not so much 10 is the magic number.

It's more so that 10 is the magic number if you always do 10. 10:30 is the magic number if you always do 10:30.

Consistency is key.

>> And you would recommend three three meals a day.

>> I think that you could do three meals. I

think that like the the way that we structured this is that if you were done eating at 6:00 at night and then you're having breakfast around 8, you have a 14-hour fast.

>> Do you think that fasting window matters?

>> That specific number 14 or >> Yeah, just like generally generally having sort of a big intermittent fasting window where you you haven't eaten for 16 hours, whatever it might be.

>> I think that there's so I think that there there's two parts to the value that we get from timerestricted eating.

So the first is we give our gut a time to rest.

>> So when you when you particularly eating late at night, like I honestly the timing of it all could be debated. The

one spot where it's a total non-negotiable from my perspective is late night eating. So I mean no offense, like sometimes we're busy, right?

>> But when you eat late at night, it hits you different metabolically >> and then it carries and it lingers into the next day >> and it will affect your sleep. Yeah.

>> So, we really as much as possible want to opt for early dinner time and then shut it down for the evening as much as possible.

>> People will be saying, "Yes, but I'm hungry."

hungry." >> And I think part of the reason that they're hungry from what you've explained is probably because they didn't have breakfast.

>> Yeah.

>> They like started eating later. That's

what typically what I find is if I have breakfast, I I'm typically not hungry late at night.

>> Yeah. Yeah. I think that I think that breakfast helps to sort of set the tone for the rest of the day in a in a specific way. So the two the two

specific way. So the two the two advantages of timerestricted eating are that you get that you get that gut rest which anything over 12 hours is good for the gut and then the second part is I

think it just the underrated thing that no one talks about is it helps us to get more consistent with our meal times. So

this entire conversation about circadian rhythm can be summarized in one word consistency.

If you ate at the same time every single day, you would feel the difference in terms of your digestion. I promise you.

And so the advantage of timerestricted eating is it brings attention to what time am I eating dinner? What time am I eating breakfast? And then you end up

eating breakfast? And then you end up being a lot more consistent about it as opposed to just flying by the seat of your pants.

>> Do you fast ever? Do you try and >> like long fast?

>> Long fast or just sort of more timerestricted eating self?

>> I do. I do time restricted eating all the time. In fact, I most days like I uh

the time. In fact, I most days like I uh first of all um I'm imperfect.

>> And so what that means is I don't perfectly follow all the advice I give.

So like I don't eat breakfast most days.

>> Yeah.

>> Cuz I'm going hard. So like I wake up, I do my morning routine, I get I get to the coffee stage and then I jump into work.

>> Same.

>> So but on today >> today I did. Yeah. Yeah. Today I had my breakfast because I wanted to be okay >> on my game. But on the weekend I I have my breakfast. I noticed the difference

my breakfast. I noticed the difference actually. like I'm I'm less hungry

actually. like I'm I'm less hungry during the day when I have that breakfast that sort of just keeps it balanced.

Um so yeah, I sometimes I do one meal a day. Last month I told you about a

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flightex team. Flightex team is our innovation team internally here. I tked

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If there's anything we need, it is connection, especially in the world we're living in today. And that is exactly why we created these conversation cards. Because on this

conversation cards. Because on this show, when I sit here with my guests and have those deep, intimate conversations, this remarkable thing happens time and time again. We feel deeply connected to

time again. We feel deeply connected to each other. At the end of every episode,

each other. At the end of every episode, the guest I'm interviewing leaves a question for the next guest. And we've

turned them into these conversation cards. And we've added these twist cards

cards. And we've added these twist cards to make your conversations even more interesting. And there are so many more

interesting. And there are so many more twists along the way with the conversation cards. This is the brand

conversation cards. This is the brand new edition. And for the first time

new edition. And for the first time ever, I've added to the pack this gold card, which is an exclusive question from me. But I'm only putting the gold

from me. But I'm only putting the gold cards in the first run of conversation cards. So get yours now before the

cards. So get yours now before the limited edition gold cards are all gone.

Head to the link in the description below. One of the things you we touched

below. One of the things you we touched on briefly at the beginning was this concept that trauma is linked to gut function.

>> Powerfully.

>> In what way? We we were talking a moment ago about the autonomic nervous system which is sympathetic versus parasympathetic.

We live our lives on sympathetic overdrive which basically is the equivalent of constantly feeling threatened, right? Heart rate heart rate

threatened, right? Heart rate heart rate pumping, blood pressure up, more focused, but then you suffer the consequences within your gut. The gut gets sacrificed

when we are activating our sympathetic nervous system.

