A new one every few months gut health the trend seems to be reaching social media – seaweed gel, bone broth, Coconut Cult probiotic mousse, fibermaxxing…the list goes on. You might keep scrolling… or you might stop, watch a few videos and wonder: what if the creator was really on to something?
After all, gut health is top of mind for many people now that the public is becoming more aware of its impact on overall well-being. “Gut health and function have an impact on your body that goes beyond whether or not you’ve had good poo today,” Desiree Nielsen, RDa recipe developer who focuses on plant-based nutrition, tells SELF. It was linked to everything from here lower stress that better moodfor a start.
But taking care of your gut doesn’t necessarily mean paying attention to every health craze or TikTok fad. In fact, it often means not they do, according to experts. “There is no regulation on the Internet, so anyone can say anything” Lisa Ganjhu, DOgastroenterologist at NYU Langone Health tells SELF. “But that doesn’t always mean they’re right.” Repeat after us: Number of followers does not necessarily equate to medical expertise.
That said, the sheer volume of information can make it difficult to separate fact from fiction. To cut through the noise, we went straight to the source: We asked Nielsen, Dr. Ganjhu, and other gut health experts about the most common gut health myths and misconceptions they encounter in their work—and why they’re not true. Here’s what they had to say.
1. You *must* poop at least once a day.
While this may be a touchy subject for some, there’s no getting around it: your bathroom habits can be an important indicator of your overall gut health. What comes out is often indicative of what’s going on inside – but the frequency can vary from person to person.
Because of these natural differences in GI rhythm, missing a day (or two!) doesn’t necessarily mean something’s wrong, says Dr. Ganjhu. When it comes to bowel regularity, one size does not fit all. Craig Gluckman, MDis an assistant professor of medicine at UCLA Health who focuses on esophageal and gastrointestinal motility disorders, tells SELF. For some people, “normal” can mean to poop up to three times a day. For others, this may mean three times a week.
