BARBER: In your book, you said, like, poop is stinky, and farts are stinky, but there are a way to make them not stinky.
PASRICHA: Yeah. This is, like, one of the biggest life hacks, I feel like, for people, especially relevant on dates, like relevant when you're meeting the in-laws for the first time. Whatever the situation might be that you've deemed high risk, you can take Pepto-Bismol beforehand. So it's the sulfur gas that gives farts their smell. And bismuth subsalicylate, which is the compound that is in Pepto-Bismol, that actually, really, really effectively binds those sulfur-producing gases. And so you'll be able to kind of neutralize that sulfur. Now, you probably shouldn't take it for days and days and days on end, especially if you're taking something like aspirin at the same time. But for just, like, a couple-day trip, like, or even just one night-- totally safe to do.
BARBER: But your-- but your poop will be black.
PASRICHA: Yeah. But be forewarned that there will be a change, but hopefully not one that others will notice, just looking at you.
BARBER: OK, totally. So going back to the more serious situation, like the high amount of cancer in young people, why are more young people getting this kind of cancer nowadays?
PASRICHA: Yeah, that's the question. One of the most common etiologies that a lot of the data is pointing towards is our diets. And it is specifically ultra-processed foods. And it's probably a lot of different factors beyond that as well. But ultra-processed foods do two things. One, they introduce these chemicals, and additives, and high sugar, and high salt that our microbiome doesn't love at all and can cause microscopic inflammation. And then the second thing is that ultra-processed foods notoriously are low in fiber. Fiber is protective against colorectal cancer. And then I think what's really disturbing about that is that in these early-onset cancer cases, particularly, a lot of the studies point towards our diets when we're young, like in our adolescence and our teenage years, when we're eating ultra-processed foods as young kids, when we're drinking these sugar-sweetened beverages. That's been shown to be linked. And so sometimes, it's not necessarily, like, what you did in your 30s, and then you get diagnosed at 37. A lot of the time, it's stuff that has been brewing for a long time, and in some cases, well before you really even had conscious control over-- and the-- kind of even the knowledge over what you were doing, because it happened so early in life.
BARBER: Mm-hmm. Let's end on something that people can do for themselves to make themselves healthier, happier. What advice do you have for me, for our listeners, to poop better?
PASRICHA: I mean, you know, the first thing I ask myself in a day-- or at least, the last thing I ask myself, towards the end of the day-- is like, what have I done to feed my microbiome today? And I think if you think about that question, it'll change what you do over the course of the day. Because I've studied the gut-brain connection now for more than a decade. And the enteric nervous system that is this network of nerves that lives in your guts has really made me view the gut as this brain. It's not just this set of plumbing and pipes. And I want people to think and treat their guts like this really delicate brain, which it is, and to think about their microbiome, which is kind of running the show behind so much of your health, as something that you-- it is your responsibility to feed and nourish. And so for me, practically speaking, what that means is, I try every day to meet my fiber goals. And I'm doing that because I'm thinking specifically about, what are my microbes gonna eat? If you don't give them fiber, they don't have anything to eat. And then, two, I think about, if I can, I try to eat something fermented every day, like a probiotic food. Maybe that's Greek yogurt. Maybe that's sauerkraut or kimchi. Or in Indian cuisine, we have dosas, which are fermented, which are lovely. But something fermented also helps fuel the microbiome. And there have been very big studies on-- fermented foods will change those microbes in a really good way. So if I could do one thing, meet your fiber goals. Like, that's 1, 2, and 3. And then 4, toss in a little fermented food.