We don't do enough to do the opposite which is the parasympathetic nervous system which is what happens with when we slow down

conversations holding hands hugs uh prayer journaling meditation sauna that's parasympathetic.

Okay. So to the trauma question, it's been shown that and this is something that I had to learn not only

myself but I had to see that I always thought that kids if they were young enough they wouldn't remember. And what I've realized is

remember. And what I've realized is actually this idea of like the body keeps the score is so well said. It's so

true.

>> The body does keep the score. You can

have trauma that occurs before the age of two. There's no way you remember

of two. There's no way you remember that. And yet it will manifest later on

that. And yet it will manifest later on in adults. And this has been shown

in adults. And this has been shown actually in kids that are um adopted and like have an unstable first two years of

life. They are more likely to suffer

life. They are more likely to suffer with health related issues later on.

this this issue of trauma what happens is that it restructures the brain and how your brain functions >> and it keeps you sort of trapped in that fight or flight state

>> keeps you trapped. Yeah. So, there's a part of our brain called the amygdala.

>> And the amygdala is what gets activated if you like uh go to a haunted house, you know, like if you get scared of something, >> right? Or like uh it's the middle of the

>> right? Or like uh it's the middle of the night and you hear something creepy in the bushes and you're not sure what's going on. Okay, so that's the activation

going on. Okay, so that's the activation of your amydala. Well, the the issue for people that suffer from trauma is that they live with the amygdala perpetually turned on. So, if something's happened

turned on. So, if something's happened to me in my life that's caused some form of trauma, there's an increased probability that I'm going to be in a more sympathetic state in terms of my nervous system, which is going to

activate a hormone, which is then going to disrupt my gut motility and all the other things we talked about, um,

like the gut barrier and other dysfunction across the gut.

What is the link there? Is it is it the hormone that's produced when I'm in that stress state that is impacting my immune system which is then having the impact on my gut?

>> Yes. So this is all a manifestation of the brain of the brain gut connection.

So the what's happening is that your brain has the ability to release a hormone corticotropen releasing hormone

>> CR and CR is this that's effectively your sympathetic nervous system getting activated turned on.

>> Mhm.

>> In a person who's had trauma and to be clear like not everything that's bad is trauma, right? It's possible to have

trauma, right? It's possible to have things that are bad that are not actual trauma. Trauma is the thing that sticks

trauma. Trauma is the thing that sticks with you. It's it's when you have

with you. It's it's when you have something occur that overwhelms your ability to cope with it.

>> And so and then it has this lasting effect. I was thinking as you're

effect. I was thinking as you're speaking about some of my friends that have had some bad diagnosis recently.

Got a friend that got diagnosed with something very very serious. And what I then noticed is after that diagnosis, they had lots of other health related issues that seem to be unconnected.

>> Mhm. But the doctors associated with stress.

>> Yeah.

>> And maybe the traumatic news of that one thing has caused this cascade of other issues downstream.

>> Yeah. 100%. And and that's all a manifestation of the of the brain gut axis. So the brain gut axis is how we

axis. So the brain gut axis is how we think about the brain being connected to our gut and how they're in communication with one another. And within that context, the brain releases this hormone, the CR, corticotropen releasing

hormone that has an effect throughout the entire body. It puts them on edge.

Mhm.

>> And the consequence is that that CR that's like um so this is a bit nuanced but let me clarify something about cortisol.

Cortisol is the morning hormone.

When you get that spike in the morning it's perfect. It's exactly what your

it's perfect. It's exactly what your body needs. What you don't need is you

body needs. What you don't need is you don't need cortisol to still be elevated at 10 o'clock, 11 o'clock, midnight, 1 in the morning. Cortisol is the get up

and go hormone. Right now it's disrupting your sleep. Now it's actually the adversary of your of your circadian rhythm. And that's what's happening in

rhythm. And that's what's happening in these people is that through that the brain gut access they're activating the cortisol. And the cortisol then disrupts

cortisol. And the cortisol then disrupts their gut barrier and leads to inflammation.

>> Where does healing from that trauma start in your view? If a patient were to come to you >> Yeah.

>> and they were they had loads of complications with their gut. Yeah. But

you were able to identify that trauma was playing a role. Where would you start with with their healing journey?

