Doctors Debunk 12 Myths About Gut Health | Debunked 

Colorectal cancer survivor, stage 3, NED 6 years. Diagnosed at age 50, when I got my first colonoscopy. Glad they changed the standard.

I make my kids wait at least an hour to swim after eating other wise they run around and get excited and hot and puke up their food in the pool lol

You know the smelly farts thing is still something that can be concerning...and these doctors are right. Always pay attention to the symptoms and always observe very closely to them or your kids. My parents used to think it was hilarious that it happened to me all the time as a very young child. From like 3 years old very gassy kid, very smelly. They thought it was funny and never mentioned it to the doctor. Then when I got older like 5...the lack of appetite started. Then by 6 I would throw away my food without my parents noticing, it started to hurt when I would eat, was still gassy and everything. Parents would complain that I was a picky eater, losing weight, but never bring up the flatulence. The doctor would just say it was a picky eater phase and to feed me peanut butter etc. By age 7 all hell broke loose. The severe abdominal pains started...I remember going to the bathroom with severe pain in 1st grade, being in there for such a long time, feeling faint, and when I went to flush....there was no stool it was pure blood. I panicked and got sooo scared. I thought I was in trouble, thought I was going to get punished, thought I did something wrong, thought I was gonna get a whoopin. So I flushed and I cleaned up as best as I could in a panic and I kept it a secret from my parents, my teacher. I remember as time went on I got weaker and weaker. Was hardly eating, was in soo much pain. Kept going to bathroom and hiding the bloody evidence. Until one day I remember being soo pale and weak and dizzy I forgot to hide the toilet paper after I went to the bathroom. My mom found out. Confronted me about it and yelled at me and I cried. I told her what happened. But instead of taking me to the hospital they took me to church to get me healed by the pastor. Cuz ya know....1990s christianity. Lol I got worst and worst and then one day I remember barely being responsive. I couldn't move. They finally took me to the hospital and I remember being in the PICU. Getting a central line and getting tons of bags of blood. At first they thought it was dysentery. I remember being there for a week after I recovered and they sent me home. They did a ton of studies while I was there. But then the hospital called my dad and it was the GI attending who later became my pedi GI. Told him they needed to bring me back to the hospital to be admitted asap. That I didn't have to go through the ER they already were waiting for me at admiting services. My dad was freaking out saying "doctor please tell me is it cancer? Don't say it's cancer!" And they told me him "no its not...but its a very tough disease." Turns out I had a severe case of Crohns Disease. It's ruined my life. 32 surgeries since and it's still tormenting to this day. It's almost killed me soo many times and it's given me soo many complications. From septic shock to bacterial meningitis to leukemia and thyroid cancer from its biological treatments. It's been a nightmare. It all started with bad smelling flatulence that my poor parents ignored. I wonder if they caught it sooner...would it have not been as severe as it was? Be mindful of your symptoms and the symptoms of your children.

Can we get an eczema myths debunked episode next!

So many lies getting debunked and it's nice to see

Had a gastroenterologist tell me to chew my food better and several tell me I had acid reflux. Finally had a real gastroenterologist help me and put me on an anti-spasmodic medication. After 15 years I was finally able to digest food and eat things like vegetables. Thanks to him I'm finally better and off the medication and know how to watch my diet carefully. All doctors are not created equal and that unfortunately makes most hard for me to trust. 😢

The human gut is more complex than previously thought and has a huge impact on whole-body health. A healthy gut contributes to a strong immune system, heart health, brain health, improved mood, healthy sleep, and effective digestion, and it may help prevent some cancers and autoimmune diseases.👍

So glad they acknowledged h. Pylori. I had to diagnose myself 7 years ago because the drs either washed their hands of me or gave me anti anxiety pills and I was soooo sick for a year. Be your own advocate people, you know when something is wrong with you. Demand the testing.

