You mentioned fiber as something that is really important for happy bacteria. Could you just give us a shorthand list? Because I'm like, this is not my area of expertise. So you say fiber, you know what I hear? I literally think about the mucinex crap that you stir into a drink. But what do you mean when you say fiber and that we need more fiber in our diet?

Whenever I say fiber, everyone's always like, Oh, what brand of fiber? And I'm like, No, I'm not talking about a brand. I'm saying fiber. But it is hard to conceptualize. So the best sources of... Let's talk about non-bloating fiber. Okay, fiber that you would eat when you're trying to get over, say, a week-long binge or vacation or whatever it is, it's spinach, leafy greens are a great source of fiber. Berries are a great source of fiber. Asparagust is a great source of fiber. Spices, they work like prebiotic fiber. So these are amazing things like turmeric and ginger and all of these foods. So also fruits and vegetables. So the best fruits to have when you are bloated is bananas, is avocados, is pineapple, papaya. So pineapple and papaya have natural digestive enzymes in them. So while they're going through our system, they have natural ways to break themselves down. So it's really gentle on our gut. Bananas are the same way they've been shown to actually help with bloating. And they all have fiber. So they're helping you in the short term with the debloat and then in the long term. Oh, asparagas, cucumber, celery.

Those are all amazing things. Parsley, cylinder, the herbs, fiber and debloating all at the same time. These are the things you want to have when you're like, Okay, I want to have more fiber, but I want it to be gentle on my stomach and help me digest, have a big bowl of papaya, pineapple, bananas, and then have maybe some avocado. You could have like, if you're not sensitive to bread, you could have a sourdough with avocado on it because sourdough doesn't have as many of the fruitans, which are these basically gas causing sugars that you're your gut can't digest as well in some people. So having an avocado sour toast with some fruit on the side would be a great breakfast to have. Some asparagas would be amazing to have. These are really, really... Also yogurt, if you're not lactose intolerant, like you said, you love that yogurt. I love probiotic yogurt and cottage cheese in the morning. And even though I can't tolerate a lot of dairy, that yogurt, it's just my body loves that stuff. So that's a great thing to have when you're trying to de-blow. Because yogurt, as you know, has some bacteria in it.

It's a probiotic food, and it's going to be your... It's going to help you in this setting.

Do you recommend that people take probiotics? And I realize that not all probiotics are created equally, but does taking a probiotic help if you're bloated?

Yeah. Okay, this is how I would think of it. In Our species in our gut is like the Amazon jungle. There's thousands of different, hundreds, if not thousands, of different species in there.

A probiotics?

Of bacteria. Yeah. So a.

Probiotic - Is probiotic the same thing as a bacteria?

Yeah. So a probiotic is a bacteria that you take by mouth.

Okay.

A probiotic might have, say, hundreds of strains. But that's not even close to how many different types of bacteria are in your gut. Gut. So the problem with probiotics today is that if you you seeds from a plane into a barren land, you just threw them, not knowing what climate you were in, not knowing what the local weather, soil was like, some seedlings may come out of it if you got lucky. But you don't know what you're doing. You're just throwing things at the wall and hoping something sticks. Sticks. So difference is when you eat probiotic foods like yogurt, like cottage cheese, like kimchi and sourcrout, the bacteria come in a food matrix and they're delivered to your bacteria that already live live like, Hey, look, I brought you some friends. And then for some reason, our body is just more likely to incorporate those guys into our existing ecosystem than they are when you throw a whole bunch of pills into your body.

That makes a lot of sense. And so I just want to make sure that that you are tracking with me and Dr. Shaw. So I want to ask a couple of questions.

Yeah.

So are you saying that probiotic probiotic based on the research is a more effective way to put healthy bacteria and to get your gut health in order? More healthy and effective than taking an oral oral Absolutely.

When we get to the place where I can say, Mel, let me see the organisms that are in your gut right now, and let me produce a cocktail that's going to be complementary to them. And then you're going to be like, Oh, yeah, this definitely works. And that's why fecal transplants work so well.