>> The most important thing is to is to and I think this is the the moment that will be most impactful for some of the listeners, not all but some. The most

important thing is to understand that the trauma is the root of the issue because most people the way that we react to trauma it's the part that we don't want to talk about,

>> right? So we push it into the corner and

>> right? So we push it into the corner and we pretend that it's not there. We're

not like we know it's there but we're not going to even look at it. And so the solution is to accept and acknowledge that the trauma is the root of the problem because then you need to

actually turn towards it. And that's

under professional that's with professional help.

>> So there's different things that you can do different approaches including cognitive behavioral therapy. They're

all administered by trained health professionals. That's not what I do. But

professionals. That's not what I do. But

step one is the acknowledgement and understanding that's the problem.

>> You remember last time we made lots of uh different shapes of poop.

I think we were using what's the the Bristol stool? There we go.

Bristol stool? There we go.

>> Yeah, >> we have this Bristol stool thing here which is the different types of poop that people produce. Um and on this table I think we have a variety of different styles.

Just to remind me once again, if I was guessing, I would assume that maybe this one is healthy or this one.

>> Yeah.

>> Which one is healthy?

>> The chocolate bar is your is your So, this sweet chocolate bar right here is your glorious Bristol 4.

>> What's a Bristol?

>> Right. A Bristol four. So, the Bristol stool scale is seven unique types of poop.

And you can tell by looking in the toilet bowl. We have been told, "Don't

toilet bowl. We have been told, "Don't look. There's nothing to see there." But

look. There's nothing to see there." But

what I'm saying is, and we discussed this, that 60% of the weight of your stool is your microbiome. That's the

microbiome story right there in the toilet bowl. And so the Bristol 4 is the

toilet bowl. And so the Bristol 4 is the normal bowel movement. And it should be it's it shouldn't be a rectangle, but um

it's soft but formed like a sausage. And

the word Bristol is coming from this thing called the Bristol stool chart.

>> Yeah. So the Bristol stool chart actually comes from Bristol in the UK, right? The city of Bristol. Um where

right? The city of Bristol. Um where

they did a study in the early '9s and what came of that study was the discovery of these seven unique stool types. So and four is normal and three

types. So and four is normal and three many people would consider normal. Three

is just sort of lumpy bumpy like this.

Um but and many people would consider that to be normal. But type one and two are constipation

and uh types six and six and seven are diarrhea. Now what's interesting is that

diarrhea. Now what's interesting is that the Bristol study was one location in the UK 2,000 people. Actually at Zoey we

did a a nationwide survey in the UK and we had 140,000 people tell us about their poop. So, we actually have we're

their poop. So, we actually have we're working on publishing the papers that came from this, but we have the largest survey on bowel habits that's ever been done in the world.

>> And how many people's people is healthy?

>> Well, based upon this, actually, it was interesting because the results were about what you expect. There's a

disproportionate number of people that are struggling with bowel rellated issues. So, it's probably about 40% of

issues. So, it's probably about 40% of people that are struggling with bowel rellated issues. Of all the different

rellated issues. Of all the different types of poop one could have, is there any that I should be most concerned about?

>> If you have these like little pellets, >> rabbit pellets, that's severe constipation.

>> And is that a lack of something? A lack

of fiber.

>> It can be a lack of fiber for sure.

Okay.

>> But sometimes it's a stool softening issue, too. So like for people that have

issue, too. So like for people that have severe constipation, fiber is more nuanced than than people are willing to discuss on social media.

Everyone makes it sound like the simple solution is just increase your fiber.

It's not necessarily that simple. So

sometimes you have to add magnesium.

Magnesium supplements are great with fiber.

>> What do they do?

>> So they help to draw water into the intestine >> and that water softens up the stool. So

if you have the fiber for the form and you have the magnesium to make it soft, this is how you get a soft formed bowel movement. We talked a moment ago about

movement. We talked a moment ago about taking a nighttime magnesium supplement.

Okay. If your goal is to sleep or to relax, magnesium glycinate is a phenomenal choice. But if you're

phenomenal choice. But if you're constipated, that's not going to do anything. So, don't don't do that. Uh,

anything. So, don't don't do that. Uh,

for constipation, magnesium oxide is the one that I would typically go with, but there's also magnesium sulfate, magnesium citrate. Those are the

magnesium citrate. Those are the choices.

>> Okay.

>> Yeah. And if you get to a Bristol 7, which is just >> like diarrhea or something, >> that's just Yeah. It's just liquid. um

you're not in a good place. And so

obviously that needs to be addressed as well. And be aware of what we talked

well. And be aware of what we talked about earlier, which is that there are some people who suffer from chronic constipation and then they start having diarrhea and actually that's overflow.