"is there such a thing as a good smelling fart?" well, there are non smelly farts that literally DO NOT SMELL LIKE ANYTHING. Which (at least for me) is the most common fart. Funny tidbit: I can actually feel when it will smell (I guess most people can?), and it feels warmer

I have a degree in nutrition and what was most shocking was finding out that %55 of health problems are food related, but on average doctors only have to take one semester of nutrition. 🤯

Am I the only one who thinks that a gastroentorologist with a bowel plushy is both adorable and feels trustworthy? ☺️

thanks Science Insider for actually segmenting each question

"Is there such a that's a good-smelling fart?" Well I certainly take pride in mine...

Hi um lifeguard and pool manager here :) i don’t want to go against what the doctors are saying, but i want to clarify there is some truth behind the 30-minute rule. At the swimming pool we still recommend waiting 30 minutes after a meal because the risk of stomach cramps is very real when you’re swimming. Your core is the most-worked muscle while swimming, and like the doctors said, it is also digesting. So while this isn’t a problem if you’re in a pool where you can just stand up and hold your side until you feel better, it can be life-threatening if you’re in the deep-end of the pool. I’ve seen proessional lane-swimmers nearly drown and require saving from a lifeguard, because a serious side-cramp prevents you from even keeping afloat, nonetheless swimming to the edge of the pool. So there’s a reason why you shouldn’t swim in the middle of a lake or do lane-swim in the deep end right after a meal. But going for a dip in your friend’s shallow backyard pool? Not a problem.

Loved the dynamic between these two. A collaborative spirit without trying to one-up each other 👍

I always liked the explanation of the "no swimming until 30 mins after you eat" is that it helps to make sure kids don't puke in the pool, and gives the parents a half hour to chill out a bit. XD

I love the diversity of Drs they get on this show!

I'm loving how calm and pleasant they are while talking ab bloody poop.

As someone with celiac disease, I’m happy there are way more options at the grocery store and at restaurants. I still get contamination’s so I tend to cook all meals from scratch. Even a little bit of gluten will make me bloated, vomit, horrible diarrhea, aches, and fever for a few days to over a week. Got my first colonoscopy endoscopy at age 23 ✨ it was actually a relaxing experience haha!

Ah shoot, I was hoping they'd talk about GERD/acid reflux at some point. Guess there aren't any major myths about it?

Dr Chiang having perfect skin 😊

And thank you for advocating for women getting colonoscopies! There is a long history of IBD in my family (and I’ve had IBS all my life) so I had a colonoscopy at 21 after relevant symptoms. Luckily I was all clear, but I woke up twice during the procedure and that was really scary! Apparently I’m one of those people who have a really high tolerance for opiate anesthetics. Hopefully dont have to do that again until 45!

This video is amazing - so refreshing to get a down-to-earth clinicians' insight. Thank you!

The whole "exercising after eating gives you appendicitis" is quite a common saying in East Asian families. My parents said it!

I need to have Dr. May’s energy, consistent even when talking about farts.

Wow.. I did not know that it's normal to not poop everyday

As a kid I cramped up whenever I swam immediately after eating a meal. You never know how bad a cramp will hit you. And if it were to happen, not in a backyard pool, but the lake or ocean? 🙅‍♀️

This was absolutely amazing! The hosts was just amazing!!! And the video was extremely informative

Wait 30 minutes before swimming I didn't know people were in fear of drowning. My nephew would throw up if he had a big meal then went swimming never failed on every trip when he was little.

I got a ad about “healing your leaky gut” for this video about busting myths. Why does this happen on so many videos 😭 Good, and informative video, kudos!

I have just been diagnosed with IBD this February, I have Gerd and Gastritis as well and ever since 2019 and each year I was always being hospitalized. I’m so relieved tho because it’s explained my weight loss and severe abdominal pain where I can’t even walk or standing properly because I’m in pain and hopefully I don’t have to be hospitalized again now that I’m treated right and feeling so much better. Stay healthy and take care everyone 🙏🏼

Im glad they addressed the daily poop issue, really. When I was little, I was a once every 3 day person. I thought it was completely weird that anyone had to poop once a day, let alone multiple times a day. I know people now who literally.. 3 or 4 or 5 times a day, it still is a little shocking. Food poisoning people dont learn.. it takes a while. I tell people ok, maybe like 4 or 5 hours, youll.. definitely be feeling off. Im a firm belief you have a very small window of opportunity to change how badly it hits you. If youre stubborn, and refuse to puke, or go "sleep it off", then.. youre gonna have the shits the next day. Badly. But if you can recognize it, and go ahead and throw up, get it out, you might not feel too well, but it wont hit you nearly as bad.