Fecal transplant? What the hell is that?

That?

Best way to.

Deliver- So the best way to.

Deliver- I'm just trying to get rid of the food baby I have from from I don't know if I need a fecal transplant.

We're talking about delivery of bacteria, right? So you can deliver them through a probiotic. You can deliver it in a food matrix, like here, serve it on a platter through a food matrix. So you're eating eating and the bacteria are in that matrix of the food.

Makes sense.

Or you deliver it it straight poop from someone else else that has that -.

Wait, from somebody else? Yeah. It's called a fecal transplant.

What? Eew.

Do you have to eat the poop?

What are you doing? No, it can be just placed there through colonoscopy. It is curative for so many diseases because it's the best way.

You should see everybody's facial expressions. But expressions.

Think about it. I know it sounds gross, but you don't have to eat it. You can have can have it. To your husband, I know your husband, okay? I don't want to poop. I know he's a super healthy guy.

Yes, he's a very super.

Healthy guy. And you're like, You know what? I am so sick and tired. Say you want his motivation... It's crazy, but crazy, also athletic performance, mood, all of this stuff can be transplanted through the gut. So there is a theory, and it's already been seen in some in that you take a family members or someone that's really that's doesn't have doesn't have you take their feces, their poop, you get it transplanted and placed into your colon through a colonoscopy, and you let it sit there. Sit there. Like adding soil. You let it sit there, let it get it get can cure can cure diseases already know. We think it may be able to cure depression. It may be able to heal ADHD. It may be able to stop cancer. I mean, there's like the potential for the fecal transplant is insane.

There's actually- I'll give you that. I'll give you that. I will give you that. I can wrap my brain around that. And I remember it may be something that you shared on one of the other episodes that you were on that there was a study done, I think, on rats.

Yeah. What they did is they took the patients who had schizophrenia and they took their gut bacteria and they put it into mice that didn't have their own gut own so that they can see what see what we don't change anything in the animal's the animal's just give them the gut the and they exhibited the change in mental health. So yeah, you understand that that potential is there. So when you ask me, What's the best way to get bacteria into your gut? And I'm like, Okay, probiotics is a is a probiotic foods is a is a the And the actually getting bacteria from another human.

What you're basically saying is that the healthiest way to get a sample of live, healthy gut healthy is when that live, healthy gut bacteria moves from the stomach down the intestines and out somebody through the colon. And so we obviously know that's fecal matter, but inside that is live, healthy bacteria and a healthy person. And what you're saying in terms of the emerging science is that that source of live, healthy bacteria, even if it's encased in something we all think is disgusting, that is actually the most effective way to help somebody else grow. And I would imagine as the technology emerges, especially with all this research that's showing over and over and over again how effective it can be in the positive or the negative to transfer healthy gut bacteria from one person or species to another, that they will figure out a delivery mechanism for that. That doesn't sound disgusting, but that I hear you hear that it is wildly effective.

And to add on that, one of the other ways to get healthy bacteria from other humans, you broke it down so, so nicely because the best way to get to good gut bacteria is from other humans. It's just by spending time with other humans that you want to be like.

Wait a minute. A minute. I catching Chris's bacteria? If I kiss him, am I going to catch his bacteria?

You share food with him, you hug him, kiss him, You are basically more like Chris' gut microbiome than your identical twin identical if you ever had one.

Really?

Yeah. Identical twins that are separated are separated their microbiomes look closer to the people that they live with or their significant others than each other. And when you want to be more like someone, you want the athletic prowess, you want to be as happy, you want to be as successful, as they say, the people you spend your time with, you with, you become you look at it through this gut bacteria lens, that actually is happening. It's fascinating.

You and I are picking up where we left off in our last podcast episode. This is part two of that conversation. I just love Dr. Shaw. She's here because she's breaking down the topic of gut health for you and me.