>> Dr. Will, what's the most important thing we haven't talked about as it relates to all that is in your new book um that you think we should have talked about? I mean, we've probably covered a

about? I mean, we've probably covered a tiny tiny tiny fraction of all the things in there, but it gives people a flavor. Is there one other thing that

flavor. Is there one other thing that you think is the most important thing that we haven't talked about?

>> Here's what I really feel compelled to say to be totally honest with you.

You're holding the book. The book is called Plantpowered Plus. I don't want people to be intimidated by the title of my book. Let me explain this. I believe

my book. Let me explain this. I believe

that there are many paths to healing.

There are many different dietary patterns. The one that's going to work

patterns. The one that's going to work the best for you is the one that you're actually willing to do. Right? So, this

book is not about a one-sizefits-all approach, nor is it 100% plants. That's

not what the book is about. So, instead,

the conversation and what we haven't discussed is what's missing in our diet that we really need. And we've kind of started to touch on this. I've

identified four things. And these four things you find in all of the healthy dietary patterns. So whether it's

dietary patterns. So whether it's Mediterranean pescatarian flexitarian if you do it right, you're going to have these four things. Number one, fiber.

Number two, polyphenols.

Number three, healthy fat.

>> So healthy fat is the extra virgin olive oil. Healthy fat is this avocado right

oil. Healthy fat is this avocado right here. Healthy fat are these seeds and

here. Healthy fat are these seeds and nuts right here. Okay? They all have healthy fat. and and in whole form, you

healthy fat. and and in whole form, you should consume these whole form foods without restriction. If you are obese

without restriction. If you are obese and you're trying to lose weight, the problem with any oil, not just not just seed oils, also including extravirgin

olive oil, is that this is the highest calorie thing that exists on the entire planet. You cannot create something with

planet. You cannot create something with a higher calorie content than oil.

So, it's not to your advantage to really focus on oil. If anything, you should be limiting your oil intake. But these

healthy fats, the monounsaturated fats that you get from nuts, from avocado, if we had fish like a salmon or shellfish, the omega-3s that you get from those things, there's tremendous benefit to

those healthy fats.

>> That was the third one.

>> And then the fourth is fermented food.

>> Okay, which >> so which we don't actually see. We kind

of see here we got the pickles. All

right, we got some pickles here. Um, but

the thing about fermented food is most of us are not eating fermented food. So,

the average intake of fermented food in the United States is zero. And if any, maybe once in a while, yogurt. That's

it. We have tons of choices that are available to us. And the key that people need to know is a Stanford study done by some of my friends Christopher Gardner

and um Justin and Erica Sonnenberg.

And what they showed is that in just eight weeks by adding fermented food to their diet, people could increase the diversity of their gut microbiome.

That means a healthier gut. And they

lowered inflammation. So as the gut gets healthier, inflammation goes down. And

they did that just by adding fermented food. So Steve, the these four things,

food. So Steve, the these four things, fiber, 95% of Americans are deficient.

Polyphenols, almost no one is getting the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables. Healthy fats, we're not

vegetables. Healthy fats, we're not opting for the types of fats that we're talking about right now. I want people to get more omega-3s and more monounsaturated fat. And finally,

monounsaturated fat. And finally, fermented food. No one's really

fermented food. No one's really consuming. If you think about your diet,

consuming. If you think about your diet, this shouldn't be an exercise in more of the thing that you already have. this

should be an exercise of what is the thing that's missing that we could add that could transform our health because that's the real opportunity. So that's

what the nutrition program is about.

>> When I look at these uh this photo of you before and after I think this one's probably sort of during med medical school was it or just after medical school?

>> No. So I was actually that's in my early 30s on the left.

>> Yeah.

>> And then this photo here which I'll put up on the screen is you at what age?

>> Yeah. About 40.

>> Okay. Well, 10 years has passed and you look 10 years younger.

>> Yeah.

>> And you look pretty ripped.

>> Yeah.

>> What changed in your life between these two photos? What what was different in

two photos? What what was different in one's mind? Knowledge, mentality,

one's mind? Knowledge, mentality, psychology. What was different?

psychology. What was different?

So the the easy answer is I changed my diet. I changed my lifestyle. I grew up

diet. I changed my lifestyle. I grew up eating junk food. I grew up eating fast food. We celebrated that sort of diet

food. We celebrated that sort of diet and I shifted towards eating the way that I'm describing to you today, right?