I used to have IBS as a teen and it was crazy painful. It took so much of my quality of life away. That’s not just bloating.

THANK YOU for addressing how poorly regulated probiotics are!!!

Me: *eats bread* My stomach: Not today! Bring the diarrhea!

I'm so glad that they're debunking the myth about how many times a day you should poop. This girl literally told me her doctor said she should poop after every meal. I'm like very rarely do I poop after ever meal. For me normal is somewhere between every other day to once a day.

Gluten is complicated. It could be few other things. If you eat bunch of donuts or chocolate croissants and you’re feeling bloated or constipated, it may be the refined flour, sugar or chocolate. If you eat wheat bran and have a diarrhea, it may be too much fiber. Unfortunately, you have to play Sherlock to get to the root cause!

Who made up the 7 yr gum rule, we all have different parents yet they all said the same thing, and this was before the internet days.

Amazing videos! I always learn with them! Thank you.

Docs, please do an episode about what's happening when our emotions cause physical discomfort: butterflies, nausea, stabbing pains, gut-punch feeling, etc. I've never understood "emotional eating," because when I'm upset, I have overwhelming nausea! Do you ever teach patients vagus breathing or other techniques to help at those times?

Thanks for this!! Ok but both these doctors are so beautiful and smart

My daughter was diagnosed with colon cancer at the age of 34. No family history of it or any other cancers. It was discovered at the ER when they thought she had a blocked bowel and had swollen up twice her size. It was the size of a basketball. Many younger people are getting this diagnosis. So if you feel something is wrong don't give up keep getting other opinions until someone listens to you. By the time it was found on my daughter it was stage 4. She then had a massive stroke 10 days later.

You two were great! Fantastic video. Thank you!

Excellent information! Thanks for sharing. I learned a great deal, and things I needed to know,.

That thing about the stomach not changing size based on how much you eat made me feel good actually, because I have feared that I fucked up my stomach by eating to much (I know losing weight is still going to be hard, but at least that is one less thing to worry about)

Great info from real physicians. Thanks Insider!

i love the positivity ahhh 🥰 very informative

I've always been told that "wait 30 min after eating to swim" is about that abdominal cramping talked about... that someone is risking cramping and unless you're 100% ready to force your way through it's just a better idea to wait (or watch the amount you put in your stomach).

I got biopsies to confirm I don’t have celiac, as well as allergy testing, and ultimately got a diagnosis of gluten-triggered IBS. It blows my mind that I’m so sensitive that food from a shared fryer makes me ill, and it isn’t celiac or allergies. Not everyone that says that they can’t handle gluten is deluding themselves - it is still a legitimate thing.

My parents say : If you don't eat soup you get stomach shrink. If you eat little, you will have holes in your stomach because your stomach is digesting itself. They terrorise me with this since i was a little kid.

This was amazing 😭😂 story AND hair ! How is your timing so perfect ??

Probiotics is life-saving in my experience. I had a disbiosis due to overuse of antibiotics - I had 11 different antibiotics in one year - by the end - I didn’t digest food at all and was in insane pain constantly. I wanted to die I was so sick. The only thing that helped me to start to be able to eat was probiotics. I also had several bad bacterial over growths along with some fungal overgrowth. Only when my functional doctor started to look into my symptoms I got real help.

I honestly hoped they talked a bit more about lactose probiotics. I'm lactose intolerant and usually if I have a yakult before eating anything with lactose, I can actually digest it with no stomach pain or any of my other usual symptoms. It really helped me save a lot of money on lactase tablets

Thank you, doctors!

