We asked leading authorities for the truth about probiotics, elimination diets, leaky gut and more.
For many of us, the gut is something of a black box. Food goes in, waste comes out, and we rarely discuss or even try to understand what happens in between.
“We don’t talk about gut health enough,” said Dr. Morgan Sendzischew Shane, a gastroenterologist at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. “It’s not prim and proper” to discuss digestion, gas or bowel habits, she added.
And people may feel shy about bringing up certain issues with their doctors, she said, which can allow old gut health myths to persist and new sources of misinformation to spread.
We asked 10 experts in gastroenterology and the microbiome about the myths they most wanted to set straight. Here’s what they said.
Myth 1: You must ‘go’ every day.
People often worry that if they don’t have a bowel movement every day, something must be wrong, said Dr. Folasade P. May, a gastroenterologist at the David Geffen School of Medicine at U.C.L.A.
But it can be normal to go anywhere from three times per day to three times per week, she said. More important is how consistent your bowel movements are, and how your stool looks (not too hard, lumpy or watery) and how it feels to pass (not too painful or difficult), Dr. May added.