I obviously started going to the gym and working out. I think everyone should be

working out. I think everyone should be going to the gym and working out. I

don't think that's to be underestimated.

That's an important part of the program that I'm proposing for people, right?

So, there's those things, but the part that you don't get on the surface that I don't really talk about that much is I also need to heal on the inside. So, I

was in a dark place and I wasn't in a dark place just because of my diet.

There were issues that existed within our family. I had issues with my dad

our family. I had issues with my dad and I needed to resolve those. And what

happened, a few things. One, literally

an angel came into my life. That's my

wife, right? She came into my life in 20 in 2012.

And she never pushed anything on me. But

just seeing her and having her as a presence in my life was what I really needed to change myself in terms of my diet, in terms of my lifestyle, but also to pick up the phone and call my dad who

I hadn't talked to in 10 years. You'd

fallen out.

>> Totally fallen out.

And there's an entire story that goes into that. and I have to own my own

into that. and I have to own my own mistakes because I'm as guilty as anyone for the issues that existed between us.

But I picked up the phone and I called him. And you the other thing that

him. And you the other thing that happened in my life that really changed everything was the birth of my daughter.

So my oldest I have four kids. My oldest

is now 11.

And when you hold that child in your hands, you're a different person instantly. And

I can't describe this to a person to to someone who's never experienced this, but you have a purpose that you didn't have prior to that day. You've

experienced love that you never understood. And the love that I had for

understood. And the love that I had for my daughter helped me to understand the love that my own dad had for me. But I could never accept that.

And so the complexity of it all is yes, I changed my diet, my lifestyle. Yes, I

started working out. But I also needed to forgive my dad for the things that happened when I was a kid.

And reconnecting with my dad was actually one of the most important and powerful things that happened for me.

>> He was vacant. He was absent. Or was it something?

>> No. My when I So this is something that um chapter 8 of my new book to me is my masterpiece.

Um, of all the chapters, this is my third book. Of all the chapters I've

third book. Of all the chapters I've written, it's the one that I'm most proud of by far.

And if you if people get the audio book, they're going to hear it in my voice.

So, there were some things that I needed to talk about, and you'll find them in that chapter. And basically the story is

that chapter. And basically the story is that our family we went through a really

hard time and um my parents got divorced and I was seven and I was the oldest of three boys. It was not a nice divorce.

three boys. It was not a nice divorce.

And when that happens, you feel like you have to choose a side.

And from my perspective, again, like, you know, I was a kid, but there was a part of me that

said, "Dad, you're a man.

Why did you allow this to happen?

Why did you allow this to happen to our family? Why didn't you fix this?

family? Why didn't you fix this?

And eventually I stopped talking to him.

And that was around the time that I graduated from college.

And so for 10 years, I was uh like I went to medical school at Georgetown. I went to Northwestern. I

Georgetown. I went to Northwestern. I

was the chief medical resident there. I

won the highest award in my residency class. I was fully accomplished. I was

class. I was fully accomplished. I was

like accomplishing everything.

Um I was very very sad inside. And what

was missing was my dad and I needed him there. And so having my daughter

there. And so having my daughter and feeling uh the love that I felt instantly for my daughter helped me to

understand the love that my dad had for me. And ultimately what I realized,

me. And ultimately what I realized, Steve, is that cuz the thing you have to know that's hard to explain in short order is that

we had I had two brothers. My dad used to take us camping. Three boys, no one else, just him.

He'd take us camping all the time. He

took us to on vacation all the time. If

there was a sporting event, he was always there, right? But I wasn't able to see that all that was really an act of love.

And now having kids myself and understanding how hard it is to be a parent and raise these kids, the idea of taking three boys camping by yourself is

insane to me. I now understand how hard my dad was trying.

And in your book published in um 2020, I believed 2020. You you wrote this thing.

believed 2020. You you wrote this thing.

Could you read that in your own voice?

Cuz I was going to read it, but it's very personal.

>> You wrote this in the front of the book.

>> Yeah. I lost my dad during the preparation of this book. It was sudden and completely unexpected.

I couldn't wait to share this book with him. It would have been easy to just

him. It would have been easy to just send an electric electronic copy, but I really wanted his first read to be a physical book with the hard cover, all the pages, and his son's name on the

front.

Over the past few months, my dad repeatedly told me how proud he was of me. He told me that my grandparents,

me. He told me that my grandparents, John and Helen Bolawitz, would have been so proud of the work I was doing in the name of our family.