You know you have IBS when you spend hours on the bed with a heating pad.😅 it wasn’t until I had to eliminate onion, garlic, beans, Brussels sprouts, and almost all fiber containing foods that my symptoms calmed down. The only fiber I can eat is leafy greens, carrots, and some fruit.

we need more of this

I thought I had a gluten sensitivity, but I actually have a sensitivity to a lot of grains. It's the wheat itself, not necessarily the gluten. Oats and wheat cause big problems for my autoimmune & neurological condition, but I can tolerate corn and white rice (in small portions), and sprouted grains tend to digest much better! If you have trouble with grain digestion, try sprouted grains or sprouting your own grains! 😃

I love making my parents watch this, and get their myths debunked.

Thank you so much! ♥️♥️

So informative thank you!

thank you for this video. it was recommended somehow and i'm glad it was!!!! plus you both are so beautiful 🥰🥰🥰🥰 thank you💜💜💜💜

I'm really curious about the studies I've seen about gut microbes around anxiety and depression helpfulness.

My grandmother died of colon cancer . Thanks for sharing that one.

I love learning about these facts!

I was hoping they’d tackle the myth about there being 5, 10, 15, 20, pounds, (take your pick), of undigested red meat hanging around in your colon. Maybe next time. Thank you, guys, for the informative and intelligent discussion.

Huge respect for pointing out that "stress ulcers" aren't psychological stress but actually physiological stress. I was taught that psychological stress causes ulcers at my medical and I argued but was told to basically stfu lol. I agree that psychological stress can have profound impacts on the body, but this isn't one those impacts.

Thanks for the class!👍

Thanks for the timecodes.

Thanks for the video! Trigger warning - talking about celiac and gross stuff don't read if body stuff bothers you! As someone with Celiac, if you are curious, when I eat wheat, rye, barley etc it is very very painful. You'll know if you ate some gluten very quickly. First, you get a hot, sharp ache in your stomach area, then lower, or if you're lucky like me - even my mouth and throat can be affected (i have a systemic nerve disease, all pain is amplified and lasts a long time.) Next, gurgling intestines and deeper, stronger pain. You know you need to get to a bathroon. Then, after a short while - 10 mins sometimes - you have a really painful poop. It usually repeats 2-7 times over a couple of hours to five. Sometimes you see blood but honestly i try not to look as at this point I usually have nausea. During this time you can have shivers and or sweat, hot flashes, weakness, fatigue, dizziness, trembling etc For a couple of weeks i can't eat normally. No spicy food or acidic food. I take fibre supps and probiotics after a while. The severity of the episode is determined by how much you ate of the wheat or barley rye etc. I can tell if something has even a tiny amount and have to be very careful what food I buy or other products like medicine or lip balm etc. A lot of foods you wouldn't think have gluten do. Everything from veggie soup to gumny bears to prepared salads. Factories use gluten as a lubricant, thickener and more. Anyways I am a good witness for pain as i have had my leg broken, stick in the eye, a severe burn, been awake and sensate during surgery, I have regular migraines etc etc.. it is a long list due to my monster illness that has a finger in every pie so to speak. I would rate being glutened (Celiac attack slang) as worse than a broken toe, same as the small but serious burn, same as a broken tibia, not as bad as a cluster migraine or surgery or a stick in the eye (corneal abrasion) - but it goes away faster than many of those things. Overall it affects your life on a daily basis and makes shopping for food harder. Not my biggest problem but I take it more seriously than a lot of my problems. And when you get badly attacked, it takes a long time to heal so you have to be careful about vitamins and other micronutrients. The poop smells absolutely foul. But you can absolutely live a good life with it, if you are careful. No worries if you've been diagnosed, you're going to feel so much better when you get into the groove of it, and don't need weird meds for it usually. Sucks at first and you might not think you can live without the foods you love, but you will adapt and find new things to love. Hang in there babe.

That swimming myth was quite surprising. I am scared of swimming or exercising right after eating because my stomach might feel bloated and cramps might occur. So I was right!

I had that "smaller stomach" feeling happen to me when I had surgery on my tailbone. I couldn't sit up comfortably, so I had to stand up to eat, which led me to eat way less. Now I think that what happened was the lowering of my caloric intake may have improved my leptin response, which made me feel satisfied faster.