I can't tell you how much it means to me that he said all that.

It breaks my heart that he's not here anymore.

I am who I am because of him.

But I will forever be grateful for the special times that we shared.

Love you, Dad.

We'll always be thinking of you.

This book is for you.

You know, we're all susceptible for letting a relationship sour and then losing a lot of time. And I think that's why your story is so inspiring because it reminds us that I guess what matters most in the end. And sometimes we can

lose, I don't know, decades, years because of grudges or because of misunderstandings that have never been addressed. So, I mean, it's a huge

addressed. So, I mean, it's a huge compliment to your wife that she had the wherewithal to to try and get you guys to reconnect so that you could reform that relationship before he did pass

away. And I'm no doubt that he was would

away. And I'm no doubt that he was would be incredibly proud if he's if he was uh watching over us now and had seen what's happened in the in the last 5 years in

your life because it's been incredible.

Absolutely incredible. Healing comes in many forms and sometimes it's the changes that we make to our diet and sometimes it's the changes we make

in our relationships with other people.

>> There's different opportunities. You and

I talked about like what is the thing for every person is something different.

And it's funny how they're both extrically linked because when one gets right with themselves and others, they often find it much easier to get control of their diet and their lifestyle

>> and then it all clicks.

>> I highly recommend everybody goes and gets this book. It's um it's going to be published in the US here on the 13th of January and in the UK on the 15th.

>> That's right. Yeah. Tuesday in the US, Thursday in the UK.

>> So, I'm going to link it below. Um we

just touched on a fraction of it. We

haven't gone into much of the details, but if you are someone that is struggling with your gut, you know, one of the 61% or 70% of people that told me ahead of this conversation that you were, I highly recommend this book

because it's incredibly accessible in the way that it's written, but also it's incredibly comprehensive and up to date and as you said, the science on the gut and all of the related gut related sort

of issues and symptoms that we have is always evolving. So I I love having

always evolving. So I I love having these conversations as almost refreshes and updates to me because every single time I learn something new and I get more of the sort of jigsaw puzzle of my

gut health and as it relates to like my brain and my immune system filled in and it's having it's really remarkable how much of a real world impact these conversations have had on me. I don't

think people know this enough but they often ask me like which conversations had an impact on you. The way that I view it is it's almost it is like a jigsaw puzzle. And each conversation is

jigsaw puzzle. And each conversation is adding a piece. And I can see since we had that last conversation about poop and the gut and the microbiome and all those things, there's been radical changes I've made to my life that have had a radical impact. It's like the

lights have been turned on. And that's a really good example of what this book does when you read it. It turns on the lights. So, highly recommend people go

lights. So, highly recommend people go check it out. You are launching a YouTube channel, you said.

>> Yeah, I'm launching a I'm launching a YouTube channel. It's um the gut health

YouTube channel. It's um the gut health MD and that's also my social hashtag my social handle. So you can find me on

social handle. So you can find me on those locations, but my home base is my website, the gotalthmd.com. And if you come there, I highly encourage people to

register for my email newsletter because it's a completely free resource, basically a Substack for free >> that's designed, this is where I love to like really have these conversations with people about, hey, there's this new

study, let's talk about it. Hey, there's

this thing that I'm seeing, let's talk about it, right? Hey, this is what I'm doing right now.

>> Right? So, it's it's an opportunity for sharing that goes beyond like the limitations of social.

>> I'll link all of that below, everything we've mentioned in the last 30 seconds, so everyone can check you out. We do

have a closing tradition where the last guest leaves a question for the next.

And the question that has been left for you is, what is one thing you could do today to help rectify your life's biggest regret?

Isn't that funny?

Um, well, I think that the good news, this is to me, uh, if anything, a story of of

hope and optimism because on many levels I did.

>> Um, so reconnecting with my dad was key.

But I think that the other piece is when you when you lose a person the way that we lost my dad, he's gone, right? And it

happened real fast and I didn't get to say goodbye.

I will say it's my faith that allows me to know like not to pretend to know to actually know that these things that I

need to say to him that I never actually got a chance to say that I wish I did.

I'll have a chance to do that >> and I look forward to the day when I see him again.

What would you say?

>> I would tell him that I hate the fact that it took me so long to figure out that he was a great dad.

And you know, adults may have conflict.

That's what the divorce was.

But he was a phenomenal dad. And I

didn't see that or get that until I had my own kids.

Dr. Bill, thank you.