Really lovee their energy!

The number 1 comment from a patient having a colonoscopy "Can you write a note to my wife telling her my head isn't up there?"

So when are you all going to come up with a cure for IBS? Millions of us are suffering and waiting. 😢

Very informative thanks.

Loved the video 😍😍

I have always been told to drink Yakult (a probiotic drink) when I get diarrhea. This is, of course, in addition to drinking electrolyte water. Always worked great for me.

I feel like the stomach one has to be right, if I go through a time of eating less I won't be able to eat very much more then that without feeling too full. Wheres if I've been eating more I can eat a ton and still not feel full.

Great show!

Really like these two. Well done.

I thought gum took 7 years to digest too. Thank you for debunking that. Im glad it's digested at a normal rate.

Once my nutritionist treated me for my stomach (i've been dealing with helicobacter pylori pretty much my whole life) bye changing my diet gradually. At first she told me not to eat anything with gluten, for like a month and a half, plus some other recommendations. What impressed me was that it really worked so i'm wondering... Even if i don't have gluten allergy (i eat gluten now with no problem) is there like some sort of component in it that can affect you if you have helicobacter? She really focused on it and it seriously worked!

Thank you both for sharing. (Dr. Austin Chaing is gorgeous! Those spectacles 😍 are everything!🤩) Would you two do a video on the importance of getting a colonoscopy? Please....🙃

Thank you for talking about Celiac Disease! :D

FYI, the jumping gives you appendicitis myth is absolutely rampant in Malaysia.

Some of these weren't debunked at all but mostly explained as exagerations... Will eating before you swim leading to drowning? No! But getting cramps sucks so it's still better to not eat before you swim. So it's not exactly a debunk at all just a re-explanation. Same with the probiotics, it obviously doesn't cure anything but it helps a lot too especially when trying new foods which your stomach has no experience with. I'm just quoting their own words...

Loved it!

Dr. Chiang!!!!! Know you from TikTok :). Love your informative and professional, yet fun TikToks :)

oh my god that plushie was unexpectedly adorable

Probiotics are the only thing that helped me, after years and years of stomach pain.

I wish you made regular videos by the same people with more information on certain topics like this

I learned in college (Sanitation and Food Safety) that “Food poisoning” usually is referring to intoxication- not infection. Depending on the amount of Toxin Present in the food it can come on pretty quickly.

I love these Insider Debunk videos, but hearing about all these many symptoms on this one makes me frown so much 😂

I would love to be a gastroentorologist one day... I am fascinated with the alimentary canal... Still a Human Anatomy student.

If really foul smelling farts are an indication of something wrong then my dad's been dying for 40 years.

Darn both these doctors are also hella cute in addition to their awesome brains! That plushie colon as well xD

Well, when I developed Helicopter pylori my symptoms started with a very bad smelling fart. Than it escalated a few days later. Yes, pay attention to other symptoms, but the smell can give a warning. Also your stomach cannot shrink yes, but remember that when a person struggling with anorexia eat for the first time again their stomach is so sensitive to stretching it can appear that their stomach shrinked, just wish they said this in the video, I mean it's common sense.

Her smile is so lovely and beautiful as her self😊

Great videa!

For me smelly farts is an issue. I have been diagnosed two years ago with meteorism and lactose intolerance. So I normally have lots of gas. And usually my farts don't smell like anything. If they do, I usually have a lot and sometimes accompanied by cramps. It could also be me not following my died. I should be drinking less carbonated stuff but I can't stop drinking lightly carbonated water. It tastes sooooo good. I have also tried probiotics and maybe it's cause I didn't take them long enough but they seemed to not do drastic changes with bloating. Btw bloating is a real thing for me (and all skinny people in general). I bough some jeans not long ago from h&m and they fit like crazy. When I bought them they were perfect fit. Not too tight not too loose, I can wear them without a belt! But on other days I can almost feel them slip down my waist. Because I'm either bloated or not. And the difference is quite crazy.